As I read the statements by Debbie Baltazar in this article, I believe my flesh crawled. I can't believe these people were more interested in money than human life. Sad, sad commentary. We really need to become interested in government in this country and start policing situations like this as citizens. How can this happen in a nation as wealthy as the U.S. Something has got to be done about this. This situation needs to be made the example as to why State and Local governments do not do this to communities within their jurisdiction. Heads need to roll.

For instance, GOP Rick Snyder hired the guy who he was SUPPOSED to face in the 2010 election DEM Andy Dillon to serve as Michigan Treasurer.

Memos Snyder released in January show Dillon was the official who made the call to OK the switch to Flint River water. Dillon said he thought Flint wouldn't be using the water to drink.

http://www.mlive.com/news/flint/index.ssf/2016/01/former_michigan_state_treasure.html

Important for DUers and Democrats to know:

After failing to win the Democratic nomination to oppose Snyder in the gubernatorial campaign of 2010, he failed to support the Democratic nominee, Lansing Mayor Virg Bernero. So, Dillon was invited to serve as State Treasurer.

with links to information that verifies what you are discussing. Thank you for the detail, and for connecting the dots. Yes, GREED has taken control of Government Again, we are officially back in the Gilded Age. This is so sad. Thank you for posting Octafish, I gain so much from your wisdom.

The question is, has anyone really looked into the way our political Machiavelli world has affected agencies that are seriously charged with protecting the Public safety, health and welfare? We all know that local and State and sometimes Federal government only plays lip service to these responsibilities, but small government hatchet jobs have steadily worked on eliminating high-minded civil servants. Can this Debbie Baltazar be the product of this process?

I also believe the hatchet job on government you have talked about, the revolving door that continues to send the same people out to corporations and then back into government on both sides of the aisle plays a role. It is time we as citizens begin demanding closure of the revolving door and the pay to play politics that have become government in this nation since Glass Steagall repeal and Citizens United enactment.

I met someone who said he retired from the EPA. I made the mistake of saying, "Oh, you're one of the good guys." But then, he proceeds to tell me how the EPA made him monitor the radiation that was hitting the U.S. mainland from the Fukushima nuclear disaster. He said he didn't know why they were spending money on this exercise because the radiation is insignificant.

I'm thinking to myself, if the EPA won't monitor these levels to confirm they're insignificant, then what is the option? Wait until it becomes a crisis?

And, I know this guy is a good guy. But I think that because of Republican small government pressure even the most high-minded civil servant is going to learn how to talk the talk they want to hear.

Debbie Baltazar: Loyalty is a two-way street!

If you won't go out on a limb for citizen of Flint, then why should they ever go out on a limb for you?

And why should their money expenditures be more closely scrutinized than those of other cities in Michigan, or the US?

I did not get a chance yet to see the hearing on C-SPAN.

Then see if she's willing to go out on a limb.

Not as a public offical.

Call her to the hearing and ask her "Which communities are you willing to go out on a limb for?"

This statement was made after the revelation of lead in the drinking water came to light.

I heard and read that the EPA was not informed of the decision to change the water source until after the change had been made.

I am VERY reluctant to go on an anti-EPA rant here, because it seems like a set up from the anti-EPA types.

Looking for a way to duck the blame, so they cherry pick some information about their pet target, the EPA.

It's the facet where "those damn gubmint employees fucked up again."

Instead of using this as a teachable moment about why everything the GOP has said about "running govt like a business" is utterly wrong, the only thing Americans are going to hear out of this is "the EPA fucked up" which is another way of saying "The GOP is right, government is the problem."

So, thanks for that Debbie, heckuva job.

this is ridiculous, but let us not forget about the officials that created the situation - they can't hide behind this either.. they are ALL culpable.. every last one of them..





How can people vote such incompetents into office..

Make sure they do...it is beginning to look as though their influence, not to mention Citizens United and the money that can block decent candidates, and let us not forget the two party system that makes it soooo easy to control elections and government. This is what Fascism looks like, and if we don't stop it soon, I shudder to think of what will become of this nation.

If the EPA comes down too hard on apportioning blame -and Snyder manages to wriggle free somehow- then the EPA will have lost face and still be deemed as an adversary. But if they go about their jobs, the truth will be evident that the EPA helped people out. It's politics, nothing more.

Absent a smoking gun, there is nothing to be gained by doing anything other than their jobs. And let Michigan reach its own conclusion as to whether or not Snyder did his.
[hr][font color="blue"][center]The truth doesn’t always set you free.
Sometimes it builds a bigger cage around the one you’re already in.[/center][/font][hr]

Left up to those who don't give a damn, nothing will get done.

like to have seen a the complete email.

The people of Flint aren't worth it.

Michael Moore Would strongly disagree.

"At every stage of this process, it seems that we spend more time trying to maintain State/local relationships than we do trying to protect the children," he wrote. "You don't have to drop a bowling ball off of every building in every city to prove that gravity (and science) will work the same way everywhere. It's basic chemistry."

The emails also show a reluctance from EPA to use the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund -- money that the federal agency gives states to loan to communities for water infrastructure repairs -- for water filters. Officials worried that the money would be misspent in a cash-strapped city like Flint, where for years water rate revenues funded other public works projects.