Mitt Romney on federal disaster relief

"As Hurricane Sandy looms and flooding begins, the Republican presidential candidate's primary remarks are getting a second look," says Garance Franke-Ruta atThe Atlantic. During a GOP debate, Romney "said America shouldn't be in the business of providing federal disaster relief and that it would be better for the Federal Emergency Management Agency's functions to be handled by individual states or even the private sector." That comment looks immensely short-sighted right about now.

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What do you think of his remarks?

Here is a link to the transcripts.

Mitt Romney in 2011: 'We Cannot Afford' Federal Disaster Relief - Garance Franke-Ruta - The Atlantic

Mitt Romney said America shouldn't be in the business of providing federal disaster relief and that it would be better for the Federal Emergency Management Agency's functions to be handled by individual states or even the private sector.

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It seems to me some regions can be so overwhelmed they might need the unified body of the United States of America to provide aid.

I watched that clip very carefully and if you pay attention, he's not answering a question about FEMA, he's pontificating on the tired less government shtick. The interviewer tries to interrupt him with a FEMA question but he's caught up in his own little world and DOES NOT respond to the question.

He has enough strikes against him that are real, so this non-contextual extract from early primaries seems kind of petty.

As for FEMA, I have no clue what they do in between disasters. Probably something we wouldn't like. Most "federal assistance" comes in the form of money. How many bureaucrats does it take to write a check?

Election day can't come too soon for me.

This article discusses it about as well as anybody else. Strange in all the coverage I have seen today about Romney, not one person mentioned Obama planned to cut FEMA by $1B and send a lot to the states to do like everybody is saying Romney would do, and the Romney/Ryan plan is not specific as to anything with FEMA.

Obama cuts FEMA funding by 3 percent. Romney-Ryan cuts it by 40 percent. Or more. Or less.

specklebang said:

I watched that clip very carefully and if you pay attention, he's not answering a question about FEMA, he's pontificating on the tired less government shtick. The interviewer tries to interrupt him with a FEMA question.

He has enough strikes against him that are real, so this non-contextual extract from early primaries seems kind of petty.

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No one interrupts him and he is asked directly about FEMA and hurricanes.



He waffles and does not seem decisive or look like the CIC on this issue. I am glad obama is still POTUS during Hurricane Sandy.

This thread is deja vu

I watched a slightly longer clip and concluded he was not responding to FEMA even though it started out there. Below is from the transcript you posted but seems to be missing in the video clip.

Why am I defending him? I don't know exactly. Just a truth issue from my childhood.

Instead of thinking in the federal budget, what we should cut -- we should ask ourselves the opposite question. What should we keep? We should take all of what we're doing at the federal level and say, what are the things we're doing that we don't have to do? And those things we've got to stop doing, because we're borrowing $1.6 trillion more this year than we're taking in. We cannot...

KING (INTERRUPTING): Including disaster relief, though?

ROMNEY: We cannot -- we cannot afford to do those things without jeopardizing the future for our kids. It is simply immoral, in my view, for us to continue to rack up larger and larger debts and pass them on to our kids, knowing full well that we'll all be dead and gone before it's paid off. It makes no sense at all. (emphasis added)

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Dion said:

No one interrupts him and he is asked directly about FEMA and hurricanes.



He waffles and does not seem decisive or look like the CIC on this issue. I am glad obama is still POTUS during Hurricane Sandy.

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Actually ... that is included and please link your clip if you have one. The clip is clear and the question direct ... Romney waffles and cannot make a decisive point on this one ... he just mumbles about private or states.

In my opinion states can be in such deep water ... they might need the unified body of The United States of America with a strong leadership by the CIC.

Romney could have conveyed such and he did not. The clip is clear and no one stops him from speaking and the question is directly on disaster relief and discusses hurricanes.

Respectfully, I'm going to quit while I'm ahead

Dion said:

Actually ... that is included and please link your clip if you have one. The clip is clear and the question direct ... Romney waffles and cannot make a decisive point on this one ... he just mumbles about private or states.

In my opinion states can be in such deep water ... they might need the unified body of The United States of America with a strong leadership by the CIC.

Romney could have conveyed such and he did not. The clip is clear and no one stops him from speaking and the question is directly on disaster relief and discusses hurricanes.

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specklebang said:

Respectfully, I'm going to quit while I'm ahead

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yea good decision on your part ... This one does not look good for your guy if one believes that the USA should have a unified body for first response disasters.

I'm with Chris Cristie on this. I don't give a damn about Mitt Romney.

Dion said:

What do you think of his remarks?

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I think his remarks are idiotic.Out of all the reasons for the government to borrow money a Natural disaster is one of those things.

JohnWOlin said:

I'm with Chris Cristie on this. I don't give a damn about Mitt Romney.

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Well Chris Christie is in the middle of the devastation and as governor I hope the American people would be his priority. Clearly CC can see his own state could not go it alone or look to private donors in this disaster.

There are times a unified body and direct leadership by the POTUS is necessary.

I was stunned how Romney could not spit that out when asked ... that was an easy question and direct.

Christie praises Obama, doesn’t ‘give a damn’ about Romney photo op | The Raw Story

jamesrage said:

I think his remarks are idiotic.Out of all the reasons for the government to borrow money a Natural disaster is one of those things.

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To me it would be anyones chance to show resolute intellect and absolute leadership.

A concise and direct ...

"Yes ... in the case of catastrophic national and unnatural disasters ... The United States of America and the POTUS will stand with any state under attack."

I cannot figure why Romney waffled and mumbled with weak flip flopping on such a question regarding leadership.

I am not sure what the answer is, but I do know that there needs to be a change because of all of the wasteful spending that happens during these events. Here is an example.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/27/washington/27katrina.html?pagewanted=all

If the state was in charge of how and where the money was spent, i dont believe that we would have as much wasteful spending. It's kind of like how my kids love spending my money, but when it comes to spending theirs they are a little more cautious and tend to hold onto it a little longer. The amount of wasted money during Katrina was astronomical.

The thing that I like about Romney is that I believe that he will sit down with the appropriate people to come up with a plan that everyone can agree on that will work for everyone. I feel like I can trust him to make the best choice for us when it comes to this.

Dion said:

What do you think of his remarks?

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I think he's proven time and again that he is willing to look at every program, every department, to see if our Federal government can be run leaner and meaner. And FEMA's one that needs looking at, in my opinion. I didn't know a thing about FEMA until the left started posting the lie that he wanted to destroy it. Of course, it's obvious that wasn't what he was saying at all. So. What else is new?

Here are some facts about FEMA:

• In 2008, FEMA's budget was $5.8 billion.
• In 2012, FEMA's budget is $13.5 billion (this includes Obama's budget cutting FEMA by $453 million) A phenomenal increase. Obama cuts FEMA funding by 3 percent. Romney-Ryan cuts it by 40 percent. Or more. Or less.
• FEMA has 7,474 employees; this, of course, includes what I assume to be an enormous bureaucracy. About the Agency | FEMA.gov
• The New York National Guard has already dispatched 7,400 guardsmen to hot zones re Hurricane Sandy. More Than 7,400 National Guard Members Respond to Hurricane Sandy | NATIONAL GUARD
• FEMA's role right now: 600,000 liters of water, 490,000 meals, and dozens of blankets and cots into place from Washington to the Northeast. More than 400 generators are en route to hospitals and other large facilities. Fugate said that FEMA, which has more than $3 billion in revenue, has enough funds for response recovery. FEMA Ready for Hurricane Sandy Response Recovery - Kansas City, Missouri News

I'm not making any judgments here; just listing FACTS. Could $$ given to states handle these emergencies? How many of these losses are handled by private insurers? Again, no judgments. But how can anyone say that the money is better spent by the Federal government rather than the states without a complete and thorough study? Why not $$ to the states instead of 7,474 government employees on the payroll when we don't even have a disaster to handle?

Just wonderin'...

Bamamom said:

I am not sure what the answer is, but I do know that there needs to be a change because of all of the wasteful spending that happens during these events. Here is an example.

'Breathtaking' Waste and Fraud in Hurricane Aid - New York Times

If the state was in charge of how and where the money was spent, i dont believe that we would have as much wasteful spending. It's kind of like how my kids love spending my money, but when it comes to spending theirs they are a little more cautious and tend to hold onto it a little longer. The amount of wasted money during Katrina was astronomical.

The thing that I like about Romney is that I believe that he will sit down with the appropriate people to come up with a plan that everyone can agree on that will work for everyone. I feel like I can trust him to make the best choice for us when it comes to this.

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Exactly my thoughts. After looking into some of the facts about this agency, I think Romney has an excellent point. And why wouldn't/shouldn't we be looking at every program? I think we should.

One decision we have to make as a people is what is the proper role of government in our nation and for our citizenry. The conservative movement has long trumpeted the mantra of small government and stripping the government of many of its present functions and giving them to the private sector. This has been the long term cause celebre of the right for decades now.

Romney has done whatever he can to placate the right during the primaries. And his remarks haunting him now go back to a debate held during the primaries. It now makes him look foolish. Much the same happened to the Libertarian Party during the Katrina New Orleans debacle when a plank in their platform established them as being against such federal assistance.

It is an indication of how much the libertarian ersatz philosophy has poisoned and corrupted Republican politics that Romney now finds himself in the same polluted waters endorsing the same lame libertarian precepts just to curry favor and win votes from the right fringe.

The federal government has every right and responsibility to conduct efforts like FEMA and other relief efforts for Americans in distress. This is an important function of government and must be continued.

Just look at the tape of New Jersey Governor Chris Christie last night and his high praise of both the President and the Federal Government for their needed help for his state. When the mess hits the fan, Christie is enough of a realist to put the libertarian influenced radical rhetoric aside and realize that its all nonsense.

I suspect that even the most die hard right wing randroid in those hard hit areas this morning is thankful for the help being provided by the federal government.

One more thing on this - I strongly suspect Romney know that because of his experience as Governor of Massachusetts - a state which is on the ocean coast and knows well the damage that a storm can bring to his state - in his heart that such federal efforts are of the highest importance. The problem here is that the GOP has turned so far to the right and the libertarian and tea party folks allow self imposed ideology to over rule simply common sense that Romney felt he had to pander to that element to win the primary elections.

So then the question becomes a simple one: If Romney wins next week, do we get the weak panderer who will serve the interests of the right wing? Or do we get the former governor who knows better?

haymarket said:

One more thing on this - I strongly suspect Romney know that because of his experience as Governor of Massachusetts - a state which is on the ocean coast and knows well the damage that a storm can bring to his state - in his heart that such federal efforts are of the highest importance. The problem here is that the GOP has turned so far to the right and the libertarian and tea party folks allow self imposed ideology to over rule simply common sense that Romney felt he had to pander to that element to win the primary elections.

So then the question becomes a simple one: If Romney wins next week, do we get the weak panderer who will serve the interests of the right wing? Or do we get the former governor who knows better?

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If he wins ... surrounding himself by the BuCheney advisors and his pandering and lack of spine concern me. If he can overcome this ... and be the man who essentially agrees with obama on nearly every issue it would be palatable.

Yet then ... who can respect a man who never seems to stand by his convictions?

Dion said:

What do you think of his remarks?

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I see nothing wrong with letting the states handle disaster relief, and, cnstitutionally speaking, is the proper place for such a thing.

H. Lee White said:

I see nothing wrong with letting the states handle disaster relief, and, cnstitutionally speaking, is the proper place for such a thing.

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Some times states or entire groups of states are under siege. I think disaster relief is one area we do need a unified body and I like being the United States of America.

I am curious how such a plan would work state by state.

I agree with him. It blows my mind that people have come to look at the federal government as their savior. How in the hell did people ever get their lives back together without FEMA to step in and rebuild their lives?

He's NOT MY guy. I'm completely neutral and have already voted. It's just my lonely quest for truth and objectivism that makes me defend both Obama and Romney when I feel (IMHO) that accusations are false and distorted. I was just as vociferous when Obama's "you didn't build that" was deliberately taken our of context for political pirpose. The same thing is happening here.

Personally, I think FEMA is completely sensible as a Federal agency. That's not the point of my objection to this thread.

Dion said:

yea good decision on your part ... This one does not look good for your guy if one believes that the USA should have a unified body for first response disasters.

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Dion said:

What do you think of his remarks?

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Romney is acting as a mouthpiece for the tea-baggers.
That government can do things better ?
True
That government can be more efficient?
True
We just need a better people.