Detroit nearing a cash crisis

The Detroit News reports:

Here's what Mayor Dave Bing and Detroit City Council members didn't want anyone to know when they met behind closed doors in late October to discuss a still unreleased $1.7 million report from Ernst & Young on the city's finances: They're a lot worse than we thought.

Detroit is fast running out of cash. Already, roughly half the city's vendors aren't being paid each month, City Hall sources say, and some are waiting 18 months for their checks.

By late December, the acute cash flow problem may mean Detroit won't be able to fully cover payroll. And by April, it will be out of cash.

It must be the Republican party's fault: they have such a big presence in Detroit.