Romney Ducks Questions on FEMA at Ohio Event

After Hurricane Sandy he refuses to clarify his stance on the agency

The aftermath of Hurricane Sandy is leaving at least one man speechless: Mitt Romney.

The Republican vying for the White House a week from today apparently refused to take questions from reporters on the issue of FEMA. Specifically, what he'd do with the agency. Would he "absolutely" shutter it, as he in fact said he would (only to yesterday backtrack on the promise), and leave disaster-relief efforts to local government and the private sector? The Huffington Post reports that Romney dodged several queries from the press on FEMA at an event in Ohio today collecting donations for victims of Hurricane Sandy.

Initial inquiries of the, "Gov are you going to eliminate FEMA?" variety eventually gave way to the more insistent, "Gov you've been asked 14 times, why are you refusing to answer the question?"

It's not as if the Romney campaign has completely avoided the issue of FEMA in the midst of Hurricane Sandy, however. Romney aides yesterday suggested a less austere approach to the agency at the same time New York City was being submerged:

Governor Romney believes states should be in charge of emergency management in responding to storms and other natural disasters. As the first responders, states are in the best position to aid affected communities and to direct resources to where they are needed most. This includes help from the federal government and FEMA.

Via The Huffington Post.

Is Romney just appealing to his base with talk of abolishing FEMA, or is he a genuine threat to federal disaster relief efforts?

[PNWest]

I heard that he told people that in event of a power outage make sure to keep at least one of your cars outside the car elevator.

[idlbeokay_bob]

I left 2 of my Mercedes and a Jaguar out just in case. Mitt would be proud.

[MBernard]

If Mitt Romney is president, better brace yourselves when natural disaster like that happened. He'll be worse than Bush.

[mimi57]

@MBernard It's actually the Governors job to handle natural disasters, not the Presidents...It was more Nagin's
responsibility and he failed the people, not Bush... Bush had his failings, but Katrina was not one of them.

[MBernard]

@mimi57 Have you heard of New Jersey governor Christie praising president Obama? The point is, if it's happened under your watch, ultimately, you're responsible.

[mimi57]

@MBernard It is still under the Governors authority, not the job of the President...BTW~ I've never heard one Dem "praise" Christie before today, they've always been too busy making fun of him for being fat...

[Dan_Tien]

Initial inquiries of the, "Gov are you going to eliminate FEMA?" variety eventually gave way to the more insistent, "Gov you've been asked 14 times, why are you refusing to answer the question?" "Because answering it will make me look bad!" he thought.

[AceLuby]

Who knows what this guy thinks about ANYTHING? He proposes a tax cut, but insists nobody will pay less in taxes. He was pro-choice, then pro-life, now...? He wanted to abolish FEMA less than a year ago and now he's not sure. He was a moderate, liberal Republican, then 'severely conservative', now he's a moderate again. He was for going to war with Iran, but is now the 'peace candidate'. He said blind trusts were a scam by those who have them, now he's running on that he doesn't know where his money comes from because of his blind trust. Is there anything this guy has said over the last 10 years that has been consistent?

[PuroChorizo361]

And they want a leader like that? The one who stated he's gonna poke the rattlesnake (China) with a stick his first day in office........

[MBernard]

I think mitt Romney could learn a lot from governor Christy from New Jersey if he's paying attention

[1hardcorerepub]

Do away with FEMA. Disaster response and mitigation is a state and local government issue. But that would also require some self responsibility on the citizens part and thanks to the democrat party, self responsibility is a foreign concept.

Still don't believe me? Ask Ray Nagan and his failure of leadership in New Orleans response and mitigation of hurricane Katrina. Did everything he could to; 1. make it a race issue and 2. failed to plan properly. Not to mention the citizens that ignored the AUTHORITIES orders to evacuate. They are experts and authorities for a reason.

[Fishbone345]

Nagin was a horrible leader, when presented with an opportunity to lead and shine, he failed miserably.
1 thing you might not have realized. After giving the order to evacuate, public transportation was shut down. As were several roads leading out. The people that stayed, did so because they had no way to leave. The poorest area in New Orleans, the 9th ward took the heaviest hits and were where a good percentage of the dead were.
Nagin AND Kathleen Blanco should take responsibility. Repurposing money from the levy systems into their precious casinos.

[martydotcom]

You are totally ignoring the fiscal reality that without shared risk among all the states, no single state could fund the reconstruction on their own. NJ contributes more in fed taxes than they get back. Red states start paying their own way and see how fast they change ther tune

[1hardcorerepub]

@martydotcom Maybe that is New Jersey's problem. And I don't see any infrastructure where I live funded and paid for courtesy of Commonwealth of the State of New Jersey. I will gladly pay for my own if the yanks go back above the mason dixon line.

[ccchhhrrriiiss]

What a ridiculous question and a pointless article! Well, I suppose the point is to try and help Obama?

[Cheenoguy]

Yeah how dare he be questioned about something he said he would do about a government agency that is benefitting a huge swab of the country right now.
We should just pretend he didn't say it so that we can keep the electorate in the dark about what promises he made during the primaries.

[ccchhhrrriiiss]

@Cheenoguy - No, the point is that Romney was asked a POLITICALLY-MOTIVATED question about a deep-rooted POLICY issue. Governor Romney isn't against the Federal Government helping those in need. However, the media and Obama supporters would love to pretend as much. If you want to know what Governor Romney feels on Federal response to natural disasters, you would need to see everything he has said on the issue itself. A politically-motivated question doesn't give the Governor a chance to properly respond. LIKEWISE, the same thing can be said about Obama's ducking of questions regarding what he knew about Libya and his subsequent response and statements.

[Cheenoguy]

@ccchhhrrriiiss
No it is a question about what he said he believed in the primaries. He should be held accountable to what he said he wanted to do. He wants to work for us and needs to answer the questions during his job interview.
Likewise Obama owes us an explanation about Libya. He works for us and he needs to answer the questions at his review so we know whether we want to renew his contract.

[ccchhhrrriiiss]

@Cheenoguy - No, it is a POLITICALLY-MOTIVATED question asked at a time for which Romney would not be able to give a full answer. Governor Romney does support federal aid during natural disasters. However, he is worried about the massive and inefficient methods of FEMA. Remember the tens of thousands of mobile homes that rotted in response to Katrina? The Governor simply believes that FEMA needs to be restructured in order to be more effective.

[Cheenoguy]

@ccchhhrrriiiss That is not what he said during the primary debate. He wants FEMA gone and let the states handle it or better yet let some corporation profit from it.
Of course it is a politically motivated question. Presidential candidates are supposed to have to answer hard questions because presidents have to.

[CherokeeBred]

That inflated head creep would rob FEMA like Bain did all the companies they acquired the goon is a criminal ask yourself this how is Obama winning Massachusetts and that's Mitts home state evidently they know something wake up! Sheeple Sleep while wolves play chess with your lives.

[DouglasMHayes]

He tries to appeal to whomever he's talking to at the moment. He'll deny anything he said and never comment again when he's been caught in a lie. He's disgusting!

[BigPoppaPhat]

You pretty much described every politician

[FollowTheMoney]

@BigPoppaPhat So very very true.

[VisionVI]

Romney's only base is FoxNOISE dumbed down viewers. He has changed his stance on EVERYTHING at least twice. Romney is a complete LIAR!!!!! Despicable piece of FILTH

[ccchhhrrriiiss]

Have you seen the polls, VisionVI? Romney is leading among INDEPENDENTS and MODERATES. He is even tied in support with WOMEN. It is amazing that you want to blame FoxNews for that support. I suppose that it is as silly as saying that Obama's support comes solely from MSNBC.

[VisionVI]

@ccchhhrrriiiss Polls at this point in the election are worthless. I suggest you check out where people are putting their MONEY in the market www.predictwise.com 66% say Obama will win

[ccchhhrrriiiss]

@VisionVI - Again, what you claim is utterly ridiculous and completely without merit. The polls in 2010, 2008, 2006, 2004 and 2002 were all good indicators to what the outcome of the election would be. Some polls are more accurate than others...but ALL major polls show Romney ahead of Obama at this point.

[VisionVI]

@ccchhhrrriiiss AGAIN check out the FACTS not polls that are owned by special interest groups!!! For Gods sake educate yourself.

[ccchhhrrriiiss]

@VisionVI - Vision: I have educated myself...with multiple degrees no less. I follow the FACTS and not the propaganda, spin, talking points and outright lies that you have parroted here at Politix.

[Creole]

Of course he ducks the question. That's what he's been doing the whole campaign. He's a master at it. It's like Mitt has this weird, invisible, shield that protects him from answering real questions. It allows him to flash that greedy smile and total ignore everything that could incriminate him....he's SuperPolitician!!!

[Rcolebank]

So do you think your guy is answering any questions? Oh I forgot he doesn't do press conferences any more only the softball questions from the Hollywood group! I wish the standards were the same for both candidates.

[Creole]

@Rcolebank u must have not watched any of the debates...phew.

[Rcolebank]

@Creole I watched all 4 and apparently saw them differently than you. I saw a rude president and VP that didn't answer the questions that were asked and in 3 of the 4 debates Mr Romney and Mr Ryan had to debate the so called moderator as well as the President and VP. To my point, the president has not answered questions from the Press Corp in over a year. All statements for the president are question free!

[Creole]

@Creole btw...Romney, Fox News and the GOP have set new standards for "rudeness" my friend. Please don't insult anyone's intelligence by going there.

[idlbeokay_bob]

The only thing genuine about Mitt is his disingenuous nature.

[DARSB]

Contributing to this kerfuffle is Gov Romney's own speaking style. He tends to start more sentences than he finishes, usually with a "by the way" diversion. I've looked at the video of that debate a few times now, and I don't think he actually meant to say FEMA was "immoral" but because he interrupts himself so often it's tough to make that a definite call.

However, he does make an error, I believe, in claiming the states could do better without federal support. FEMA does more than supply money and trailers: it's also a repository for skills and talents the nation needs, including the ability to coordinate across state lines, e.g., in case of a state-spanning storm.

[Denizen_Kate]

Kerfuffle. Good word, that. Hardly ever see it. Scottish heritage?

I agree with your assessment of Romney's debating technique - he goes off on a lot of tangents and seems to lose his train of thought.

[DARSB]

@Denizen_Kate Good question about "kerfuffle." I hadn't gotten around to looking into its etymology, but when I did, "row, disturbance," c.1930, first in Canadian English, ultimately from Scot. curfuffle."

Great question! I learned something today because of you, thanks. As the Swedes would say, "Tack så mycket"

[Citrus93ta]

FEMA should be dumped look at the fantastic job with Katrina and lets see what they do now with the east coast . I think the tax payers of the country deserve something better .

[Zoe2012]

I trust Romney 100%, no problem and I live in Ohio!

Ohio for Romney/Ryan 2012!

[commonsense51]

Hey folks, have you heard one story form the liberal news media on all the times Obama has ducked questions on the slaying of our Ambassador and the three other heroes. Obama refuses to tell us anything about this huge scandal. He wants all his crony media friends to wait until after the election. Can you see the hypocrisy? The media outlets are pulling out all stops to get Obama elected. This is scandalous when our free press takes sides and only puts out the news to help their guy. Stand up Americans and boycott these corrupt news outlets. If it were not for Fox news we would know nothing about the Libya scandal and terrorist attack. One channel for the GOP, all the rest for Obama.

[Dan_Tien]

Sing it with me... "I left my heart, on Bull***T Mountain..."

[commonsense51]

@Dan_Tien Sing it with me, I left my brain, down in the shelter, I sold food stamps, for drugs and beer. Then came that day they said no more, we are broke because of dopes, and all our children will be stuck with the bill... everybody now, I left my brain down at the shelter, four more years should do me in....we lost all hope and the last of our change, why oh why is Obama such a joke?

[Dan_Tien]

@commonsense51 Yeeaahhh.... keep your day job... if you have one.

[commonsense51]

@Dan_Tien Of course I have a job, most GOP do work and pay taxes. That question should have been asked of you because as we all know, the Democrat support base spend much time on the tax payers dime.

[Dan_Tien]

@commonsense51 I don't like Romney (I would trust more used-car dealers than either him or Ryan), but I'm not a Democrat. Don't let that disturb your partisan-programmed self assurance though.

[KyleMFb]

He is a threat to all of the federal government his answer for everything is privatization of the federal government so only business men can make discussions and that's bad bc business men are greedy bastards

[commonsense51]

I wonder how many time the corrupt Obama supporting Media will try to run this ludicrous story to try and hurt Romney while never talking about the Libya scandal which is far worse than Carter's failed mission.

[Democrat4life]

Romney is a threat to America, period! This man is seriously the most ignorant, lying, flip floppin, backtracking individual that has ever ran for president. The sad part is, some conservatives agree but would still vote for this idiot. He was asked 14, or 15 times about his comments towards Fema and like always, he has nothing to say. There is no way on gods green earth that this idiot will ever step foot inside the White House. Flip floppers are not allowed!

[Chomsky0]

Romney wants to get rid of FEMA. These fascists don't care about nobody besides the top .01 percent of job out sourcing destroyers.

[taw0509]

Curious if Romney and the GOP will use the Hurricane Sandy as a reason to change the election date??? Under no situation should the VOTE date be changed. It has always been on the same date and it should still be that same date. Just reminding people that Politicians will use every excuse in the book to get their way. So be prepared when they try to use the clean up of Hurricane Sandy as a means to change the voting date. Wars have been fought and same day voting still occured over history, Hurricane Sandy is no different and THE VOTING POLLS should go ON AS SCEDULED EVERYWHERE IN THE UNTIED STATES. GETTING THIS OUT THERE BEFORE GOVERNMENT TRIES TO CHANGE THE PLANNED ELECTION DATE. DON"T USE A HURRICANE AS AN EXCUSE for POLITICANS. ROMNEY CAN BE HELPING CLEAN UP EFFORTS IN THOSE AREAS INSTEAD OF BEING IN OTHER STATES FOR HIS CAMPAIGN, CONGRESS IS NOT IN SESSION, SO HE SHOULD HAVE PLENTY OF TIME TO BE AT CLEAN UP SITES.

[FollowTheMoney]

He's a politician and will say what ever it takes to win the top job. After elected it doesn't matter what he says now, he won't be held accountable.