Mitt Romney: Federal Disaster Relief For Tornado And Flood Victims Is ‘Immoral,’ ‘Makes No Sense At All’

By Brad Johnson







Asked about federal disaster relief for recent tornado and flood victims at last night’s GOP debate, candidate Mitt Romney called the spending “immoral” and said the Federal Emergency Management Agency should be privatized. With greenhouse pollution on the rise, the United States has been struck by a “punishing series of billion-dollar disasters.”

Embracing a radical anti-government ideology from the most extreme elements of the Tea Party, Romney said that the victims in Mississippi, Louisiana, Tennessee, Massachusetts, and other communities hit by tornadoes and flooding should not receive governmental assistance. He argued it is “simply immoral” for there to be deficit spending that could harm future generations:

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. [...] We cannot — we cannot afford to do those things without jeopardizing the future for our kids. 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.

Watch it:

From its founding, the federal government has served the Constitutional goals of domestic tranquility and general welfare of the American people by aiding the victims of climate disasters. Romney’s extremist stance in favor of corporate “disaster vultures” would leave the United States in ruin, with only rich and well-connected people like the Romneys assured of getting food, water, shelter, and protection when disaster strikes.

If Romney actually cared about the welfare of future generations, he would take action to arrest global warming pollution instead of supporting the oil company agenda, and would cut subsidies for billionaires instead of balancing the budget on the backs of the poor and vulnerable.

Transcript:

KING: Governor Romney? You’ve been a chief executive of a state. I was just in Joplin, Missouri. I’ve been in Mississippi and Louisiana and Tennessee and other communities dealing with whether it’s the tornadoes, the flooding, and worse. FEMA is about to run out of money, and there are some people who say do it on a case-by-case basis and some people who say, you know, maybe we’re learning a lesson here that the states should take on more of this role. How do you deal with something like that?

ROMNEY: 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 ourselves the opposite question. What should we keep? We should take all of what we’re doing at the federal level and say, what are the things we’re doing that we don’t have to do? And those things we’ve got to stop doing, because we’re borrowing $1.6 trillion more this year than we’re taking in. We cannot…

KING: Including disaster relief, though?

ROMNEY: We cannot — we cannot afford to do those things without jeopardizing the future for our kids. 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.

Governor Snyder - Are You Even Listening?

Michigan House OKs $6.9B general-fund budget to close prisons, limit welfare to 48 months

BY CHRIS CHRISTOFF

LANSING – With only Republican support, the House today approved a $6.9 billion general fund budget for next year that spends $1.4 billion less than this year, and $165 million less than what Gov. Rick Snyder proposed.

That’s only half the battle done. 

On Thursday, the House is expected to vote on an even more controversial spending plan for public schools and colleges. That proposal would slash spending to K-12 schools by 3.5%, which means cuts ranging from $256 per pupil to $297 per pupil compared to this year’s spending plan.

It also for shifts about $900 million from the School Aid Fund to community colleges and universities – funding that has always come out of the general fund. 

Wednesday, only one of 63 Republicans voted against the 700-page budget plan for state government, which rolled 13 separate budgets into a single bill. 

All 47 Democrats voted against the budget, which totals $33 billion, much of it direct federal aid for roads, Medicaid and welfare programs. The $6.9 billion general fund includes only money collected by state taxes and fees.

Today's vote ignited an impassioned debate over the proper role of government, taxes and spending. 

Democrats called the budget plan immoral, unfair and even lethal because it reduces spending on social programs, such as domestic violence prevention. It strictly limits welfare benefits to 48 months – a limit that would drop about 12,000 from welfare rolls.

“You may have won an election, but you don’t have the right to hurt people,” Rep. Fred Durhal, D-Detroit, scolded Republicans. He said some people will die because they will be cut off from state-paid health care. 

Rep. Steven Lindberg, D-Marquette, warned that the Republican plan to privatize food services in state prisons could create safety threats. He said it would place inexperienced food workers among potentially dangerous criminals. He said inmates might rebel if cost-cutting affects the quality of their food. 

Rep. Chuck Moss, R-Birmingham, chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, replied that the budget the state has too long spent beyond what it can afford. 

“That’s how we did things in the old day, but those days have to end,” Moss said. 

The House approval represents one more step toward Snyder’s goal of a completed 2011-12 budget by May 31. The Senate has already approved its budget version, although it has yet to vote on a sweeping tax reform plan that would slash business taxes by $1.7 billion, tax pensions and eliminate a tax credit for low-income workers. 

The House has already passed a tax plan, which includes a modified pension tax that exempts pensioners ages 67 and over. 

The administration, House and Senate now must reconcile differences among budget plans, although all three generally follow Snyder’s blueprint to erase a $1 4 billion deficit and to give businesses a large tax cut. 

For example, the House budget would close down the Mound Correctional Facility in Detroit, something the administration opposes. 

As Snyder proposed, the House budget plan also reduces revenue sharing to cities, townships and villages.