Snyder appeals Obama’s denial of disaster aid for Flint

He says without additional federal aid, MI won’t have money to fix the entire public water system, plumbing inside homes in the high-poverty city and to provide other assistance.

The Michigan House on Wednesday approved Snyder’s request for $28 million more in the short term to pay for more filters, bottled water, school nurses and testing and monitoring – on top of $10.6 million allocated in the fall.

The governor said the state and city can not meet all the needs of Flint residents and painted a bleak picture of the city. The Senate has yet to vote on the bill, but it could reach the governor’s desk by next week. The situation in Flint thus boils down to the crass exploitation of Michigan’s workers and the naked oppression of the Black working class in particular.

In Washington on Wednesday, Flint’s mayor, Karen Weaver, who was attending the Conference of Mayors, said such lead contamination would never have been permitted had Flint been a rich suburb.

“At a certain point, I think they were ashamed, embarrassed and humiliated”, the lawyer told CNN’s “New Day” on Wednesday.

At the start of Obama’s presidency, GM and Chrysler were teetering on collapse when the administration effectively forced both automakers into bankruptcy, lending them enough to survive. “Overall we should have a daily report on Flint until our recommendations are fully implemented”.

Following a speaking engagement at a Martin Luther King Day event in Flint, the Republican governor said her tactic doesn’t help solve the problem.

The head of the DEQ left his position at the end of the year and we should mention – the spokesman for the DEQ – Dan Wurfel – was married to the governor’s spokesperson – Sara Wurfel.

Weaver and other officials have suggested “tapping into the state’s emergency Budget Stabilization Fund, which has a balance of $498 million at present, or the state’s budget surplus, estimated to be next fiscal year $575 million”, according to the Detroit Free Press.

She thought the decision to draw water from the river – a tough call in a poor city run by a state-appointed emergency manager – was a bad one.

In fact, government agencies at the local, state and federal levels ignored concerns about Flint’s water until the evidence was so overwhelming they had no choice but to act. “It doesn’t include unborn children whose mothers drank tainted water during their pregnancies, or children and pregnant women who reside outside Flint but were exposed while visiting relatives, childcare centers or hospitals inside city limits”.

“I love my city…and I wouldn’t change it for anything in the world, but I just can’t believe this is happening here in Flint”. “It’s ironic when you live in the “Great Lake State” and you don’t have access to clean water”.

Rick Snyder responded Monday to criticism from presidential candidate Hillary Clinton during the Democratic debates for his handling of Flint’s water emergency, saying Clinton is making it a political issue.

“The most relevant piece is for me to step up and say here are my personal e-mails, not only the ones I sent, but the ones I received”.

PELLEY: I would think that the governor of MI would have those numbers at the top of his mind right now. “The governor was very clear about that last night and I know that he has made a request to the federal government, not all of which is completely supported by the federal government, but umm, I know there’s an appeal going forward on that issue”, said Congressman Mike Bishop (R), Michigan. “When did you know it. #flintwatercrisis”.

She described the water as being brown and said the issues began nearly a year ago, adding, “No one came to our rescue – there were cries from all nationalities of people trying to get someone to listen to us and no one cared”.