Report On Flint Water Crisis Blames Republican State Officials

Forget the Republican posturing and attempts at blame- shifting at the recent Congressional hearings on the Flint, MI, water contamination crisis.  Republican Gov. Rick "You Make Me Sick"Snyder's own appointed task force has issued its report on responsibility for the debacle:

A task force appointed by Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder to investigate the water-contamination crisis in Flint issued a blistering report Wednesday, laying blame squarely on state officials in what it called “a story of government failure, intransigence, unpreparedness, delay, inaction and environmental injustice.”

The 116-page report details a widespread lack of responsibility and leadership that contributed to the catastrophe, which potentially exposed more than 95,000 residents in the beleaguered city — including about 9,000 children under age 6 — to water tainted with lead.

The Flint Water Advisory Task Force said the state Department of Environmental Quality “failed in its fundamental responsibility” to enforce drinking-water regulations and assured the governor’s office that Flint’s water was safe when it wasn’t. The independent group faulted Snyder and his administration for failing to act even after “suggestions to do so by senior staff members in the Governor’s office.”

As we've noted in the past, this sorry episode is just one example of the social Darwinist philosophy of "e coli" (a.k.a., "bridge collapse") conservatives playing out in the real world, where the ultimate goal is the shrinking of government to the point it can be drowned in a bathtub (h/t Grover Norquist), public health and safety be damned.

The other part of this story is the inattention of the media.  Once the lights go off and the cameras are gone, the story gets bottom- of- the- fold, page 16 treatment (as this article did in the print once great Washington Post Bezos Bugle today).   That's been the "story" from the earliest days of this human catastrophe - that is, it isn't a story.  Shame on our puerile, shiny- object obsessed media for coming late to Flint, then opting to bury its lessons on the back pages.

Today's Tomorrow Cartoon - Republican Dystopia Comes To Michigan

(click on image to enlarge)

(Tom Tomorrow, via Daily Kos)

For anyone who hasn't been following this Republican- created disaster in Flint, Michigan, Charles P. Pierce has a little background:

The crisis has its roots in something fundamental to modern conservative government—the deregulated state. In 2011, under a controversial state law that he signed shortly after taking office, Governor Rick Snyder removed [Dayne] Walling, [Stephen] Benjamin's friend, and replaced him with an emergency manager. It was under this regime that the decision was made to change Flint's water supply from the Detroit water district to the Flint River, which required the water to go through the antiquated lead-lined pipes that have now poisoned a generation of the city's children. Everything else—including the alleged cover-up and the calls for Snyder's resignation that have come from everyone from Michael Moore to Bernie Sanders—has, well, flowed from that.  [snip]

"We have a governor who is a business exec, so he said he was going to run government like a business," said Congresswoman Brenda Lawrence, who represents Detroit. "This is a glaring example of decisions made on dollars and cents and on a budget and had a devastating effect on the people, especially the children, because the lead has a negative impact on the development of your brain. It's developmental. It's educational. Those children are going to need help for the next 15 years ... You cannot run a government without looking after the well-being of the people. On paper, he made a great decision, but look at the lives he impacted."

Yesterday, Kansas.  Today, Michigan.  Tomorrow, Kentucky.  And those are just three of the Republican- run states that are serving as "labs" for reactionary conservative "policies."  Enjoy the Freedumb!

Showdown in Michigan

Today is the day that the reactionary, Koch-backed anti-labor legislation will go to Michigan's Rethuglican Gov. Rick "On the Schneid" Snyder for signature. Thousands are now demonstrating against the legislation at the state capital in Lansing.

Passed by a lame-duck Michigan legislature containing several defeated Rethugs, the so-called "right-to-work" legislation would undermine generations of gains made by Michigan families. The attempt by the coin-operated Rethugs, doing the bidding of greedy corporate tycoons, is to not only upset whatever balance there is left in the workplace between employees and their employer, but to undermine a major source of financial and organizing power for the Democrats. As we noted Sunday, this is a pattern for Rethug Governors from Wisconsin's Scott "Koch Machine" Walker and Ohio's John "Johnny On The Spot" Kasich that is backed by the Koch front organization "Americans for (Plutocrat) Prosperity" and the shadowy right wing American Legislative Exchange Council, which provides State legislatures with cookie-cutter legislation friendly to large corporate interests and the one percenters.

In truth, "right-to-work" is a race to the bottom for middle class working families, where corporations bid down labor costs without fearing unionized resistance. It's true name should be "right-to-work-for-less," because that's exactly what will happen.