Its all the EPAs fault, and Democrats record of reducing its powers and effectiveness! You get a watchdog, but kick out its teeth and break one of its legs, then bitch because its ineffective at scaring the burglar. Republicans created the EPA, and ever since then, Democrats have labored mightily to weaken and hamper it. Now their Frankenchicken has come to roost, and is laying poisonous eggs!
OK, that last part needs work…
One of the things that the Snyder thugs did in Benton Harbor was steal a city park on prime Lake Michigan frontage and convert it into a golf course for the rich and famous. I dream of the day when Snyder wears an orange jumpsuit and shares a cell with Christie.
I would be on board with being a prison pen-pal, help him keep his spirits up for macrame class at Club Fed.
Dear Gov:
Neener neener!
Yer pal,
’luc
Not to hijack this too much, but adding on to BrainGlutton’s post on Michigan’s anti-democratic reforms: The Republican legislature and governor took another shot at democracy in Michigan this month when they passed election “reform” which will:
-Forbid local governments from distributing information about ballot initiatives (including tax matters) for 60 days prior to an election. This prohibits libraries and school districts from giving public basic, factual information to the public.
-Double the amount PACs can give to candidates for the second time in two years
-Forbid companies from deducting PAC money from workers’ paychecks on behalf of their union, even if the company agrees to do it. Specifically targets unions, no one else.
-Eliminate straight-ticket voting, without expanding absentee voting. Michigan has some of the most restrictive absentee voting requirements, and straight-ticket voting helped alleviate line-ups in the state’s most populated precincts. Now that’s gone.
-Move the campaign finance reporting deadline, so campaigns can keep secret who donates until after the election.
These bills were passed on the final day of the 2015 session, most of the stuff was added as amendments, bringing the original 12-page bill up to more than 50 pages. There were no hearings or committee meetings or opportunities for legislators to read the amendments. The GOP leadership assured their caucus the bills were fine. Democrats objected,Republican leadership voted to remove Democratic staff from the floor and lock the chamber doors until the legislation was passed.
Once the bills hit the governor’s desk, and lawmakers actually read the legislation, even some Republicans were calling on the governor to veto. Librarians, mayors, school boards, city and count clerks-- everyone wanted this nonsense vetoed.
But Snyder signed it. A craven attempt at tilting elections for Republicans, nothing more. This law does nothing to expand democracy, make voting easier, level the playing field, or save the state any money. They know that their actual governance won’t win them any votes, so they must continue to rig elections.
By way of our good friends at Crooks and Liars…
Snyder Blames Public Employees For Flint Water Crisis
Go look, otherwise, you’re gonna think I’m making it up. Wouldn’t blame you. Union pension funds poisoned the kids.
**Govt failure, brought on by public employee pensions, poisoned Flint water. Stop blaming everyone else
**
The Government Poisoned Flint's Water—So Stop Blaming Everyone Else … h/t @reason
As always, the dilemma: laugh or scream?
. . . They can do that?!
Oh look. A thread where the liberals blame the Republicans and the conservatives blame the Democrats. Another game of pass the buck.
But only one side has the facts on its side, thus the false equivalence.
Well we have a track record of government provided water in Flint and is currently killing people. So saying the government will fix everything when we have concrete evidence of their failure is even sillier.
I’ve never heard that rationale before. It’s always right, too.
Republicans and Democrats are involved in this mess. Trying to blame it all on one or the other just makes it harder to resolve.
Could I get a cite on this specific claim? Preferably to the section of the bill itself that does this.
Regards,
Shodan
As I understand it, the measure is intended to stop lobbying efforts that are conducted under the auspices of “distributing information.”
And I personally think banning straight-party voting is a good thing. It won’t kill you to spend an extra minute actually looking at the names on the ballot and attempting to run a congnitive function or two.
As a complete outsider who is not American and not invested in its party politics, I tend to agree. The sad part of this saga is that both parties have been incompetent managers, and each points to the incompetent management of the other to boost its own position.
Flint, as I understand it, is like Detroit, but without notable characters like Kwame Kilpatrick - stuck in a downward spiral of ever-higher taxes and an ever-shrinking population - which eventually put the city into receivership, after a vote to recall the incumbent mayor (with much finger-pointing between the mayor and council). This enabled the Republican Governor to appoint a Manager …
It’s convenient when history starts with the poisoned water and not the failures of the local governments that turned Flint and Detroit into such messes. It’s like blaming Bush for New Orleans’s failure to govern responsibly during Katrina. People claim to want self government at the local and state level. However it seems to be a means to fleece the general public and not to govern. And of course it’s only republicans who governed Detroit, Flint, and other municipalities into the dirt.
The US controls the currency it borrows. What other entity has that deal?
Like, every national government in the world?
Once it hit the governor’s desk, he said it was a very flawed bill, but he was gonna sign it anyway, and hoped the legislature would fix it.
Thinking both sides are equal is intellectually lazy.
No, thinking the other guys are always the culprit is intellectually lazy. Can’t be us!
The local politicians are Democrats (and have been for a long time). The state politicians are Republicans. The Federal politicians (i.e. EPA) are Democrats. They all have their thumbs in the pie. Too much effort is being wasted in blaming the other party.