Lame duck legislators actiing like tenant trashers

An Echo editorial published in Ann Arbor, Michigan (MLive):

Lame duck legislation is like the rental tenants who trash the owner's property before leaving town

The following reflects the opinion of the Michigan Live Media Group Editorial Board.

It was over the thunderous protest of dozens of Michigan residents that Republican lawmakers enacted a controversial bill weakening the newly-elected Democratic Attorney General this week.

It was a scene that has become emblematic of the 2018 lame-duck session, in which lawmakers have worked to undermine, subvert and attack the will of the Michigan voters.

Our state’s citizens spoke loud and clear in the November election. They voted to give all three of the state’s most powerful executive offices – the Governor, Attorney General and Secretary of State – to Democrats for the first time since 1990.

Michiganders also voted through three ballot proposals to legalize recreational marijuana, create an independent redistricting commission and enact sweeping election reforms.

The Republican-led legislature, instead of respecting those decisions, is trying to render them moot by limiting the power of executive-branch officials and making changes to the ballot proposals Michiganders voted on less than a month ago. Michigan isn’t alone, with Republican lawmakers in Ohio, North Carolina and Wisconsin also working to pass legislation to undermine newly-elected Democratic leaders.

Michigan’s legislators need to immediately stop pushing these types of bills through a lame duck session and allow those Michigan voters are sending to office have a voice. 

And Gov. Rick Snyder needs to do the right thing and not sign these into law.

In the last week, lawmakers have also gutted citizen-proposed minimum wage and paid sick time initiatives. Prior to the election, the legislature adopted both initiatives, only to come back and significantly change them following a short break. Those bills have already passed the Republican-led House and Senate, and await the signature of Snyder, who collaborated with lawmakers on some of the changes.

The practice was pitched by Republican leadership as an “adopt and amend” plan, but Senate Minority Leader Jim Ananich, D-Flint, was closer to the truth when he termed the plan an “undo and screw.”

But the legislature isn’t done. Other pending bills would:

• Put new restrictions around the independent redistricting commission created by Proposal 2 

• Re-write the recreational marijuana law Michiganders approved in November 

• Give the legislature the power to intervene in lawsuits, undermining the Attorney General 

• Take away the ability of the Secretary of State to regulate campaign finance 

• Make sure the Attorney General or Secretary of State couldn’t require political nonprofits to disclose their donors

• Tie the hands of the incoming administration on Enbridge’s Line 5 pipeline in the Straits of Mackinac, by jump-starting the process of building a tunnel, like Snyder supports 

Each of these ideas may have merit. But rushing them through in lame duck, when hundreds of bills are flying, sometimes in the dead of night, disrespects the political process and disregards the will of the voters.

Debating them openly and thoroughly in 2019 would ensure citizens, and the new governor they elected by a sizable majority, get to weigh in.

But all signs point to the legislature continuing to act, as one resident who attended a hearing in opposition of one of these bills put it, like tenants trying to trash their rental on the way out.

When it comes to democracy, Republican leaders are better off leaving this institution as they found it.

Tax money for Flint Michigan water - politicians want some of the money!

Michigan governor requests millions in tax dollars for legal defense
Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder (a Republican) requested $1.2 million to pay for his defense attorneys in lawsuits against the state government for mishandling and failing to prevent the Flint water crisis. By Cathaleen Chen

Republican austerity policies in Flint, ME are costing tax payers millions in preventable fixing.

Michigan's Republican Governor Rick Snyder has admitted letting the people of Flint down, when his appointed city fiscal manager negotiated a change in the city's water source for the purpose of saving municipal money. But, now the decision he made to save tax money is costing Michigan taxpayers millions now and for an untold future of court challenges for reparations.  Now, Governor Snyder is even asking for Michigan taxpayers to help pay his legal fees resulting from his mismanagement.  In a "political slight of hand", Snyder has asked the state's legislature to approve money to help resolve the Flint water problem, that he helped to create, while, at the same time, allocate funds to deflect his legal fees.

Michigan Taxpayers Face Paying Millions In Legal Fees Over Flint Crisis- Critics called the proposals a "kick in the teeth" to those who suffered from lead-tainted water.

Michigan Governor Rick Snyder (R) made a decision to support a municipal manager who is now responsible for costing the state's taxpayers millions!  Republican policies are failing the American people and Flint Michigan is a morbid sympton of their public mismanagement.

Michigan taxpayers may face at least $2.7 million in legal fees under new requests from the state's governor and attorney general over the Flint water crisis.

Gov. Rick Snyder (R) requested on Tuesday $1.2 million for legal services, more than double the $500,000 already earmarked. Attorney General Bill Schuette asked for a separate increase in funds to $1.5 million to pay a firm investigating the government's involvement in the crisis.

Flint has been reeling after residents discovered brown water flowing from their taps in 2014. The local government largely ignored complaints about the situation for months until reports emerged saying the water was contaminated withdangerously high levels of lead, a neurotoxin that can cause brain damage in young children.

The failed response has prompted a severe backlash against Snyder, including allegations that state and city officials ignored evidence the water was toxic. President Barack Obama called the incident "inexcusable" and Presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders have both called on the governor to resign.

Several high-profile lawsuits have already been filed against the government. Another seeking class-action status was filed earlier this week on behalf of seven families from areas with lead-poisoned water .

The increased legal fees will be used to investigate whether any laws were broken in the government's response and to defend the governor's office against any wrongdoing. A spokesperson for the governor told the Detroit Free Press the legal contracts would become more expensive "based on the anticipated billing for work already completed and the workload as we look ahead."

“The attorney general is running an independent, broad-based investigation team that will leave no stone unturned,” Andrea Bitely, a spokeswoman for Schuette, told the Detroit News.

As The Huffington Post's Dana Liebelson and Arthur Delaney reported last month, Schuette's office already seems to have chosen sides in the crisis, advising lower-level officials they would need to find their own lawyers while the attorney general defends the governor.

State lawmakers attacked the new budget proposal and called the increases"outrageous" and a "kick in the teeth" to taxpayers already hurting from toxic drinking water.

The contracts will go to the State Administrative Board for approval on Tuesday.

Give Governor Rick Snyder a political grade of "F" for leadership and recall him for fiscal mismanagement of Michigan's tax money.

Hilary Clinton puts focus on Flint Water Crisis - Republican shame

Flint Michigan and the state's Republicans caused the water poison problem now causing health concerns for the city's residents, especially harming the children. This lead water problem is an example of how Republicans are ignoring their civic responsibility to improve the human condition. Moreover, rather than fix the problem with lead in Flint's drinking water, the state government is just wringing its hands.  

FLINT WATER CRISIS
FEB 7 2016, 6:44 PM ET
Hillary Clinton: 'What Happened in Flint Is Immoral'

Thank goodness Hillary Clinton (and Senator Bernie Sanders) is keeping the focus on the plight of Flint citizens who are feeling powerless to get results from the Republican Governor Rick Snyder.  Mrs. Clinton is also visiting Flint, to continue the pressure on Governor Rick Snyder.

Clinton started her remarks during her Flint visit the way she often does in a house of worship, with a psalm: "This is the day that the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it," she said, quoting Psalm 118:24.

Mrs. Hillary Clinton speaks in Flint Michigan on February 7th, to the people harmed by the lead poisoning in the water supplyClinton praised Mayor Weaver as "someone who is working every way she knows how to provide the help and support that all the people of Flint deserve to have."

Problems with the Flint Michigan's water was reported almost as soon as the city's municipal manager, appointed by Governor Snyder, supported an initiative to save money by changing the source of the city's water supply. In the past, Flint received it's municipal water from the Detroit resovoir. But, to save money, the municipal manager changed the source to the Flint River. That's when the trouble began over two  years ago. Now, irreversible damage has been done to children who have been drinking the lead poisoned water. If lead poisoned water had been caused by a terrorist attack, the Republicans would be demanding for political heads to roll. Unfortunately, because the decision to change the water source was made by the state's Republican administration, the issue isn't considered to be a national crisis, like it would otherwise have been.

Democrats must remind the Michigan people and the American voters about the risks of putting Republicans in charge of government. With Republicans in charge, the cost of government becomes so austere as to put the public health in danger. 

MLive.com repots: FLINT, MI – Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton visited Flint on Feb. 7th.

The former senator and Secretary of State visited the city and she used the stop to encourage support for a federal funding proposal to help the city deal with its water crisis, according to a Clinton aide.

News of the trip comes a day after the Democratic National Committee agreed to sanction a debate between Clinton and rival Bernie Sanders in Flint for March 6.

"We should use the spotlight of the presidential campaign to keep the focus on Flint, and to lift up the historic underlying issues that Flint and too many other predominately low-income communities of color across America are struggling with every day," Clinton campaign chair John Podesta said.

Clinton previously discussed the water issue during a debate in Charleston, S.C., and penned an op-ed for MSNBC. She has also previously sent top aides to the city to meet with Flint's Mayor, Karen Weaver, who was replaced by Governor Snyder, with the municipal manager, that caused the Flint Water Crisis.

Incredulously, the Republicans' presidential candidate's debates have not mentioned the Flint Water Crisis.  Shame on them.

Terrorism has different faces - Oregon and Michigan

With the world paralyzed about the fear of international terrorism, like the Islamic State or the Taliban, two parallel situations are occurring within the US. In Harney County, Oregon a group of radical libertarians are holding the US government hostage, because they happen to have a point of view about land owner's rights, even though the "land" they're disputing isn't owned by any of the protesters. In Flint, Michigan, the state government polluted an entire city population by allowing lead tainted water to be used by the citizens after it was determined that a new river-water transport system hadn't been corrosion protected.  In both situations, our own citizens caused danger to the public. Yet, because the people who perpetrated the domestic dangers are embroiled in politics, the issues are more complicated than they, otherwise, should be. In other words, if terrorists like radical "Islamic State" occupiers had taken over the Oregon public lands to protest against the US government, the situation would be an international incident. Likewise, if a terrorist group had poured lead into public drinking water, the entire nation would be revolting and heads would roll.

Nevertheless, because the Oregon "occupiers" were right wing extremists, who take pride in defying the US government, they're given the benefit of extraordinary patience. To do otherwise, for example, to create another "Waco Texas siege" nightmare, has the devastating risk of creating boomerang situations, like what happened in Oklahoma City with Timothy McVeigh. Ruby Ridge, Idaho, in 1992, was another horrifying experience where right wing libertarians created inflated paranoia about government and, as a result, caused domestic carnage. If the perpetrators of these crimes were right wing "Islamic State" fighters or the Taliban, the public urgency to rid ourselves of them as soon as possible would be overwhelming. Instead, these weirdos have domestic sympathizers.

Now, CNN reports, at least 7 of the right wing Oregon "occupiers" were arrested and one killed, in a police traffic stop. This situation is, frankly, likely to create more weird sympathy for the criminal acts caused by these people, than public relief that they've been stopped.

Flint Michigan residents continue to receive water bills to pay for lead polluted water. It seems like the least Governor Snyder could do would be to call for a moratorium on sending water bills.

Similarly, in Flint, Michigan, the water contamination was the result of cost cutting by the municipal officials who decided to change the city's public water source without taking precautions against lead poisoning.  As a result, citizens of Flint have been exposed to lead in their drinking water for about two years, while the state "investigated" the matter. Now, irreversible health damage has been done to all the children who have high blood levels.  While cutting costs to save money on water transport, the state of Michigan is now strapped with many years of lawsuits and the overwhelming cost of trying to figure out how to fix the problem created by "cutting costs" in the first place.

If a Democratic governor were in charge of Michigan, the Republicans would be screeching about the water contamination issue, using it as an example of "government is the problem, not the solution" argument. Instead, Governor Rick Snyder is a Republican, who is a darling in the future of the "Grand Old Party- GOP". Therefore, the outcry against his leadership is muted byhis apologies. Of course, his apology is two years too late and the "fix" hasn't even begun.  In fact, Michigan plumbers and contractors are waiting for call to begin to fix the Flint water, but they're like proverbial "Maytag repairmen"- waiting with no call.

In fact, Michigan's government isn't doing anything substantial to fix Flint's "lead pollution", except to support bottled water distribution programs and advise people not to use the lead infected water. It's even been reported that the federal money sent to Michigan to help with the problem may not be applied to the fix. Even worse, Flint residents are still sent water bills! 

Meanwhile, more children are at risk for being exposed to the damaging effect of the lead. As one mother said during a television report, "Governor Snyder's children are not exposed to this water so why are we having to deal with this?" Complicating the already emotional and public health problems are the socio-economic situations in Flint. Yes, the people who live there middle class and many are African-American. As a result, Michigan's governor is being accused of environmental discrimination by allowing the lead problem to go on for so long when the problem would've probably never happened in an affluent community. Nevertheless, if an international terrorist group had infected a city's water supply with contaminants, the public outcry would be overwhelming and many political heads would roll. Instead, Governor Snyder is still in office, defending his situation while doing next to nothing to resolve the problem.  

In the absence of any action, the Detroit News reports that the United Nations "Committee for Social Development" has even taken the extraordinary step of investigating the Flint Michigan water health danger. Of course, Americans would expect to feel international outrage, if the Flint water problem were caused by radical terrorism!

So, Americans continue to become victims of right wing extremism. Land rights libertarian groups are terrorists who believe they know more than the government and they're ready to die to prove their points. Furthermore, Republicans have been reticent about criticizing Governor Snyder, even though, unquestionably, they'd be livid, on right wing FoxNews, screeching, if he were a Democrat rather than a political "conservative darling".

In fact, Republicans and their right wing extremists who "wag the party", are hypocrites. They don't seem to care about the common good so long as they're getting attention. Although Governor Snyder apologized for the Flint water contamination, he's done nothing to offer reparations or to fix it....a shallow apology.  

As an American, I demand accountability from Republicans. They must hold their own party to the same standards as they expect from Democrats. Our nation was built on lofty concepts for creating a new world order, but Republicans are dismantling many progressive achievements, not the least of which is political integrity.