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Michael Moore calls Flint a crime scene, demands arrest of Gov. Snyder

Deuce said:
Hahahah conservative government can literally poison its citizens and they'll still find a way to blame liberals.
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Isn't it simply amazing. The real issue is the citizens should have democratically had the right to vote if they wanted their water switched over and the risk that were involved. Instead, they had NO SAY WHATSOEVER nor any knowledge of the risks. A emergency financial manager was appointed by the mayor to make unilateral decisions without any say from the public or any knowledge being given to the public. So now the public suffers the consequences of a dictatorship.
 
rabbitcaebannog said:
"When the governor appointed an emergency financial manager (in 2011), that person came here ... to simply do one thing and one thing only, and that's cut the budget, at any cost,"

It happened to be at the costs of people's lives, but heck they did save money.

Let this be a lesson on why unfettered capitalism does not work.
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What does cutting costs have to do with "unfettered capitalism"?
 
RetiredUSN said:
Where were all the mayors who knew about the rotting water pipes for years?

How does the local water service get a pass? They are required to test for lead.

Why did it take hospital blood tests to raise the alarm
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The mayor gave all power to an emergency financial manager. He stripped the power from the people.
 
haymarket said:
The loss of tax base is the main reason why cities like Detroit and Flint have fallen upon hard times.
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Agreed, but the loss of that base has been evident for decades. The reason why could be dovetailed into many reasons. My point with the political angle could be seen as partisan, but facts are fact even if they are uncomfortable.
 
rabbitcaebannog said:
The mayor gave all power to an emergency financial manager. He stripped the power from the people.
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Correction....Gov.Rick Snyder appointed an Emergency City Manager for Flint who took control away from city council appointed mayor/city manager.

From the following article:

It was also announced that Gov. Snyder appointed Mike Brown to succeed Ed Kurtz as the emergency manager in Flint.

Kurtz is retiring on July 3, 2013 and Brown will become emergency manager on Independence day.
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Gov. Snyder appoints an emergency manager in Hamtramck, Flint EM replacement also announced | Michigan Radio
 
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Fletch said:
Snyder didn't pollute the river. Maybe the investigation should focus on how such a waterway could become so poisonous in the first place. There are plenty of laws and plenty of agencies who are supposed to regulate such things, why are they not the focus? I am gonna guess that the answer to that is political; meaning, that liberals dropped the ball on their regulatory role and are blaming others to cover ther asses.
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The river was polluted before Snyder was elected.

The problems began when the emergency manager that Snyder appointed to oversee the city of flint decided to stop getting water from the usual source and instead draw water from a polluted river.
 
RetiredUSN said:
Where were all the mayors who knew about the rotting water pipes for years?

How does the local water service get a pass? They are required to test for lead.

Why did it take hospital blood tests to raise the alarm
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The mayors knew about the pipes. That is why they stopped using them.
 
rabbitcaebannog said:
The mayor gave all power to an emergency financial manager. He stripped the power from the people.
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This explains the Michigan law on emergency financial managers and the radical expansion that it saw under Governor Snyder and the Republican controlled legislature. The idea originally had the support of Democrats when it was proposed and enacted in the late 80's but was repudiated strongly in its revised and expanded form.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Financial_emergency_in_Michigan
 
Napoleon said:
It was the salinity of the water from the Flint River that caused the pipes to corrode from what I've read. The Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (run by a Snyder appointee) told everyone the water was safe. The most damning part of this is that there is evidence the Snyder administration knew in 2014 there was a connection between the water and the Legionnaires outbreak, but kept it on the hush.
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Do you have a link for that? That would be very interesting.

Edit:
Never mind. I found what I want.
 
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NonoBadDog said:
Do you have a link for that? That would be very interesting.

Edit:
Never mind. I found what I want.
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Here:

"Lead levels in Flint's drinking water would have spurred action months sooner if the results of city testing that wrapped up in June had not been revised by the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality to wrongly indicate the water was safe to drink, e-mails show.

The records — obtained by the Michigan ACLU and by Marc Edwards, a Virginia Tech researcher who helped raise concerns about Flint's water — show how state officials first appear to have encouraged the City of Flint to find water samples with low lead levels and later told Flint officials to disqualify two samples with high readings. The move changed the overall lead level results to acceptable from unacceptable."
 
It seems like there is enough blame to spread around. It isn't a partisan screw up. It is a Bi-partisan screw up.

In November 2015, Earley was one of fourteen officials named as defendants in a class action lawsuit brought in federal court by Flint residents. The complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court in Detroit, alleges that "Defendants' conduct in exposing Flint residents to toxic water was so egregious and so outrageous that it shocks the conscience" and that "For more than 18 months, state and local government officials ignored irrefutable evidence that the water pumped from the Flint River exposed (users) to extreme toxicity." Along with Earley, Governor Snyder, former Flint mayor Dayne Walling, former Flint EM Jerry Ambrose, and others were named as defendants.
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Early - Democrat
Snyder - Republican
Walling - Democrat
Ambrose - Republican
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darnell_Earley
 
upsideguy said:
Snyder's idea of conquering municipalities, then replacing the duly elected officials with the governor's henchman, is at least a failed policy, but not criminal (unless we find corruption). Its a wonderful illustration that you just can't cut government by cutting costs.

It is also a great example of why Conservatives can't govern. Snyder needs to fall the sword. He should do the right thing and resign. His political career is done.
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THAT is some funny **** right there. Really funny.
 
RetiredUSN said:
EPA hushed it before it became a issue.
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That would not surprise me. They left a bad taste (pun intended) in Colorado and New Mexico last year with the mine spill.
 
Napoleon said:
Here:

"Lead levels in Flint's drinking water would have spurred action months sooner if the results of city testing that wrapped up in June had not been revised by the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality to wrongly indicate the water was safe to drink, e-mails show.

The records — obtained by the Michigan ACLU and by Marc Edwards, a Virginia Tech researcher who helped raise concerns about Flint's water — show how state officials first appear to have encouraged the City of Flint to find water samples with low lead levels and later told Flint officials to disqualify two samples with high readings. The move changed the overall lead level results to acceptable from unacceptable."
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Thanks. I will read it, I appreciate it.
 
NonoBadDog said:
That would not surprise me. They left a bad taste (pun intended) in Colorado and New Mexico last year with the mine spill.
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The river was not a source of water for flint because it was polluted. The pipes had not been used in years and the people of flint found a different source of water.

But you know what? Someone thought it would be cheaper to go back to using the water from the river.
 
Deuce said:
Hahahah conservative government can literally poison its citizens and they'll still find a way to blame liberals.
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That's not what I said, now is it. If you cant engage in honest discussion, please don't respond to me at all. Thanks.
 
Unitedwestand13 said:
The river was polluted before Snyder was elected.

The problems began when the emergency manager that Snyder appointed to oversee the city of flint decided to stop getting water from the usual source and instead draw water from a polluted river.
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I get that. The idea was to look for ways for a broke city to save money. What should be investigated is why the citys river is so polluted that it is unfit for human consumption. There is no excuse for that today. What government agency was responsible is what should be uncovered first.
 
RetiredUSN said:
NO.... The emergency city manager didn't have anything to do with the water vote. It was a 7-1 vote by local government.

Column: Don’t blame emergency manager for Flint water disaster
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"Although the Flint City Council voted in March 2013 in support of moving to the KWA pipeline — a new pipeline that would serve the region with Lake Huron water — there is no record that the council voted to use the Flint River as a short-term drinking water source." Flint water crisis estimated to affect 45,000 homes | Calvin College Chimes
 
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