Sen. Mitch McConnell is playing a game of chicken over a government shutdown in hopes of denying the aid the city of Flint, Michigan has been waiting for for over a year. It's been that long since the world discovered what the citizens of that town have known for a while—they're water is poison. And Congress has yet to act to help. If McConnell and his cronies have their way, they never will.
Democrats are insisting that it be included in the stop-gap spending bill that's has to be passed in the next eight days to keep the government's lights on.
“We have been trying to fund Flint for I think it’s eight months now,” Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) told reporters Tuesday. “People in Flint are still drinking water out of bottles. They still have children who are sick with lead poisoning. And the Republicans have refused to do anything.” […]
There is broad bipartisan agreement that Congress needs to act quickly to approve federal disaster relief for the wide swath of Louisiana impacted by historic rainfall and flooding that killed 13 people in August. Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards (D) has requested $2.8 billion to help rebuild the area where flooding has typically been rare and few residents were protected by flood insurance.
But Democrats are insisting Republicans also agree to include money to help Flint deal with a water supply that has been poisoned by lead contamination.
“You can’t put Louisiana in unless you put Flint in, they both should be together,” Senate Democratic Policy Committee Chairman Sen. Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) told reporters Thursday.
After a long delay Thursday morning, McConnell came to the floor to move the funding bill forward, claiming that he was offering a "clean" spending bill. Sen. Barbara Mikulski, the ranking Democrat on Appropriations put that lie to rest. Not only does the bill not help Flint, it does contain partisan poison pill riders. But it's the Flint deal that is particularly galling.
Republicans are claiming that they already helped Flint, that if everyone just waits a few months, the House will pass a water bill the Senate forwarded last week that includes funding for the city. But the House, as Mikulski made clear "has made no commitment to help Flint in that bill." "The senate passed the Flint funding on the [water] bill 95-3 last week," Mikulski continued, "so why wait? It's paid for. We have a framework for proceeding. Let's just do it." In fact, Paul Ryan has said out loud that he's opposed to the Flint aid.
Despite that 95-3 vote in the Senate last week, Republicans want to screw Flint. They want to deny it the funding it has to have to fix it's water supply. It's drinking water. Oh, they'll point to that bill they passed last week and say that they voted to help. What they won't tell you is that they're counting on the House Republicans to kill it. The funding isn't in the current House version of the water bill, Ryan is against it, and in fact the House bill hasn't even been passed yet. There's no guarantee they would be able to get it done, and go to conference with the Senate, and end up with a bill that helps Flint in the lame-duck session after the election. The session when the Freedom Caucus doesn't want to let anything happen.
Add this to the list of despicable and cynical things McConnell has done. He will never pass up the opportunity to take a hostage like a government shutdown. His victims this time are the children of Flint, Michigan, who have literally been poisoned. Fucking over the Democrats, trying to squeeze them when there's just eight days left to do this, that's his priority.
Can you chip in $3 to each of these candidates to get more Democrats into the House and Can you chip in $3 to each of these candidates to end Mitch McConnell's Senate leadership?
Forty-seven days remain until the election. Click here to make sure you're registered to vote. And while you're at it, make sure your family and friends are registered too.