Romney's Opposition to Federal Emergency Assistance in Disasters

Cross-posted from Legal Planet. The federal role in disaster response dates back to the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, when General Funston sent troops from the Presidio to deal with the city's desperate emergency. Governor Romney seems dubious about this century-old federal role. During one of the GOP primary debates, Governor Romney was asked what he thought about the idea of transferring FEMA's responsibilities to the states. This is what he said: Absolutely. 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? John King, the moderator, then asked, "Including disaster relief, though?" Romney responded:"We cannot - we cannot afford to do those things without jeopardizing the future for our kids." Perhaps explaining why the federal government should be involved in disaster relief is unnecessary, but just for the record, here are several reasons: