Republicans like to talk about how they plan to cut the federal government and turn key Federal programs over to the States. They seem to forget that we are the United States of America, not 50 independent states. Every American, regardless of the State they live in, should be guaranteed the same benefits and services. Voting rights are one important example. All of the voter suppression programs that we have spoken about in this blog are done by Republicans at the State level. Another example is education. The quality of the education of your child should not depend on what State you happen to live in. I happen to live in the south in one of the poorer States, should my children suffer because of that?? The answer is no and we have the Federal Department of Education that ensures that every child gets a solid education. Of course, as we discussed in a post last night, the Republicans what to do away with the Department Education.
The particular example I have chosen to highlight today is the Federal Emergency Management Agency or FEMA. FEMA ensures that people, regardless of the State that they live in, get the support that they need during disasters. This one is a particularly timely example today as our highly populated northeast cost is getting hammered by Hurricane Sandy. It is FEMA that is coordinating disaster relief across the 10-15 States that are likely to be impacted and ensuring that everyone benefits from the power and resources of the UNITED States.
What is Mitt Romney’s position on FEMA you might ask……kill it and turn disaster relief over to the States or even more laughable turn it over to private industry. Read the Huffington Post article, watch the associated video, and then you make the call. I think the answer is pretty clear!
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Mitt Romney In GOP Debate:
Shut Down Federal Disaster Agency,
Send Responsibility To The States
“Absolutely,” he said. “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. Instead of thinking, in the federal budget, what we should cut, we should ask the opposite question, what should we keep?”
“Including disaster relief, though?” debate moderator John King asked Romney.
“We cannot — we cannot afford to do those things without jeopardizing the future for our kids,” Romney replied. “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.” The clip was flagged by HuffPost blogger Eric Zuesse.
UPDATE Sunday, 10:04 p.m.–
A Romney official reaffirmed the former governor’s position Sunday evening in an email.
“Gov. Romney wants to ensure states, who are the first responders and are in the best position to aid impacted individuals and communities, have the resources and assistance they need to cope with natural disasters,” the Romney official said.
UPDATE II Monday, 9:10 a.m.–
The Washington Post’s Greg Sargent adds: “There’s another nugget here worth highlighting, though. In that appearance, Romney also suggested it would be ‘even better’ to send any and all responsibilities of the federal government ‘to the private sector,’ disaster response included. So: Romney essentially favored privatizing disaster response.”
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If you haven’t heard enough yet, watch this video and hear it from Mitt himself.
thebestmusicyouhaveneverheard 