Tuesday, October 30, 2012

Who Knows What He Would do as President

Seriously, Mittens is a pathological liar.  I know, my father was the same way.  He would say whatever to whomever to make them happy.
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In a GOP primary debate in June of last year, moderator John King asked Romney if he would let states take on the responsibilities of FEMA, which was “about to run out of money.” “Absolutely,” Romney replied. “And every time you have an occasion to take something from the federal government and send it back to the states, that’s the right direction. And if you can go even further and send it back to the private sector, that’s even better… We cannot — we cannot afford to do those things,” he added.

And after Hurricane Sandy left millions suffering, the Romney campaign seems to have come around. “Gov. Romney believes that states should be in charge of emergency management in responding to storms and other natural disasters in their jurisdictions. As the first responders, states are in the best position to aid affected individuals and communities, and to direct resources and assistance to where they are needed most.This includes help from the federal government and FEMA,” Romney spokesman Ryan Williams said in a statement to Politico’s Andrew Restuccia.
It’s worth noting that what Williams describes is basically exactly the way emergency management functions now, though he curiously left out any mention of local and municipal responders, who are really in the best position to affect aid. When locals get overwhelmed, they bring in state resources. When state resources get overwhelmed, they bring in federal resources. As FEMAexplains about the National Incident Management System (NIMS), the national standardized process that various tiers of government used to work together in emergencies:  “NIMS does not take command away from state and local authorities… The intention of the federal government in these situations is not to command the response but, rather, to support the affected local, tribal, and/or state governments.”