Republicans in Congress are going through their usual hostage-taking during the critical government funding cycle. Much of the federal government will shut down after September 30 if Congress does not approve temporary funding by then. So far, the Senate has a bill to extend funding through December 9. That bill also has funding to combat the Zika virus and to assist victims of the recent flooding in Louisiana. It does NOT provide urgently needed help to the people of Flint, Michigan to fix the lead contamination in their drinking water. They have just been told that they’ll need to keep filtering their water or buying bottled water for months, or even a year longer; that’s a temporary and inadequate fix. At least 9,000 children in Flint have exposure to lead that has placed their health at risk. The water crisis in Flint has been ongoing since 2014.