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The House That Obama Built: Flint, Michigan
D.W. Ulsterman / UlstermanBooks.com
It was a rare display in Congress today.
Democrat and Republican alike were horrified at the reality that was American citizens being charged by their local government for water that was poisoning them.
Beyond the story of bad water though is another story just as dangerous, just as relevant, and just as much in need of more attention from the public – bad government that is choking the life out of this country.
Flint, Michigan is a bastion of Democrat control and the water problem has been developing for years, due in part to the city’s on again-off again financial crisis that has been festering for decades. That crisis is the direct result of a top-heavy local government paying millions and millions in salaries and benefits but taking in less and less due to businesses and families leaving the area. Minus the deplorable water condition, that is the story being played out in cities all across the nation.
Back to Flint.
It is a city of nearly 100,000 (down from 150,000 in 1990) located just seventy miles from one of the largest bodies of fresh water in the world – the Great Lakes.
In 2013 the city government – ALL Democrats, decided to save money by switching their water supply from an agreement they had with the city of Detroit (which gets its water from Lake Huron) to water from the Flint River via a new agreement with the Kerognondi Water Authority. Remember, this effort was intended to save money because of Flint’s every-collapsing economy. (An economic collapse made worse by the fact that the Flint city government’s own costs kept going up as the city grew larger and larger.)
The city’s state-appointed Emergency Manager (state appointed because Flint was apparently incapable of running its own government and constantly being bailed out by the state regardless of whether it was a Democrat or Republican governor) then moved to expedite the use of the Flint River water supply, again, under the guise of saving money.
ABOVE: Former Flint Emergency Manage, Darnell Earley – Democrat
The Michigan State Department of Environmental Quality (itself overseen by the Obama Department of Ecology) signed a letter of agreement in 2014 to initiate the use of the Flint River as the city’s new/temporary source of drinking water. That decision was partly made possible by Dan Wyan, the former head of the DEQ:
Mr. Wyant resigned his position after a state investigation found the DEQ was enforcing the wrong environmental standards in Flint for approximately 18 months. That’s 18 months of some very dirty and dangerous drinking water for 100,000 residents being charged each month by their local government for that water – a monthly charge that had been RAISED by the local Flint government because it was struggling to fully fund itself. In a very much related bit of information, the Flint mayor and city council members were awarded significant RAISES in April of 2015 with the mayor’s salary nearing the six-figure mark.
Yeah, let that one sink in.
And Flint Mayor, Karen Weaver in 2015:
As for the Obama administration’s complicity in the tragic tale of government incompetence, we need look no further than this recent report via HotAir:
“EPA official Susan Hedman did not publicize the EPA’s concern over Flint’s water quality or the water’s dangerous health concerns. The federal agency instead quietly fought with the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality for at least six months about what should be done.
EPA water expert, Miguel Del Toral, identified potential contamination problems with Flint’s drinking water last February and confirmed the suspicions in April. He authored an internal memo about the problem in June, according to documents obtained by Virginia Tech.
Meanwhile, Hedman became aware of the contamination issue in April. She sought legal advice, but didn’t receive the guidance until November 2014. The American Civil Liberties Union accused Hedman in October of attempting to keep Miguel Del Toral’s memo in-house,downplaying its significance.”
Government bureaucracy has exploded during the 7+ years of the Obama administration. Trillions have been spent adding to local, state and federal government payrolls while at the very same time, overall quality of service from these various agencies has diminished. Big Government salaries are expanding at a pace greater than the private sector – a sure sign of eventual economic disaster.
Flint was and is a city with a contracting economy but an ever-expanding government. That doesn’t work and the Flint water crisis is but one example that proves it.
Sadly, until the American public recognizes this threat and demands a smaller, leaner, less costly yet more competent government at all levels, similar tragic examples will follow.
-DWU
http://ulstermanbooks.com/flint-michigan-the-house-that-obama-built/
Read more articles at Ulsterman Books here:
http://ulstermanbooks.com/the-ulsterman-report/
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Author D.W. Ulsterman lives near his beloved waters with his beautiful wife of 22 years, and their two teenage children, along with two cats and two dogs.
Many of Ulsterman’s personal interests are reflected in his works, including an unyielding love of America, politics, music, and helping to secure a better future for generations to come.
All of his novels are available for purchase HERE
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