Joe Biden Approves Federal Aid For Jackson, MS Like Real American POTUS

Petty Republican governor couldn't even say Joe Biden's name.

The main water treatment facility in Jackson, Mississippi, the state’s capital, failed Monday. Since then, Jackson's 180,000 residents — 82 percent of whom are Black — have no reliable source of water to drink or even to flush their toilets. Public schools went virtual Tuesday.

PREVIOUSLY: Jackson, Mississippi, Fresh Out Of Water 

 CNN reports:  

Cassandra Welchlin, a mother of three, told CNN her kids are out of school and they've had to buy water to cook, brush their teeth and for other basic necessities.

Welchlin, executive director of the Mississippi Black Women's Roundtable, said brown water has been running from her taps. "We still would not use that water, we don't boil it to do anything with it because grit is in the water," she said. "It's a really bad public safety issue.”

 Because the water pressure is so low, the air conditioning at the Jackson Medical Mall isn’t functioning properly. It was 91 degrees yesterday, and residents are standing in lengthy lines for bottled water.

Late Tuesday night, President Joe Biden approved an emergency declaration request for Mississippi and ordered a surge in federal assistance to the area. White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre tweeted, "We are committed to helping the people of Jackson and the state of Mississippi during this urgent time of need.”

This is responsible leadership, especially considering that Mississippi’s Republican Gov. Tate Reeves spent last week complaining about Biden’s student loan debt forgiveness. He tweeted, "Today Biden will announce that welders, plumbers, laborers and other Mississippians (black, white, Hispanic, etc.) will be forced to pay off the debts of Harvard doctorate degree gender studies majors living in California. Why does the Democrat Party hate working people so much?”

Reeves hit all the coordinated rightwing talking points. Their ongoing smear of “gender studies majors” from California is misogynistic and not-so-subtly homophobic. It’s cultural resentment that’s not even loosely based in fact. According to an analysis in Mississippi Today, the state receives $3.40 for each tax dollar sent to the federal government. Conversely, California receives 99 cents in federal expenditures for every dollar of federal taxes paid. The “slacker baristas” in California with their basket-weaving degrees aren’t the freeloaders here.

This isn’t even the dumbest thing Reeves tweeted at Biden. Earlier this year, when the president nominated Ketanji Brown Jackson to the Supreme Court, Reeves dropped this steaming load. 

“I did not realize Joe Biden is a biologist. If not, how would he even know whether he kept his promise?”

— Governor Tate Reeves (@Governor Tate Reeves) 1648165280 

 During her Senate confirmation hearings, Jackson told Marsha Blackburn, “I am not a biologist” when asked to “define” the word “woman.” Reeves couldn’t resist this transphobic dig. Jackson — like Dr. Rachel Levine — defines herself as a woman. That’s more than enough.

Biden isn’t a petty mob boss like Donald Trump, so he won’t let Mississippi residents suffer because Reeves is a jerk. Trump originally rejected federal wildfire disaster aid for California in 2020. Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom and Republican House Leader Kevin McCarthy were forced to personally appeal to Trump and make a "convincing case” for not letting California burn.

Reeves, however, won’t have to fly to Washington DC and twerk in the Oval Office before Biden will do his job. No time was wasted with gross power plays. The White House is in regular contact now with state and local officials, including Jackson Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba, whom Reeves tried to marginalize.

 The governor managed a more cordial Twitter tone today: "Our federal disaster declaration for Jackson water has been approved. Grateful to [FEMA Director Deanne Criswell] for our long conversation about the crisis this evening, for she and Gracia and [FEMA Region 4 team] for their swift work and the White House for ultimately granting the request.”

Petty bastard couldn't even say Joe Biden's name.

This doesn’t seem like a Democratic administration that “hates working people” but rather one that serves all Americans without prejudice.

[ CNN ]

 Follow Stephen Robinson on  Twitter.  

 Do your Amazon shopping through this link, because reasons .

Yr Wonkette is 100 percent ad-free! Please subscribe, donate, and otherwise help keep us alive and kicking!