Is it true? Romney "absolutely" wants to eliminate FEMA?

Nekochan wrote:Sounds like he wants States to take the leading role and I'm not so sure he's wrong.

Rogue wrote:

Nekochan wrote:Sounds like he wants States to take the leading role and I'm not so sure he's wrong.

Ive heard him make that comment about healthcare too.

In a lot of ways it makes the most sense. If you think about it from a managment point of view.

Having the federal government dictate everything down to all the state levels is sort of like having the CEO of a large organization trying to tell the man on the widget maker what to do. It never works and there are always mis communications, mess ups and all of that leads to loss of revenue and poorly run organizations which go bankrupt. Much like our current system.

Correct me if I am wrong, but wasnt the federal gov suppose to have limited state powers?

stormwatch89 wrote:

Rogue wrote:

Nekochan wrote:Sounds like he wants States to take the leading role and I'm not so sure he's wrong.

Ive heard him make that comment about healthcare too.

In a lot of ways it makes the most sense. If you think about it from a managment point of view.

Having the federal government dictate everything down to all the state levels is sort of like having the CEO of a large organization trying to tell the man on the widget maker what to do. It never works and there are always mis communications, mess ups and all of that leads to loss of revenue and poorly run organizations which go bankrupt. Much like our current system.

Correct me if I am wrong, but wasnt the federal gov suppose to have limited state powers?

Perfect!

Yomama wrote:http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/10/28/1151867/-Romney-on-Eliminating-FEMA-Absolutely

It IS the Dailykos...

Oh, I see... make it a State responsibility... http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/10/29/1152169/-Romney-forced-to-clarify-immoral-disaster-relief-nbsp-comments

othershoe1030 wrote:

Yomama wrote:http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/10/28/1151867/-Romney-on-Eliminating-FEMA-Absolutely

It IS the Dailykos...

Oh, I see... make it a State responsibility... http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/10/29/1152169/-Romney-forced-to-clarify-immoral-disaster-relief-nbsp-comments

Making the current FEMA activity a state function doesn't make sense. Storms don't hit just one state. All the states involved would have to then figure out a way to coordinate all the notices, reports, evacuations, rescues..it would be a mess. Then too many times the disaster is too big for a state to handle on its own and the federal government needs to help.

Of course the real reason he comes up with these ideas is that he could claim to have shrunk the federal government which is always good in the GOP world.

othershoe1030 wrote:

Yomama wrote:http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/10/28/1151867/-Romney-on-Eliminating-FEMA-Absolutely

It IS the Dailykos...

Oh, I see... make it a State responsibility... http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/10/29/1152169/-Romney-forced-to-clarify-immoral-disaster-relief-nbsp-comments

Making the current FEMA activity a state function doesn't make sense. Storms don't hit just one state. All the states involved would have to then figure out a way to coordinate all the notices, reports, evacuations, rescues..it would be a mess. Then too many times the disaster is too big for a state to handle on its own and the federal government needs to help.

Of course the real reason he comes up with these ideas is that he could claim to have shrunk the federal government which is always good in the GOP world.

Yomama wrote:It is too big of a job for states to handle... AND FUND on their own. I think Romney wants to stick health care and FEMA costs to the states. Sounds like unfunded mandates to me. Romney was also quoted that FEMA duties might be better handled by the private sector.

Well, that's one way to reduce Federal spending.

Nekochan wrote:Sounds like he wants States to take the leading role and I'm not so sure he's wrong.

Nekochan wrote:I think he'd want States to take control but I doubt he'd be in favor of doing way with all federal funding. What I have heard his say is that State and locals are going to be better first responders, rather than counting on the Feds.

Rogue wrote:

Yomama wrote:It is too big of a job for states to handle... AND FUND on their own. I think Romney wants to stick health care and FEMA costs to the states. Sounds like unfunded mandates to me. Romney was also quoted that FEMA duties might be better handled by the private sector.

Well, that's one way to reduce Federal spending.

hold on here a minute.

he never said anything about not funding it. The funds should still come from taxes. just like the fed allocates a certain amount for each state to cover medicaid, bridges, roads etc. thi is still a gov function.

havnt heard anything about him wanting it to go to the private sector. link?

Federal funding for disaster relief is "immoral," and is something that should be left up to the states or, "even better," the private sector.

Yomama wrote:

Rogue wrote:

Yomama wrote:It is too big of a job for states to handle... AND FUND on their own. I think Romney wants to stick health care and FEMA costs to the states. Sounds like unfunded mandates to me. Romney was also quoted that FEMA duties might be better handled by the private sector.

Well, that's one way to reduce Federal spending.

hold on here a minute.

he never said anything about not funding it. The funds should still come from taxes. just like the fed allocates a certain amount for each state to cover medicaid, bridges, roads etc. thi is still a gov function.

havnt heard anything about him wanting it to go to the private sector. link?

I provided the link at the beginning post. Here's some text from the article

Federal funding for disaster relief is "immoral," and is something that should be left up to the states or, "even better," the private sector.

knothead wrote:

Nekochan wrote:I think he'd want States to take control but I doubt he'd be in favor of doing way with all federal funding. What I have heard his say is that State and locals are going to be better first responders, rather than counting on the Feds.

That is absolutely and categorically untrue. Since the Bush era FEMA, this organization has got its act together and puts resources where they are needed when they are needed. In Florida, if states were in control, no one would show up.

Rogue wrote:
i went back and istened to what he said and that quot is NOT what he said. they are trying to spin it. he said it was immoral to have all this debt, h did say anytime you can take programs and put them in the states hands thats good, and if it could go even futher and put them into the private sector hands thats even better. Thats what he said. He apparently is for a smaller federal government. That speaks to the libertarian side of me so i agree with it

knothead wrote:

Nekochan wrote:I think he'd want States to take control but I doubt he'd be in favor of doing way with all federal funding. What I have heard his say is that State and locals are going to be better first responders, rather than counting on the Feds.

That is absolutely and categorically untrue. Since the Bush era FEMA, this organization has got its act together and puts resources where they are needed when they are needed. In Florida, if states were in control, no one would show up.

Yomama wrote:

Rogue wrote:
i went back and istened to what he said and that quot is NOT what he said. they are trying to spin it. he said it was immoral to have all this debt, h did say anytime you can take programs and put them in the states hands thats good, and if it could go even futher and put them into the private sector hands thats even better. Thats what he said. He apparently is for a smaller federal government. That speaks to the libertarian side of me so i agree with it

I'm here to learn. That's why I started the thread title with "is this true?"

But sme things are better handled on a federal level and I suspect that disaster response ought to be a federal thing.

If it went to the states, would every state have it's own FEMA Chief and Deputy Chief, Budget Director, PR Man, Ombudsman, and all the bureaucracy that comes with an autonomous department?

It sounds like a duplication of efforts to me. Also, I can see duplication of purchases of water, ice, cots, tents, food, medicines and other supplies by each state. Remember, many supplies are perishable and must be thrown out when expired. If Mississippi gets wiped off the map by a hurricane, will other states come to their rescue if the states become autonomous regarding disaster response?

Nekochan wrote:Here's another view...

http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2012/10/no-mitt-romney-doesnt-really-want-to-kill-off-fema/264230/

This raises some questions: Do we really want to tie the federal
government's hands with super stringent requirements for when it can and
can't step in?

Yomama wrote:

Nekochan wrote:Here's another view...

http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2012/10/no-mitt-romney-doesnt-really-want-to-kill-off-fema/264230/

That's a good article, Neko. It certainly isn't the twisted slant that the DailyKos put on it... that I posted at the beginning of this thread.

States should assume some responsibility for emergency response... and most do so. I have manned a table at the Escambia County Emergency Operation Center during a hurricane as a state representative (Health) and believe that, if the counties, the state, and good organizations like the Red Cross can handle the emergency response... they should handle it.

I still believe that there is a role for FEMA, however. For instance, I believe it would be much more efficient and less wasteful for FEMA to purchase perishables (medicines, MREs, water, etc.) and deliver them to the states where they are needed than for each state to purchase perishables, only to dispose of them when that state doesn't have a disaster.

That article you linked to, Neko, mentions setting dollar values on damage that would serve as a trigger for FEMA participation. It says:

This raises some questions: Do we really want to tie the federal
government's hands with super stringent requirements for when it can and
can't step in?

That already exists. There's a county up here near Birmingham that has requested FEMA help after a tornado outbreak and FEMA is saying it doesn't meet their trigger for participation. (I think the county wanted help paying for debris removal... something like that.)

When multi-state disasters happen, I can see FEMA assuming a role of coordination. What I don't think they should be doing is providing trailers and low-interest loans.

Yomama wrote:It is too big of a job for states to handle... AND FUND on their own. I think Romney wants to stick health care and FEMA costs to the states. Sounds like unfunded mandates to me. Romney was also quoted that FEMA duties might be better handled by the private sector.

Well, that's one way to reduce Federal spending.