At the Congressional hearing about the Flint water crisis, Governor Rick Snyder of Michigan said he didn’t want to point fingers, but then proceeded to blame everyone but himself. 

It doesn’t take a Sherlock Holmes to recognize that the real culprit was on the stand. Governor Snyder appointed every official involved in the decision to save money by shutting off the clean water supply.

“Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder began his opening statement before the House Government Oversight Committee hearing on the Flint water crisis by saying, “I am not going to point fingers.” In the same statement and in comments made during questioning, he then blamed the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for the failure to prevent the poisoning of Flint’s drinking water with the powerful, tasteless, odorless, invisible neurotoxin lead. He explicitly called out “bureaucrats created a culture that valued technical compliance over common sense”. Presumably this includes the man he himself appointed to head he DEQ, Dan Wyant, a man with no previous experience in dealing with water regulation or regulations:

“Prior to directing the MDA [Michigan Department of Agriculture], Director Wyant provided policy expertise for the Senate Majority Office and was associate director of Governor John Engler’s Office of Legislative Affairs. He began his career in the private sector, as a marketing manager for the Ralston Purina Co. and then as an export trade consultant for Lowe’s International.

 

 

“Director Wyant holds a bachelor’s degree in food systems management from Michigan State University (MSU) and a master’s in business administration from American University in Washington, D.C.

 

 

“Gov. Snyder also stated plainly that “this was a failure of government at all levels”. The truth, of course, is that this wasn’t a failure of “government”. It was, in fact, a failure of Gov. Snyder, members of his administration, and, most importantly, the policies of Emergency Management and “running government like a business”. Gov. Snyder’s blaming of “government” is the continuance of a Republican policy of running government poorly and then blaming the broad category of “government” rather than the specific policies and individuals who are responsible for running that government. The fact is, properly run, government is not the problem, it is the watchdog to prevent problems. There is a direct and fatal line between Gov. Snyder’s policies of Emergency Management and “running government like a business”. In fact, during questioning, Gov. Snyder admitted this. When asked if the situation in Flint was a direct result of the failure of Emergency Management, Gov. Snyder replied, “In this particular case, with respect to the water issue, that would be a fair conclusion.”

 

 

“Another aspect of the hearings was a continuation of Republicans blaming the EPA for this catastrophe. It was bewildering to watch the very same Congressional Republicans who have worked to undermine the EPA and who fight what they see as EPA over-regulation to now malign that agency for under-regulating in the case of Flint.

 

 

“During the hearing, Democratic Rep. William Clay from Missouri was to the point:

 

[He said:]

 

 

“You know, I have to hand it to my Republican colleagues. They are actually making their argument with a straight face. And, you know, just to be clear, Republicans here today are claiming that the EPA – the Obama EPA – should have been more aggressive in stepping in and seizing control and overruling the Republican-controlled state of Michigan. They are just outraged that the EPA wasn’t more assertive with Michigan and didn’t immediately go public with their complaints about the state’s failure to follow the law. Ms. McCarthy, the irony is almost overwhelming, isn’t it? Republicans have been absolutely slamming the EPA for overreaching at every possible turn. Now they criticize the EPA for not doing more when Gov. Snyder fell down on the job.”

 

Givernor Snyder should take responsibility, hold himself accountable for poisoning the water of Flunt, and do the right thug: RESIGN.