Detroit's bankruptcy is a win for both sides. (Andrew Jameson, Wikimedia Commons)

Having filed for bankruptcy back in July, Detroit faced major pushback from local government employees. Emergency Manager Kevyn Orr’s plan to significantly cut funding to the city’s $3.5 billion public employee pension fund was met with dismay.

After months of litigation and appeal, Judge Rhodes has ruled that under Chapter 9 of the Federal Bankruptcy Code, public pensions are not protected from restructuring in bankruptcy proceedings. 

Many champion the ruling as a victory in the conservative quest to reduce the cost of public employee pensions nationwide, especially when coupled with Illinois’ passage of a bill to cut cost of living increases and raise the retirement age for public employees.

However, to look at Judge Rhodes’ ruling as merely a conservative victory is to entirely miss what actually happened in Detroit. 

Not only is Detroit now the largest municipality to ever declare bankruptcy ($18 billion), but also it has become the starting block for renewed bipartisanship.

When Judge Rhodes ruled public pensions were not protected by the Michigan constitution he gleaned his ruling authority from the federal government. The only way the city of Detroit could save itself was through the conservative idea of not protecting public pensions indefinitely. The only way to make that happen was to appeal to the liberal idea of a federal government being able to overrule state’s rights when the situation calls for it.

It’s not bipartisanship as we have been sold bipartisanship. It’s not Paul Ryan and Nancy Pelosi sitting in a room together wiping away each other’s tears as they admit how much they’ve hurt each other. It’s not a co-sponsored bill in Washington and it’s not a joint press conference. It’s just our elected officials actually getting something done. 

Isn’t that what bipartisanship is though? When the parties work together to do things instead of just talk? Bipartisan talk does us no good in the United State; we need bipartisan action. It would be too easy to look at Detroit and see a conservative victory setting a precedent for attacking public pensions. Or we could look at Detroit and see an expansion of the rights of the federal government and know our march toward true liberalism is proceeding according to plan.

But what we should really do is look at Detroit and see a city with no options other than bankruptcy; and then we should remember that bankruptcy is a sloppy, messed-up process when it’s just an individual going through it, let alone a city. Saving a city takes more than conservative ideals and more than liberal ideals. Saving a city takes more than declaring victories for one party or the other and it takes being able to remove our blinders and see the benefits presented by both parties' beliefs.

Detroit’s bankruptcy presents us with a chance to acknowledge the benefits of working together, even when it’s unintentional. It allows us to remind Republicans that their ultimate goal could only be achieved through a more powerful federal government and liberals that their larger federal government won't always work in favor of Democratic ideals.

Aside from beginning the long rebuilding process of one of our country’s great cities, that’s the beauty here. No one is perfectly happy with the combination of how this deal was birthed and how it was consummated. We know politics is working how it was imagined to work when no one is truly satisfied with a result. We know politics is working how it was imagined to work when we can look at how Detroit was saved and hear the pundits struggling to name a “winner” in the deal.

Because Detroit, you’re an animal. It just happens to be half elephant, half donkey this time. 

Reach Columnist Calum Hayes here; follow him here