Bernie Sanders: ‘If We Can Rebuild Villages in Iraq, We Can Damn Well Rebuild Flint, Michigan’

[UglyGreed]

Speaking at a campaign stop in Michigan on Monday, Sen. Bernie Sanders said that the embattled community of Flint is the “canary in the coal mine” in a country that has seemingly endless money to spend on wars in the Middle East, but cannot afford to protect its citizens or rebuild its aging infrastructure.

“It is beyond my comprehension that in the year 2016 in the United States of America we are poisoning our children,” he told a crowd of more than 9,300 people at Eastern Michigan University after meeting with a number of Flint residents earlier in the day.

“Can you imagine being a mother, seeing your own baby’s, your own child’s intellectual development, deteriorate in front of your very eyes?” he asked the crowd during a mid-afternoon rally. “That is happening all over that city.”

http://ecowatch.com/2016/02/17/bernie-sanders-flint/

[VulgarPoet]

1. K/r.

[RiverLover]

2. This man should run for President! /nt

[UglyGreed]

3. That's a great idea!!!!

[sarge43]

8. He could be a contender. n/t

[Victor_c3]

19. I disagree. He is obviously too much of an extremist

It says something about our nation when the notion that we should take of our citizens and our communities makes someone radically left.

[Fast Walker 52]

34. LOL!!! Heck, he should BE president!

[RiverLover]

38. Yes indeed he should!

[demwing]

4. Oh Bernie!

You old rainbow farting unicorn pony riding dreamer. Be pragmatic, no one can afford to save brown people at home when we're too busy killing brown people abroad!

Silly rabbit

[angrychair]

10. LOL

I have to say though squatty potty commercials have ruined the "rainbow farting unicorn" analogies for me.

[Android3.14]

5. How? Designate eroding infrastructure as a "clear and present danger"

Use military funds and the Army Corps of Engineers to fix Flint, and then move on to the rest of the nation.

Get the job done.

[sarge43]

9. Better yet, how about reviving the Civilian Conservation Corps?

We have the talent and training.

Yeah, yeah, socialism and "It's too haaard".

[hedgehog]

30. Most infrastructure work is done by contractors -

but it would be a chance to funnel money to contractors who are women and/or people of color. It's tricky, there are always people gaming the system with shadow owners, but it can be done.

[sarge43]

36. Doesn't have to be just one approach

Whatever works and let's get to work.

[Stryst]

12. Maybe we could get the legionnaires disease

bacteria designated an enemy combatant. Then there would be money to deal with it.

[winterwar]

57. Good one

We could probably get Republicans to vote for war against lead if we told them lead was sympathetic to Isis

[Uncle Joe]

6. Kicked and recommended.

Thanks for the thread, UglyGreed.

[NCTraveler]

7. Bernie Sanders four days ago.

“I just met with seven or eight residents of Flint, Mich. I obviously have read the newspapers, and have been somewhat involved in the issue, but I really did not know how ugly, how horrible and how terrible what is going on there is. It is beyond my comprehension that in the year 2016, in the United States of America, we are poisoning our children.”

You see why it's important for politicians to go to these places first hand.

[Tanuki]

21. I agree that it's important and I hope he goes soon. Notwithstanding another thread which stated

that he went there recently*, he hasn't actually gone yet. This meeting with the 7 or 8 residents happened prior to one of his rallies elsewhere in Michigan.

http://www.nytimes.com/politics/first-draft/2016/02/15/bernie-sanders-meets-with-resident-of-flint-before-campaign-rally-in-michigan/

* I won't call out the poster by linking to that thread, but you probably saw it. It was the one that featured a picture of Bernie in a similar pose to this famous Post-Katrina pic:

[Hoyt]

11. Agree with rebuilding Flint and similar. We also owe it to Iraq and Afghanistan after our bombs..

Glad to see Sanders catching up with Clinton on Flint.

[navarth]

13. 'catching up with Clinton'

how sweet.

[UglyGreed]

14. Well let's talk about fracking

and Hillary love for it..............

[Ed Suspicious]

26. A statement filled to the brim with horse shit.

[stillwaiting]

32. Same as it ever was. Transparent agenda.

Not you that I'm referring to!!

[AlbertCat]

35. Glad to see Sanders catching up with Clinton on Flint.

But he has yet to selfishly scurry out there for photo ops.

[Hoyt]

39. Photo ops get things done nowadays. Sanders was too busy to even do that.

[AlbertCat]

42. Photo ops get things done nowadays.

What, exactly?

[Hoyt]

44. Get people's attention. Shouldn't be that way, but it is. Clinton gets that.

[AlbertCat]

45. Get people's attention.

Well, there good attention and there's bad attention. Dunno if she gets that.

[Hoyt]

46. Nothing wrong appearing where people need help. I think her appearance/comments have helped Flint.

[Logical]

48. LOL, are you fucking serious? You are getting desperate. Nt

[Hoyt]

49. Actually, I am serious. Clinton got something done there. Sanders did not.

"On Saturday, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) called on Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder (R) to resign over the lead poisoning crisis in Flint. Three days later, Snyder remains in office, and Sanders has moved on after generating a fair amount of media attention.

On Thursday, Hillary Clinton went on national television and chastised Snyder for refusing to ask for federal assistance in order to help the affected residents. Two hours after that interview aired on "The Rachel Maddow Show" on MSNBC, the governor did just that.
Clinton had also already dispatched two of her top aides -- including one with years of experience working for a Michigan senator -- to the state to assist Flint Mayor Karen Weaver (D) with whatever she needed.

The different approaches are emblematic of the ways the two Democratic presidential candidates respond to problems -- and would perhaps continue to do so if they win the presidency. Sanders goes big, not always worrying about whether what he's proposing is politically realistic. Clinton, meanwhile, focuses on the pragmatic instead of the aspirational, using her experience as a guide to what can get done. "

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/hillary-clinton-flint_us_569e66c3e4b04c8137617f05

[questionseverything]

50. according to rachel last night

and the flint mayor...snyder is not giving the town the money to start actually replacing pipes

too bad there isn't some rich,famous foundation out there that could give the funds needed to start

snyder needs to be prosecuted

[Art_from_Ark]

62. Bernie opened an office in Flint before Hillary made her brief appearance

and he is the only presidential candidate with an office in Flint.

His office is also helping to deliver water to Flint residents.

[TryLogic]

15. It is amazing how Bernie can say the obvious while other politicians continue with calculated BS.

[redruddyred]

16. yeah but without any expensive foreign adventures

how are the GOP candidates going to stretch out their debates for two hours?

[jalan48]

17. But, can we afford it? We have to be pragmatic and realistic you know.

[Orrex]

18. Maybe we would built a $40M pre-abandoned military base in Flint

And then never use it.

[Roy Rolling]

20. Freedumb

Typical big government, socialist dictator. Where is my liberty and freedom to poison my kids? What about my freedom?

[Spitfire of ATJ]

22. Republican solution: Shoot the plumbing in the face.

[Zorra]

23. Maybe there's a whole lot more profit in rebuilding bridges in Iraq than

there is in rebuilding Flint.

And, remember, in rebuilding villages in Iraq, there is the element of cheap, outsourced labor! Those people have been bombed into submission and will work for almost nothing!

The system works!!!

[Tanuki]

24. DUers who would like to do something immediately to help can donate to the Flint Child Health

and Development Fund. This was founded by Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha, who has been at the forefront of sounding the alarm on this, bringing it to the public's attention, and providing direct care to the children affected by this tragedy.
https://www.cfgf.org/cfgf/GoodWork/FlintArea/WaterCrisis/tabid/855/Default.aspx

Dr. Mona has said "If there was ever a time to invest in our children, it is now. Our Flint children deserve every opportunity to be healthy and successful. The creation of this Fund will further ensure that our children are afforded the resources and interventions to overcome this population-wide exposure to lead.”

The Fund, established at the Community Foundation of Greater Flint, is a supplemental resource to the ongoing pursuit of state and federal funding. Grants will be advised by a committee of community members with representation from residents, Hurley Children’s Hospital, Mott Children’s Health Center, Greater Flint Health Coalition, United Way of Genesee County, and the Community Foundation of Greater Flint.

A gift today to the Flint Child Health & Development Fund will be used to aid children with interventions that support positive health outcomes for Flint children, including:

Immediate response
Optimal child health & development
Early childhood education
Educational and Student Support Services
Continuous access to a pediatric medical home
Access to infant and child behavioral health services
Nutrition education
Healthy food access
Safe & healthy home environments
Integrated social services
Research

[Jester Messiah]

25. Fucking finally! A president who has the United States in mind! [nt]

[Arizona Roadrunner]

27. President Obama should visit Flint first before visiting Cuba

President Obama should visit Flint first before visiting Cuba. The Mayor along with the talent from Lansing has a plan and program that could start today. They need funding. President could fund it now and then bill Michigan later to help compensate for the fact that the Federal Government has played a role in the delay on this situation.

[blackspade]

28. The rebuilding should have begun last year....

The fact that there is still no work being done is a crime.

[Skwmom]

29. This is why I love Bernie. He isn't afraid to say what needs to be said. n/t

[NCjack]

31. If we take a pass on the next war (esp. don't invade a country), the DoD

will have plenty of money to task the rebuilding of Flint, MI by the Corps of Engineers.

[UglyGreed]

33. Good point

and perhaps some left over to help the sick and educate our children....it does take a village don't it?

[tblue37]

37. KnR. But the reason we can spend endless amounts rebuilding infrastructure in

Iraq is because Halliburton and other well connected parasites make tons of money from those contracts.

Besides, since everything built or rebuilt in the places we've turned into permanent war zones will be destroyed as soon as we rebuild it--or even before the work has been completed--Halliburton et al. can keep making more money re-doing the same job.

Fixing US infrastructure is nowhere near as profitable for those who own our government.

[rladdi]

40. But the issue is the Republicans are in control, they are not building but letting state self

destruct. Republicans are not about to spend money fixing the lead poison water. They never are charged for criminal actions. The MICH Senate Leader, just said he is in no hurry to allocate any funds to Flint to remove water pipes. And of course, Gov. Snyder said he wanted more time to investigate.

This is a good reason not to give states control, like the GOP wants.

[Kittycat]

41. We have wars to pay for! You aren't going to tax me for a bunch

Of freeloaders refuse to fix their own plumbing and water supply.

Isn't that the republican and corporate way? Every democrat and progressive should be beating this message loud and clear! No money for the war machine until we take care of those back home. If we can't take care of those back home, what's the purpose of funding "security" and wars when we wont have anyone capable (physically or developmentally) to fight them!

[Javaman]

43. I'm fine with that as long as we don't use KBR

who electrified the showers.

[Logical]

47. This man is a class act! Nt

[TBF]

51. Word. K&R nt

[passiveporcupine]

52. It's not just Flint Michigan

We need to do a lot of work over the entire US. Portland Oregon is now talking about people being poisoned by things like arsenic in the metro area.

I think Flint is the canary in the coal mine, but the coal mine is already filled with toxins.

[libodem]

53. Flint

Was, Shock and Awed, by Corporate Republican Snakes.

That town needs to be made whole by suing the pants off the Governor.

[Enthusiast]

54. K&R! This post deserves hundreds of recommendations!

[beam me up scottie]

55. K & R!

Both Bernie and Hillary deserve credit for calling attention to the plight of Flint residents.

[SciDude]

56. I think in the final analysis Hillary will decide

that it's just too hard to fix Flint and would cost too much so she will let her banker buddies take over again.

[zentrum]

58. In this country

….whole pallets laden with dollar bills couldn't disappear completely unaccounted for. So we all know why.

10 to 12Billion shrink wrapped $100 dollar bills simply vanished and have never been recovered.

[SoLeftIAmRight]

59. yep

poof

[Octafish]

60. K&R

Thanks for the heads-up, UglyGreed!

[AzDar]

61. Gonna be one helluva great President!

Bernie!!

[Live and Learn]

63. K&R nt