Romney: FEMA is immoral

[Lemon Drop]

Manlove wrote:


Someone please explain who pays whom in a private sector emergency management and relief?

We pay. We just don't get to ask many questions.

We're the country with private, for profit prisons. Hey, nothing is impossible!

[Surfrider]

"Maybe I'm just totally jaded at this point, but I can't hear him say anything these days without thinking he's been programmed to say what his handlers think the public would find appropriate. He NEVER seems sincere at all when it comes to this sort of thing. Really can't believe I'm in the minority of those that see it."

I'm with you 110%

He makes Bush seem like he really gave a shit, Romney will do or say anything.

[kj]

I agree with Wig. It's just poor logic to conclude that Romney is saying FEMA is immoral. If the only way to provide relief was FEMA, you might be able to make a case. Of course, FEMA is relatively new, relief is not, so I don't know how that would fly. Second, I think you have to assume the only way to provide relief is to "rack up debt", and that's clearly not true either. I'm not going to say his "plan" would work, but "FEMA is immoral" is a pretty dorky conclusion to take from what he said. He's just saying we need to provide relief without racking up debt. That part is reasonable. How about, "Romney says we can provide disaster relief without a federal bureaucracy." ? kj.

[Lux Interior]

kj wrote:
How about, "Romney says we can provide disaster relief without a federal bureaucracy." ?

I'm sure he could. He just can't tell us how until he's elected.

[Lemon Drop]

FEMA has plenty of money this time. Congress and the White House fixed the budget fiasco that happened regarding financing for Hurricane Irene aid. They will also make sure that the 2013 budget contains enough for disaster aid.

This is how a rich first world nation should do it, and we can.

Plenty of money, and the sky won't fall.

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/101...html?hp=t1

[kj]

“One of the reasons House Republicans insisted on reforming the disaster funding process, which we did as part of the Budget Control Act, was so that we would have a separate dedicated pot of money available based on historical disaster needs,” Cooper added. “We also provided that should a disaster exceed that capacity, Congress and the president could provide additional emergency funds.”

Was it your side, or the repubs that were responsible for the money that's available? I'm surprised they both seem to claim responsibility . At any rate, I guess that's a reasonable argument for the morality of FEMA ;-). kj.

[Acer]

Oh, so now the Republicans fixed FEMA's finances and it is an approved federal activity? Somebody should tell Romney, because he's off message.

[Dennis S]

Romney and his side believe that the private sector does this emergency work so much better than the public sector. Why, you ask? Competition. How the hell does competition make the private sector come out on top here? Do Home Depot and Lowe's and Walmart duke it out to save money or increase their effectiveness? Do you even know why they are even as effective as they are?

Because the Federal Government does the heavy lifting and Home Depot and Lowe's and Walmart fill in some of the gaps. Do you really believe that those private companies could or would shoulder the load without the government? I'll tell you. Hell no.

[RgrF]

FEMA and other government programs are all in how you administer them.
FEMA succeeded masterfully in the aftermath of the 1994 Northridge earthquake while it failed miserably during Katrina. Seems to me if you put people who basically dislike government in control, you'll almost always get a Katrina rather than a Northridge response.