I don’t want a new president. I’ll keep this one for 4 more years happily.
Ahhhh… Democracy in action.
I agree. You are taking the high road here. As for me, I was relishing the clip of Governor Snyder getting booed and heckled.
If anyone hasn’t heard it yet, I suggest you watch the President’s speech at Flint.
Besides promising federal help and listing the various ways his administration, volunteer groups and religious organizations – even some prisoners incarcerated in Michigan – are helping, he outlines the needs going forward:
The state has to kick in and help;
Congress has to kick in and help with funding;
We need testing, a massive pipe replacement program, apprenticeship and community college programs to train people, a preference for local residents to get these jobs, etc.
Also, he made a full-throated defense of the core mission of our system of government: to provide services of vital importance that we, as individuals, are incapable of providing for ourselves.
This will be an all-hands-on-deck approach, using the urgency of this crisis to marshal a bipartisan effort and reinforce the importance of government action.
More than just a publicity stunt to feed the news cycle, or win political expediency, this will be part of a long-term effort, just like prior Obama initiatives:
The 2009 Recovery Act, which not only injected a massive stimulus to jump-start our collapsing economy, but also planted seeds for crucial investments into renewable energy and other R and D;
The 2010 ACA, which not only extended healthcare coverage to millions, but also began the complex task of reining in healthcare costs and reforming healthcare delivery on a rational basis.
In his speech, he spoke out against the “culture of neglect” and “the pipeline of neglect” which arises from the notion that government that does next to nothing is the highest we can aspire to, and that, particularly when it comes to the poor and those without resources or political clout, we are all on our own.
As the President said, “We are all in this together.”
And In his speech, he also spoke out against the spirit of hopelessness, despair and cynicism that argues that an entire generation of Flint children have been irreversibly ruined, their futures forfeit. Noting that resources are coming in, and that Medicaid is available to them, he said, “These kids will be fine – if we look out for them,” and that, “My hope is that this begins a national conversation about what we need to do to invest in future generations.”
Never let a crisis go to waste: “There is a sermon about a phoenix rising from these ashes; and there is the opportunity, out of this complete screw-up, this painful tragedy, this neglect, this disappointment, to actually pull together and make for a better future. Sometimes it takes a crisis for everybody to focus their attention.”
And another takeaway: “So, Flint, I’m not just here to say, ‘I’ve got your back,” not just to say that you will get help, I’m also here to say you’ve got power, I’m also here to say you count, I’m also here to say that you can make a difference and rebuild this city better than ever – and you’ll have a friend and partner in the President of the United States.”
Keep hope alive.
Game on.