Not an Emergency, but a Crime

The latest example of GOP malfeasance is the toxic water crisis in Flint, Michigan- in a poorly thought out "money saving" measure, which will cost much more in the long term than the short term savings which lead (sic) to the problem, an unelected emergency manager appointed by Governor Snyder switched from using the Detroit water system (using water from Lake Huron) to using the contaminated Flint river. In typical fashion, the Republican mission to cut government spending to the bone has precipitated a crisis of epic proportions which right-wing bloviators are trying to blame on Democrats. Governor Snyder, which shouldering some of the blame, is simultaneously trying to weasel out of sole responsibility for the decision made by his emergency manager:


"Government failed you at the federal, state and local level," Snyder said. "We need to make sure this never happens again in any Michigan city."


Yeaaahhhhh... no, the feds have nothing to do with this emergency, and the local politicians were overruled by a Snyder henchman. As usual, regressive Republicans tried to balance their budget on the backs of poor, mainly African-American people. I've long maintained that African-Americans, far from being the leeches sucking the creamy goodness out of the taxpayers' purse, are the canaries in the coalmine, the initial victims of regressive and repressive policies which ultimately threaten to spill over into "white" neighborhoods. The Flint water crisis isn't really an emergency, it's a crime perpetrated on the populace, and one that must be placed in the context of a push for privatization of the water and sewerage of Detroit. Republicans propose privatization in order to loot the public coffers, they push "cost-containment" efforts in order to reduce the tax burden on their wealthy supporters. In the midst of this kleptocracy, what's a few poisoned children here and there... they're poor kids, they wouldn't exactly be elite college material anyway, and besides, there's money to be made incarcerating them in private prisons when the lead poisoning manifests itself in antisocial behavior.

UPDATE: Helmut Monotreme has it covered at the mothership.