Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder says he will fix Flint's toxic drinking water supply after the damage was brought about by his arrogance and disregard for thousands of poor and minority Michiganders.
The ideological seeds of the crisis were sown years ago, and was no accident.
From the Google about and from Snyder himself:
* The Ann Arbor News, Aug. 3, 2010:
Snyder’s TV ads comparing him to other successful “nerds” like Bill Gates and Steve Jobs are odd but shrewd. They allow him to run as an outsider (one who’s done well in business) with more to offer than anger at Democrats. “We need to reinvent Michigan,” he says in one of the ads...
The ideological seeds of the crisis were sown years ago, and was no accident.
From the Google about and from Snyder himself:
* The Ann Arbor News, Aug. 3, 2010:
"We need to reform our regulatory environment and realize that the comeback of Michigan is going to be Michiganders creating and growing small businesses," he said...And it's time for bureaucracy to go away."* Grist, Sep't. 8, 2010:
Snyder’s TV ads comparing him to other successful “nerds” like Bill Gates and Steve Jobs are odd but shrewd. They allow him to run as an outsider (one who’s done well in business) with more to offer than anger at Democrats. “We need to reinvent Michigan,” he says in one of the ads...
Creating clean-energy jobs and protecting natural resources figure prominently in Snyder’s economic-recovery pitch. So does revitalizing urban places — sorely needed in the home state of Detroit and Flint.
* Crain's Detroit, Nov. 2, 2010:At the Democratic election party at the MGM Grand in Detroit, Democratic candidate for attorney general David Leyton said he would have no problem working with a Republican governor.
But he was quick to add that just because Snyder has a business background doesn't mean he knows how to run a state government.
"Government is not a business," he said, adding that a governor does not have the luxury of being able to dictate directions to a loyal board.Aug. 2, 2012, Gov. Rick Snyder - -
Why Michigan Needs Its Emergency Manager Law.
"Across the country, cities and school districts are facing financial crises that are bringing them to their knees. Michigan is no exception, but there's one thing that makes us different - instead of waiting until our local governments are past the point of no return, we have adopted a law that allows us to take early action to prevent total fiscal meltdowns. This tool is known as the emergency manager law, and it creates an early-warning system that alerts us to potential fiscal problems in cities, villages and school districts. In a worst-case scenario, the law empowers the governor to appoint a manager to take actions to help get that local government get back on its feet."USA Today, Jan. 20, 2016: How Flint, Mich. water crisis became federal state of emergency:
1. When did the water become contaminated?
Flint's drinking water became contaminated with lead in April 2014 while the city was under the control of a state-appointed emergency manager.
and let's not discount the racism at play, since (I believe) the only communities Snyder has subjected to "emergency management" are majority minority ones.
ReplyDeleteWhere would the dots lead to in Waukesha's failure to enforce the compliance of the radium MCL in Waukesha?
ReplyDeleteIt would begin years ago when the City fought the radium standard in court and tried unsuccessfully but at great expense to disprove the standard's value or application to Waukesha, rather than move immediately and assertively to rid the system of radium as did many communities in IL and WI, such as Brookfield.
ReplyDeleteI would like to see data on the number of cancer cases in Waukesha county vs other suburbs that don't have high levels of radium in their water. I lived in Waukesha County growing up, and I am shocked by the high number of cancer cases in my old neighborhood. Most people had well water, with high radium levels.
ReplyDeleteIf the economically disadvantaged, elderly, those genetically deposed to cancer are going to continue to be supplied with water by the Waukesha Water Utility in excess of the MCL for radium for an even longer period of time than the lawsuit permits for the sake of providing water for distant future needs, it would be immoral for the Governor of Michigan to curse two communities to water related health disease.
ReplyDeleteIt's obvious the preacher's son could care less about the citizens of the city of Waukesha protraction a silent killer.
Flint's woes are the basis for rejecting Waukesha's Great Lakes Diversion request.
When will Waukesha County figure out that their favorite preacher's son sold them out and cares less if they get contaminated water? I doubt any Walker voters in Waukesha County will ever get it or change their vote. If Diane Hendrick's water was tainted, Walker would declare an emergency & fix it. But the average voter in Waukesha who doesn't donate thousands just isn't worth the Governor's time. People love to vote against their own self interests.
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