Flint, Mich

cajunrevenge said:
My understanding is the change was made to save money because the city was bankrupt. I blame the ones who bankrupted the city. Like the one mayor who claimed a big surplus when facing reelection then immediately after being reelected said it was actually in huge debt.
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Yeah, it is fair to say that.
Again once you scratch the surface it goes a little deeper. Actually, a lot deeper
snyder and the (R) legislature legally set up the de facto city governments to manage the cities. (forget the term)
To act as the grown ups in the room -- if you will
Not poison the pipes - which is what they did

there was a 1989 documentary on the demise of Flint

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roger_&_Me
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Krgrecw said:
You have to see if from 57's viewpoint; find the nearest republican to the situation and put all the blame on them.
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It has to be a republicans fault bc they hate poor people and democrats support poor people.
 
A comparison to Katrina would seem apt except for the fact that action on Snyder’s behalf when he first knew of the problem could have stopped the problem entirely, instead of just mitigating it. Katrina was a natural disaster, and while the response and planning were entirely inadequate and racially unjust, there was no decision that could have been made to stop it entirely. At any step in the process Snyder or someone in his administration could have spoken up and actually helped Flint citizens. But they got poisoned instead.

http://www.dailykos.com/stories/201...a-admits-he-knew-of-lead-concerns-last-summer
 
Last July, after more than a year of public complaints about the drinking water in Flint, Michigan—water so pungent and foamy that a local pastor had stopped using it for baptisms—reporters were calling the state’s Department of Environmental Quality. The response from the department was of limited urgency. In an internal e-mail to colleagues, a spokeswoman, Karen Tommasulo, wrote, “Apparently it’s going to be a thing now.”

http://www.newyorker.com/news/news-...-goes-deeper-than-the-water?intcid=mod-latest
 
This is the outcome of policies advocated by the Conservative Movement since 1980 and the so called Reagan Revolution.
Government on the cheap and criminal disregard for those at the bottom of the economic ladder

"Make America Great Again"

http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/...vernor-snyder-informed-of-problems-a-year-ago

flint-water.jpg
 
The picture

http://www.vox.com/2016/1/20/10789810/flint-michigan-water-crisis

The stage was set on March 16, 2011, when Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder signed Public Act 4. This measure broadened an earlier law that provided an "emergency financial manager" for financially distressed cities and school districts. Under the new law, "emergency financial managers" became "emergency managers" with the power to cancel or renegotiate city contracts, liquidate assets, suspend local government, unilaterally draft policy, and even disincorporate. (It is worth noting that Michigan emergency managers have done all of these things except disincorporate, which was entertained by a manager in the city of Pontiac.)
 
cajunrevenge said:
My understanding is the change was made to save money because the city was bankrupt. I blame the ones who bankrupted the city. Like the one mayor who claimed a big surplus when facing reelection then immediately after being reelected said it was actually in huge debt.
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As I read more and more about it (and 57, honestly I was avoiding doing so just because your were the one beating the drum), there looks to be blame to be shared from the bottom (local government), to middle (state), to the top (feds EPA), and including business and the political spectrum Rs and Ds. Now, to address the problem. The Emergency Manager, Water Plant officials, Governor and others must face the music. And 57 - you make a good point - there is a role - significant role for responsible government to play. Yes, let's do things efficiently, but public safety is the responsibility of government - and to provide it does cost money. But there are also non-governmental charities - right now -doing great service. See the WSJ article 57 gives and the subsequent link I provide below. So, besides criticizing the ones who were behind this (rightfully so) and waiting for the government (and paying your taxes), you can give directly to help.
 
"The Environmental Protection Agency boss for the Midwest resigned Thursday amid ongoing fallout over the drinking water crisis in Flint, Michigan."

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/flint-water-crisis-epa_us_56a16670e4b076aadcc601a4

........................

That is the regional head of the EPA. The fed responsible - reading the article and from reports I heard this morning (she was still employed in that report) she tried to brush this under the rug. For reasons I'm not sure I understand
The Emergency Manager Governor Snyder appointed that oversaw this disaster is still employed.
As an Emergency Manager of Detroit School System
 
57Brave said:
"The Environmental Protection Agency boss for the Midwest resigned Thursday amid ongoing fallout over the drinking water crisis in Flint, Michigan."

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/flint-water-crisis-epa_us_56a16670e4b076aadcc601a4

........................

That is the regional head of the EPA. The fed responsible - reading the article and from reports I heard this morning (she was still employed in that report) she tried to brush this under the rug. For reasons I'm not sure I understand
The Emergency Manager Governor Snyder appointed that oversaw this disaster is still employed.
As an Emergency Manager of Detroit School System
Click to expand...

A whole bunch of heads should roll. Put'm in orange jump suits and send them to work their arses off cleaning Flint up.
 
from 2011:
I remember seeing this and hearing Ms Klein's " what could go wrong with this" predictions

“Gov. Rick Snyder’s budget in Michigan is expected to cut aid to cities and towns so much that a lot of cities and towns in Michigan are expected to be in dire financial straits. Right now, Gov. Snyder is pushing a bill that would give himself, Gov. Snyder and his administration, the power to declare any town or school district to be in a financial emergency. If a town was declared by the governor and his administration to be in a financial emergency they would get to put somebody in charge of that town, and they want to give that emergency manager that they just put in charge of the town the power to, “reject, modify, or terminate any contracts that the town may have entered in to, including any collective bargaining agreements.”

http://archives.politicususa.com/2011/03/09/rachel-maddow-michigan.html

.....

I too remember people on the old board cheering Gov Snyder's anti-union stance.
Here I am with this scratch the surface . . .
 
The human damage is incalculable. Think of a mother waking in the middle of the night to make formula for her baby girl and unwittingly using liquid death as a mixer. Lead poisoning stunts IQs in children, many of whom in Flint are already traumatized by poverty, arson and rampant gunfire outside their doors. And for what? I hate to get all MSNBC-y, but this man-made disaster can be traced to one fact: Republicans not giving a **** about poor kids as much as they give a **** about the green of the bottom line.

Read more: http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/who-poisoned-flint-michigan-20160122#ixzz3y0UKbvAN
Follow us: @rollingstone on Twitter | RollingStone on Facebook
 
Detroit Freepress is reporting Gov Snyder has hired a PR firm.

Word is state is not paying but nothing on who is paying
 
When Rick Snyder needs to have something done, he often turns to one man: Richard Baird. Baird has long been Snyder’s “right hand man”, enjoying a position in the governor’s Executive Office and listed as his “Transformation Manager”:

http://www.eclectablog.com/2016/01/...s-in-charge-of-flintwatercrisis-response.html

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"Baird has a list of scandals in Michigan that he is tied to. He was originally paid from a fund set up by Gov. Snyder called the New Energy to Reinvent and Diversify (NERD) Fund. Funding for the NERD Fund was never fully revealed before it was shut down by the governor under mounting criticism and evidence that donors were receiving special favors in return for their contributions. For example ... "
 
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