Now is the time for Michigan Governor Rick Snyder to show himself the door – like today.
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These accusations at the national level come days before Michigan Governor Rick Snyder is set to meet with the state Legislature to outline his plan for how to handle the Flint crisis. Those officials told Flint residents that their water was safe despite widespread complaints that it looked and tasted bad. “Just like for any health services, they ask you for ID, so people who have gone to try to get their kids tested have been turned away because they don’t have proper identification”, says Samantha Magdaleno, a local immigrant rights activist. Because at this point, resignation is about the best scenario for Snyder and for the poisoned city of Flint.
The public drinking water in Sebring, Ohio contains high levels of lead and much like Flint – it took months for officials to tell anyone about it.
The silent story of what’s happening to Flint’s undocumented population is what happens when draconian immigration policies butt up against an environmental disaster: the most vulnerable people lose.
The city of Flint, in an attempt to save money, switched from Lake Huron water from Detroit to the Flint River.
The Democratic presidential hopeful made a quick visit to Flint, an unusual stop for a candidate trailing in polls against rival Bernie Sanders in the first primary state.
Pastor Kenneth Stewart who preached to the audience before Clinton arrived, was speechless after Clinton’s remarks, openly crying from the pulpit after her remarks.
“The other reality is…not everyone can donate a pallet of water…so what we want to do, we’re just simply asking everyone in the community, every single person in the Tri-state area to donate one case of water…just one case”, added Jasper. Children were showing signs of lead poisoning. “It is time that all MI residents – Spartans and Wolverines alike – stand up and demand that Governor Snyder resign immediately”.
While members of both parties have voiced outrage over the Flint situation, it became clear from maneuvering on Capitol Hill last week that the debate was suddenly taking on a partisan sheen. And it is easy to understand why Michigan Democrats want Snyder to resign, and why Congressional Democrats want him to testify in Washington, while Republicans are protecting their boy.
“For legally constituted businesses to have to fear that, in the dark of night, they are going to be shut down by the awesome power of the Obama administration is an outrage”. A report in The Detroit News explained that the EPA knew as early as last April that there were no corrosion controls in the Flint Water supply, which meant lead could leach into the water.
The state government should act in two ways.
“The kind of immediacy of response, and urgency of response that you would expect in America to see for a crisis of this type is not being provided by those who have the resources to provide it”, Kildee said.
But Flint may end up showing something else as well: that cynicism is more corrosive than the toxic water coming from the Flint River.
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Snyder instituted an emergency manager system that smells a lot like a neocolonial system, where overwhelmingly Black cities are taken over by the state, overriding the elected officials put in place by the voters.
