the Voice of
The Communist League of Revolutionary Workers–Internationalist
“The emancipation of the working class will only be achieved by the working class itself.”
— Karl Marx
the Voice of
The Communist League of Revolutionary Workers–Internationalist
“The emancipation of the working class will only be achieved by the working class itself.”
— Karl Marx
Oct 26, 2015
After mounting pressure from parents and community leaders in Flint, Michigan, the lead poisoning of children by Flint’s water system hit national news.
Backed into a corner, Michigan’s Governor Rick Snyder announced on October 8 that the city of Flint would return to Detroit’s water system. The required funding was unanimously passed by the Michigan legislature and the switch away from Flint River water was made in less than 48 hours!
At his press conference on October 8, the governor laid out his stance that identifying blame for the lead poisoning of children is not something he intends to look into.
Of course the governor said this! Because an effort to place blame would expose that the governor’s office played THE major role in this debacle. Governor Snyder appointed Flint’s Emergency Financial Manager, Darnell Earley. Children were exposed to lead poisoning because emergency financial managers answer to no one. They just cut costs!
It was cynical and misleading of Governor Snyder to announce on October 22nd that he appointed an “independent task force” to examine the controversy over Flint’s water system. In the words of one member, this new task force is limited to making recommendations about “whether there are practices that need to take place in water systems across the state.” Not exactly a deep investigation into wrongdoing!
But while the Emergency Financial Manager Law continues, similar debacles WILL happen again.
Multiple news reports thus far found that the decision to switch the city over to Flint River water was made by one person—Darnell Earley. Earley, by the way, was appointed by Governor Snyder as the new Detroit Public Schools’ Emergency Manager in January of 2015. So parents, look out!
But a recent news report points blame in a new direction. One Flint official said that the decision to switch to Flint River water came directly from the governor’s office! When questioned by reporter Curt Guyette about this, the governor’s spokesperson said on October 8: “You’re saying that the governor’s office was directly involved? I can’t address that at all....”
Going forward, an accurate nickname for Rick Snyder would be “Governor Cover-Up!”