The Perfect Example: What Has Become of America

I've tried to explain countless times on my BlogTalkRadio program what has been going on in America and why we find ourselves in this dire state of affairs.  No, I don't sit on that radio show and just throw blame at the likes of Barack Obama and Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid.  What I do is show a complete deterioration in the will of the American people, a complete breakdown in what used to be a desire to live free, a complete exhaustion of the people believing they can get out of any bind on their own. 

This story is the epitome of how a people, a state (Michigan) has completely surrendered their lives, their liberty and their sovereignty over to the Federal government.  This is disgusting beyond all words.

The story comes from Times of India.

Barack Obama signs emergency order over water in Michigan’s Flint

DETROIT: President Barack Obama signed an emergency declaration on Saturday that clears the way for federal aid for Flint, Michigan, which is undergoing a drinking water crisis.

The White House also said the Federal Emergency Management Agency will coordinate all disaster relief efforts to "alleviate the hardship and suffering" of residents. FEMA has been authorized to provide water, filters, cartridges and other items for 90 days. Flint can get up to $5 million in direct funding, though the state must match 25 percent and more money can come through an act of Congress.

Republican governor Rick Snyder requested emergency and disaster declarations late Thursday, saying needs "far exceed the state's capability," and added that emergency measures could cost $41 million. Snyder said Saturday that Obama denied the disaster declaration request based on the legal requirement that such relief is intended for natural events, fires, floods or explosions. Despite the legal limitation, the governor is considering an appeal to exhaust "every opportunity to provide resources" for residents, Snyder spokesman Dave Murray said.

The tap water in Flint, population 99,000, became contaminated after the city switched from the Detroit water system to the Flint river while a pipeline to Lake Huron is under construction. The decision to use the river was made while a Snyder-appointed emergency manager was running city government due to its financial problems. The corrosive water from the Flint river lacked adequate treatment and caused lead to leach from old pipes in homes and schools.


Flint returned to the Detroit system in October after elevated lead levels were discovered in children, and could tap into the new pipeline by summer. But officials remain concerned that old pipes could continue to leach lead, to which exposure can cause behavior problems and learning disabilities in children as well as kidney ailments in adults.

The National Guard has been distributing free water, filters and other supplies, and FEMA workers already were providing logistical and technical support.


Democratic US Senator Debbie Stabenow said she will push for long-term resources, and US representative Dan Kildee, also a Democrat, said residents "deserve every resource available to make sure they have safe water and are able to recover from this terrible man-made disaster created by the state."


The US justice department is helping the Environmental Protection Agency investigate the matter, and state Attorney General Bill Schuette has opened his own probe, which could focus on whether environmental laws were broken or if there was official misconduct.