The FEMA Worm Turns

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. – Mitt Romney, June 2011

Oh Dear.

That phrase, music to the ears of right wingers at the time, has come home to roost. Big time. Romney has been dogged by packs of reporters since hurricane Sandy blew into town asking him whether he still believes what he said back last year in the heat of the Republican primary race.

That was before hurricane Irene. That was before hurricane Sandy. Two once-in-a-lifetime events in back to back years. Once in a lifetime my foot.

The current Republican party imbibes deeply from the orthodox economic cup. It believes whole heartedly that whatever a government thinks it can do, private enterprise can do better. Except for massive and expensive defense spending of course. On all matters civilian it is GOP gospel that the government is both costly and inefficient. This is because there is not such thing as a costly or inefficient private sector bureaucracy. I guess none of them have been to the bank lately.

So, with this philosophy driving the search for right wing voters, Romney stood tall in one of the primary debates and, to a rousing round of applause, turned his ideological guns on FEMA which is that part of government responsible for disaster relief.

Poor old FEMA gets the butt end of Republican extremism all the time. Long serving employees must get whiplash. Father Bush trashed the place and stuffed it full of incompetent cronies. Bill Clinton rescued it, gave it competent leadership, and a budget worthy of its responsibilities, only for son Bush to trash it again, starve it of money and put the legendarily useless Brown in charge. After the humiliating failure of a response to hurricane Katrina Obama resuscitated the place just in time for Irene and Sandy. And so it will likely continue.

The Republicans see things like FEMA as wholly unnecessary. They argue that the states themselves are better positioned to deal with crises like hurricanes. If the Feds want to help then they can chip in with cash. But crisis management and response ought be left to the locals. Even better, as Romney said when he was playing to the extremist crowd, crisis response is one of those things best left to a private company.

Really?

I have no idea how to envisage a business model for disaster relief that works. Who would pay for it? How would it manage across a crisis the size of Sandy? Where would all that equipment come from? The questions go on.

It doesn’t matter. FEMA is getting glowing reports as it gets to grips with Sandy. And one of its biggest fans now happens to be Chris Christie governor of the much stricken state of New Jersey. His plaudits for FEMA, and for Obama, have been both profuse and heartfelt. They have been plastered across the media and repeated on every major news channel. Governor Christie just loves President Obama. He loves the help he’s getting from the Feds. Loves it.

Which is fun to hear.

Christie is a Republican. Not just any Republican, but one with well known ambitions for the presidency in 2016. He gave the keynote speech at the Republican convention nominating Romney. He has gone on the election trail on behalf of Romney. Just a week ago he, in a speech to boost Romney, called Obama all sorts of names and particularly pointed to Obama’s ineptitude as leader. Obama is, Christie told us in that speech, someone who fumbles in a crisis.

Whoops.

This is typical of modern Republicans. Welfare and aid is great when it flows into their pockets. It is immoral and a scourge when someone else gets help. It builds debilitating dependence on the government on the one hand, yet is vital and life-saving on the other.

So they tell their rabid supporters that hate things like FEMA, and then reach out for a helping hand when they need to.

There is nothing unusual about this. It follows a well known and documented pattern. Staunchly Republican states thrive off Federal aid and welfare programs. And continue to send extremists to Washington determined to kill off those very programs. Its a weird pathology.

Meanwhile it will be fun watching Romney dodge the reporters asking him whether he still believes we should get rid of FEMA. Add it to the growing list of topics he is trying to avoid.

My how the worm turns.