FLINT, Mich. (AP) — Showing support for the beleaguered residents of Flint, Michigan, President Barack Obama drank filtered city water on Wednesday to show that it is again safe to drink following the city’s lead-contamination crisis.
After he received a briefing on the federal government’s response to the contamination, a reporter asked Obama if he would drink the water in a glass on the table.
The president said he usually avoids publicity stunts. But then he drank some of the water, saying he wanted to show it must be safe.
“This used a filter,” Obama said of the water. “The water around this table was Flint water and it just confirms what we know scientifically, which is, if you’re using a filter, if you’re installing it, then Flint water at this point is drinkable.”
Obama was in Flint to show residents that their needs in recovering from long-term exposure to lead in their drinking water won’t be ignored by the federal government after the public spotlight begins to fade, the White House said.
He declared a state of emergency in mid-January and ordered federal aid to supplement the state and local response. At that point, however, the crisis was in full bloom.
It actually took several months for the nation to focus on the beaten-down city’s plight, raising questions about how race and poverty influenced decisions that led to the tainted water supply and the beleaguered response once problems surfaced. More than 40 percent of Flint residents live in poverty and more than half are black.
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Just another two-bit politician in a stupid, vapid photo op, disgusting jackass he is. That governor should be in prison by now. Obama is there to kiss his ass, apparently, and did.
"After he received a briefing on the federal government’s response to the contamination, a reporter asked Obama if he would drink the water in a glass on the table.
The president said he usually avoids publicity stunts. But then he drank some of the water, saying he wanted to show it must be safe."
Both Brita and PUR (which is by far more superior) do filter out lead and other heavy metals
Just another two-bit poster in a stupid post, vapid troll bait, disgusting jackass that he is.
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.