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Detroit Resumes Cutting Off Water to 150,000 Residents, Prompting Appeal to United Nations for Help
Desperate calls for help from the United Nations arent just for war-torn and developing nations anymore. The city of Detroita city that has been on the brink in many waysin an effort to balance its books, has begun shutting off water access to city residents behind on their payments. While that may seem like what happens to anyone when they dont pay their bills, Detroit is a unique casenearly half of the 323,900 residents who use the utility are delinquent, according to the Detroit Free Press. To make matters worse, Al-Jazeera America reports, Detroits average monthly water bill is nearly double the national average of $40. The Detroit City Council approved a 9 percent hike last week.
Photo by J.D. Pooley/Getty Images
162579823-graffiti-covers-an-abandoned-building-february-24-2013 Graffiti covers an abandoned building February 24, 2013 in Detroit, Michigan.
We are asking the UN special rapporteur to make clear to the U.S. government that it has violated the human right to water, said Maude Barlow, the National Chairperson of the Council of Canadians and a key member of the coalition that put the report together. In addition to creating international pressure to stop the Detroit shutoffs, Barlow said, the UNs intervention could lead to formal consequences for the United States. If the US government does not respond appropriately this will also impact their Universal Periodic Review, she said, when they stand before the Human Rights Council to have their [human rights] record evaluated.
http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_slatest/2014/06/23/detroit_shuts_off_water_for_residents_united_nations_asked_to_help.html
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SamKnause
(13,009 posts)Michigander_Life
(549 posts)Why should the people who pay their bills pay for those who don't? I've never lived in a town where I could get free water. If I don't pay my bill, my service gets shut off. And my water bill is about 3 times the national average.
neverforget
(9,433 posts)cooking, flushing the toilet, showering, etc. But it's the money that is the most important part here. Never mind that Detroit's poverty rate is nearly 40%. fuck'em. The money is more important than helping people get water.
Michigander_Life
(549 posts)It does cost money to get clean water from A to B. Who pays for it if these people can't?
neverforget
(9,433 posts)survive. What's your solution?
Michigander_Life
(549 posts)If not paying your water bill results in the federal government paying the bill for you, then what's to stop everyone in Detroit from saying screw it and getting free water?
Note: I think we need a national living wage mandated, which would largely alleviate such problems. But in the mean time we have a very sticky situation here.
neverforget
(9,433 posts)The federal government helps people all the time. Just because I don't use the federal subsidy for heating doesn't mean I stop paying my heat bill.
RKP5637
(67,008 posts)mandated. Financial institutions, worker productivity, what it means to have a job have changed drastically over time. Often, survival is becoming more of a hit or miss affair.
We need a national conversation on how the economy should be structured for the 21st century. Current models are going to fail and already have. I have no idea how this will happen. Our congress is not mature enough to do this and is far too divided.
This is neither a knock at all about Obama nor toward him, but we have a void of leadership in this country. Many individuals in political office local, state, nationally lack the skills for the job and moreover are sometimes there not for the interest of a unified country, but often their personal fame and fortune, and their cronies. It is not a good recipe for the future of this country!
randys1
(16,286 posts)In an intelligently run Democratic Socialist state ALL necessities would be free or would be regulated so no for profit company is making a profit from their sale.
The real rich pricks that are killing this country are hoping people with money, who can pay their bills, will TURN on those without money who cant pay their bills.
It is called divide and conquer.
You might want to watch for that...
dhill926
(16,200 posts)morningfog
(18,115 posts)Michigander_Life
(549 posts)If there are no consequences for non-payment?
morningfog
(18,115 posts)I consider water a basic human right. If someone can't afford it, the state should facilitate that they get it. I am for socialized water anyway.
Michigander_Life
(549 posts)neverforget
(9,433 posts)TBF
(31,892 posts)we pool our money and resources go where they are needed.
WinkyDink
(51,311 posts)neverforget
(9,433 posts)explaining it in more detail.
PoliticAverse
(26,366 posts)neverforget
(9,433 posts)A major American city is cutting off water supplies to 150,000 people and your concern is about property taxes? Maybe the US government can find $118 million from the savings from Afghanistan to help Detroit.
Detroit's poverty rate is nearly 40% and their water bill is nearly double the national average of $40/month. Detroit needs help not a kick in the groin.
PoliticAverse
(26,366 posts)What do you think eventually happens to people that don't/can't pay their property taxes?
They lose their home as well as any water service that goes with it.
http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20130221/METRO01/302210375
neverforget
(9,433 posts)getting their water cut off, just families. It's an effort to privatize the water supply.
http://www.theguardian.com/environment/true-north/2014/jun/25/detroits-water-war-a-tap-shut-off-that-could-impact-300000-people
The official rationale for the water shut-downs the Detroit Water Department's need to recoup millions collapses on inspection. Detroit's high-end golf club, the Red Wing's hockey arena, the Ford football stadium, and more than half of the city's commercial and industrial users are also owing a sum totalling $30 million. But no contractors have showed up on their doorstep.
The targetting of Detroit families is about something else. It is a ruthless case of the shock doctrine the exploitation of natural or unnatural shocks of crisis to push through pro-corporate policies that couldn't happen in any other circumstance.
The first shock has been the slow, largely man-made disaster that has struck Detroit over the last four decades: the flight of corporations toward cheaper, overseas labour; the movement of white, wealthier Detroiters to the suburbs, draining the city's tax base; toxic Wall Street deals and predatory bank lending resulting in massive foreclosures; and the deliberate starving of the city of funds owed them by the Republican state legislature.
PoliticAverse
(26,366 posts)KoKo
(84,711 posts)to pay the bills and the rate increases. This is not just a few people. This is because Detroit is shutting off these folks because they want the Water System Privatized because the City Management never made improvements to the infrastructure which is failing and now they blame it on the poor in a devastated city in the USA who lost jobs which wasn't their fault when Detroit went into decline as manufacturing moved to other countries and the Non-Unionized Southeast of the USA.
rhett o rick
(55,981 posts)we will see the Second Great Republican Depression. I am not seeing H. Clinton doing anything to help this.
csziggy
(34,115 posts)If you want to get down to just dollars and cents - and forget the humanitarian concerns - cutting off water to thousands of people in an urban environment WILL lead to massive problems with sanitation and disease. Who's going to pay for that? We will, the people of Detroit, of Michigan and of the United States will pay. And it will cost billions more than subsidizing water for people who can't pay for their water.
Have you ever tried to live in a modern house with no water? If so, what did you do about your toilet? How did you wash your hands, your dishes and pots and pans? How about showers or baths? What about drinking water? Detroit is heading into a hot summer - how are people going to make it without water?
Louisiana1976
(3,962 posts)csziggy
(34,115 posts)I really don't understand what the city manager is trying to do with this tactic. Force the evacuation of Detroit? Do to Detroit what happened to much of New Orleans without a hurricane to tear up the infrastructure, just take the benefits of the city infrastructure away from the bottom tier of the population that is left?
It does seem to be a deliberate plan beginning with the destruction of democracy in Detroit. I just can't see what the end result is intended to be.
whathehell
(28,941 posts)Freaking A...Are we a third world country?...I know we were going
in that direction, but ALREADY?!?
theHandpuppet
(19,964 posts)ohheckyeah
(9,314 posts)and don't is interesting. Has it occurred to you that they CAN'T pay their bills and they don't choose to be poor?
WinkyDink
(51,311 posts)rhett o rick
(55,981 posts)SummerSnow
(12,608 posts)http://www.cbsnews.com/news/much-of-60b-from-us-to-rebuild-iraq-wasted-special-auditors-final-report-to-congress-shows/
Shortly after the March 2003 invasion, Congress set up a $2.4 billion fund to help ease the sting of war for Iraqis. It aimed to rebuild Iraq's water and electricity systems; provide food, health care and governance for its people; and take care of those who were forced from their homes in the fighting. Less than six months later, President George W. Bush asked for $20 billion more to further stabilize Iraq and help turn it into an ally that could gain economic independence and reap global investments.
To date, the U.S. has spent more than $60 billion in reconstruction grants to help Iraq get back on its feet after the country was broken by more than two decades of war, sanctions and dictatorship. That works out to about $15 million a day.
KoKo
(84,711 posts)That's the American Dream!
Louisiana1976
(3,962 posts)badtoworse
(5,957 posts)noiretextatique
(27,275 posts)Bills that have doubled or tripled when they the same income....or no one income.
Caretha
(2,737 posts)destroyed Iraq's water & electric structures to begin with.
Think Haliburton & KBR.
Damn the War Mongers to HELL.
arikara
(5,562 posts)they would have enough to fix things in the US.
Liberal_in_LA
(44,397 posts)Logical
(22,457 posts)WillyT
(72,631 posts)MineralMan
(146,116 posts)elehhhhna
(32,076 posts)It will be Mumbai, Michigan. Theses folks will be told to leave their uninhabitable homes and then what?
Violence. Bank on it.
SummerSnow
(12,608 posts)KoKo
(84,711 posts)The CRUELTY of this is beyond what I can imagine as a citizen in the USA.
And you think "Violence" is what will result? What would YOU DO in their situation?
Louisiana1976
(3,962 posts)elehhhhna
(32,076 posts)wait for it
ohheckyeah
(9,314 posts)JustAnotherGen
(31,631 posts)I read upthread that there is a 40% poverty rate in Detroit.
We'll deal with income inequality, fairness about who pays bills and who doesn't, jobs - later. Blah blah blah - those aren't points to be made to me today.
Right now - we have a pending health crises never mind how we looked totally f*cked up as a country when a large city in America is turned into a third world wasteland.
Totally f*ucked up - and a pending health crisis.
atreides1
(16,039 posts)And then they'll call out the National Guard and place Detroit under quarantine...at which time the GOP controlled state government will go with hat in hand to the federal government for support!
amandabeech
(9,893 posts)I don't doubt that a lot of people are hurting in Detroit, but I wonder if the number may be a bit less than the number of accounts that will be closed.
I spend a considerable of time in Michigan with my elderly Mom, but on the other side of the state.
The problems are overwhelming in Detroit. Without bringing the jobs back or bringing in a whole lot of federal money, I just don't know how Detroit can continue.
You can write off the state government. Snyder's bad enough, but the R-dominated legislature is among the worst in the country. The R's appear to have absolutely no conscience, and won't send a dime for a thirsty child.
My guess is that a lot of kids will get sick drinking contaminated water before anything gets done. Maybe calling in the UN would not be a bad idea. It couldn't make things worse, that's for sure.
Louisiana1976
(3,962 posts)SummerSnow
(12,608 posts)DFW
(53,930 posts)I think it was back in the Reagan years when some American town was getting shafted by the government (state or Federal, I don't recall) and they applied to the Soviet Union (!) for foreign aid. That made for some interesting headlines.
phantom power
(25,966 posts)badtoworse
(5,957 posts)neverforget
(9,433 posts)The poverty rate in Detroit is nearly 40%.
http://www.usa.com/detroit-mi-income-and-careers--historical-poverty-level-data.htm
badtoworse
(5,957 posts)It seems unlikely to me that you can remain in a house and not find the money to pay for your utilities. How long will Detroit Edison keep the lights on if you don't pay your bill?
Detroit is in rough shape, but if you don't shut off utilities to people who don't pay, why would anyone pay?
neverforget
(9,433 posts)my heating bill. Water is needed for life. It's needed for cooking, washing dishes, washing your hands, flushing the toilet, etc. So they cut off the water and what are they supposed to do? Move? If they're broke, how are they supposed to do that?
Maybe it'll take a cholera outbreak in Detroit to make people realize that water is a basic human necessity.
badtoworse
(5,957 posts)If people don't pay for the service, the Water Department won't be able to run the system and no one will have water. The money has to come from somewhere, but you refuse to deal with that. You can't just say "keep the water on" without identifying a way to pay for it. How would you cover the costs?
Maybe FEMA can bring in tanker trucks and people who get shut off can line up with containers.
neverforget
(9,433 posts)FEMA is a band aid solution to a gaping chest wound. BTW, that costs money too! The State of Michigan and/or the federal government need to step in to keep the water flowing. I'd rather pay taxes for people to have water than to fund our next Iraq incursion. It's about priorities and if we don't take care of our own citizens, we're a cruel nation.
Why is the cost in terms of money more important to you than the cost of cutting water off to people who need it to survive?
badtoworse
(5,957 posts)If the state or the feds step in, Detroit can keep the water on, but absent that, it has no choice but to shut off the accounts that don't pay.
neverforget
(9,433 posts)Oh well. Money is more important than water for survival.
thesquanderer
(11,937 posts)Sometimes renters pay the water bill.
Sometimes houses are owned free and clear of any mortgage, i.e. the people have lived in the house for dozens of years and already paid off the mortgage, or the house originally belonged to their parents, etc.
noiretextatique
(27,275 posts)Badtoworse is right. Trolls have no imaginations.
neverforget
(9,433 posts)badtoworse
(5,957 posts)neverforget
(9,433 posts)thinking of the money while I am thinking of the effects of people not having water is far greater than the cost. I don't give a fuck what it costs, people need water to survive and remain healthy. It's a basic need to survive. If we can supply foreign countries with weapons we sure as hell can find the money to fix a water problem in Detroit.
badtoworse
(5,957 posts)BTW, you didn't answer the question. If they run out of money, they won't be able to buy water treatment chemicals, pay employees or buy electricity to run the pumps. When that happens, no one will have water.
Water is certainly a basic need for survival, but just saying so doesn't solve Detroit's problem. If the state or the feds, don't step in, what would you do if you were running Detroit's water system?
neverforget
(9,433 posts)water to survive. How are they supposed to survive? Where are they going to use the bathroom? Cook? Clean their clothes and dishes?
I gave you my answer: the feds or the state have to step in to bail them out. Detroit doesn't have the resources to solve it on their own.
MrMickeysMom
(20,453 posts)Oh, yes
just let the private sector and free market level all markets
Pretty soon, after all the trickling down, the value of all taxable income will enable scooping up economics, which then will allow all those will a full bladder to acquire property for pennies on the dollar.
That's a brilliant plan. Thanks, Reagonomics!
littlemissmartypants
(22,332 posts)spartan61
(2,091 posts)to give aid to people all over the world and yet we can't help our own citizens with something so basic as water???? Unbelievable!!
Sunlei
(22,651 posts)Rick Snyder signed on the "emergency manager".
Sunlei
(22,651 posts)I can understand why the UN is needed in Michigan.
Probably need UN help in a lot of other states as more and more people are shoved below the poverty level everyday. Local utilities, local businesses keep raising their prices and that shoves more people into poverty faster.
An audit on that water company should have been done by that new mayor they put in charge last year? Better be a non-profit water company and not some private business with high paid CEOs and profits earned.
[center][/center]
Takket
(21,353 posts)I live in the Detroit area. Just saw a media report on this. The City has sent out 40000 shutoff notices (warnings to pay your bill) and has shut off water to 8000 residences. The rate hike and double the $40 national average are accurate.
Triana
(22,666 posts)And here we are.
Hey AMERICA! This is your country under GOP rule! Hope ya like it.
pampango
(24,692 posts)They hate the UN and want the US out of it. This would really set them off.
raccoon
(31,083 posts)Destruction
See also http://pasleybrothers.com/jefferson/course_of_empire.htm
socialist_n_TN
(11,481 posts)In Greece during situations like this, there were teams of workers who cut the utility back on for the poor. And then did it again when it was cut on again. Detroit needs this kind of action.
RainDog
(28,784 posts)how shameful that this nation is allowing this.
cap
(7,170 posts)People cAnt pay their water bill because of a man made economic disaster the size of Katrina . People can't pay their water bill thAt the city has doubled because they have no job or because the one they have pays below subsistence wages.
Just wAit for cholera, etc to reappear in this country. One slight problem for the one per centers or tea baggers is that cholera can become an epidemic not limited to the poor.
Uncle Joe
(58,029 posts)Thanks for the thread, KoKo.
redqueen
(115,085 posts)With about 90,000 city residents and businesses behind on their water bills, the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department in March began more aggressively collecting debt.
In May, about 46,000 notices were delivered to non-paying customers and water was cut off to about 4,500 of them, said DWSD spokesman Gregory Eno.
With 24 hours of the shutoffs, 2,700 of them paid or made arrangements to make payments and had services restored, Eno said.
...
http://www.mlive.com/news/detroit/index.ssf/2014/06/detroit_water_department_to_be.html
KamaAina
(78,249 posts)One-fifth of the world's fresh water.
I smell a massive land grab in progress.