By now every reader of this site probably knows that Mitt Romney wants to get the Federal government out of the disaster relief business, if necessary, even privatize it. I want to offer a few thoughts of why he is wrong - and why it may have real political impact.
1. Many states lack both financial and infrastructure resources to respond to large-scale national disasters.
2. Many national disasters cut across state boundaries, and require someone to coordinate the responses.
3. Many of the resources that need to be applied reside in Federal agencies beyond FEMA - remember the role of the Coast Guard in Katrina? How about the Federal flood insurance program? What about emergency small business loans
4. Some specialized resources might be local elsewhere in the nation, but to quickly get them into action requires an ability to cross state and local governmental boundaries - think here of the urban search and rescue teams from places like Fairfax County VA - the federal government provides their transportation and guarantees their costs so no negotiation is needed before they are dispatched.
Let me talk about politics. Certainly in the swing state of Florida people know and can appreciate what FEMA can do when properly used. Think of the difference of the response of Bill Clinton versus those under either Bush, in Andrew, or in Katrina.
My father lived on Long Boat Key off of Sarasota for the last 20+ years of his life. For a number of years he was the hurricane warden for his community. It was a heavily Republican community - remember, Katherine Harris was from Sarasota. Trust me, the people down there WANT a federal role in responding to disasters, because their lives and their wealth can depend upon it.
Just a few thoughts.
And I hope in his remarks today in Orlando Bill Clinton finds a way to talk about Romney's unwillingness to support a full federal role in disaster relief.