‘Public flogging’ inevitable when government screws up this bad

When you screw up like government officials did in Flint, Mich. it’s only a matter of time before the public flogging.

There is bipartisan agreement on Capitol Hill that allowing toxic amounts of lead to leach into the water supply in Flint was unforgivable. But as for which direction to point the finger, that was highly partisan.

During yesterday’s hearing on Capitol Hill, Democrats tended to point at Republican Governor Rick Snyder for being clueless.

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“Governor Snyder’s administration caused this horrific disaster.”

But Snyder blamed the Federal government.

And when of those Federal bureaucrats, Gina McCarthy, tried to explain it was state officials who covered it up.

Then Republican Jason Chaffetz, the committee chairperson, blew up. He said McCarthy should resign.

Democrats said Governor Snyder should resign.

When this story first broke I spoke with a member of the Flint Water Study – the group that first detected the problem.

Siddhartha Roy blames the lead debacle on the state-appointed emergency manager who was forced on the city of Flint after the Great Recession for the purpose of balancing the city’s budget – and cut corners doing it.

“There was no scientific study done …” Roy said. “It blows my mind.”

And for all the congressional outrage, Congress has still not passed the very bill that was introduced to pay for fixing what happened in Flint.