[jeffkrol]

not a very good track record...........

But even his visit proved a disappointment. Forgey says she never met with Romney, as his visit was unannounced. They only spoke on the phone.

Romney defended his inaction to the Associated Press. "The floods weren't of a nature of such significance on Monday, based upon the reports, that suggested that my being in Western Mass would have made any difference whatsoever." He went on to add: "There will always be occasion for people to say why didn't you do it this way or that way. You do the best you can, based on the information you have."

But once in Greenfield to survey the damage, Romney seemed ignorant of even the most basic geography, according to John Barrett, then-Mayor of North Adams. He said the governor called him while he was driving through Greenfield to say he was in the area. "I said, 'that's the next county,'" Barrett recalls telling Romney. "You're an hour away."

"I don’t think he understood that was part of the job ... that part of it was dealing with catastrophic storms," Barrett, a frequent and early critic of Romney, says. "He just didn’t pay too much attention to it.”

Even after seeing the damaged town and displaced residents, Romney still did not act immediately.

As Governor, Mitt Romney Was Slow To Respond To Disasters In His State, Local Critics Say

Dan Bosley, a former Democratic state representative in Western Mass, echoes Forgey's criticisms. His district had severe flooding that closed roads and bridges. He says Romney waited too long to seek money from the Federal Emergency Management Agency and that when it finally came, it wasn't enough. Some damage had to wait for a second disaster, and a new administration, to get fixed. "We were the 47 percent out here," he says. "He just couldn’t be bothered. He was out of state. He just ignored us and I just found that very frustrating.”

A year later, horrible floods hit on Mothers Day 2006 in Melrose. The floods displaced 8,000 of the area's 30,000 residents, including hundreds of elderly tenants. Their entire public works building was under water. Rob Dolan, the town's mayor, says Sen. Ted Kennedy had been one of the first to call to offer assistance. The next day, FEMA representatives were on the ground.

Dolan says the state's response was exceptional. But the idea that the state could do the kind of recovery and damage assessments on their own as, Romney has recently suggested, is troubling to Dolan, who broke with his party and voted for Romney when he ran for governor in 2002.

Federal grants, Dolan says, helped pay for new drainage systems to prevent future floods. The feds also cracked down on businesses who were jacking up prices on mold removal and tree cutting after the flood in 2006. "The federal government was on them like white on rice," he says. "We called the feds on those people and it just ended, you know? That’s a big issue."

Melrose was just five miles from Romney's office and three miles from his house. Dolan says he never got a call from Romney. Maybe he drove through, Dolan thinks. "I'm not sure if he did," he says. "They did say he was going to drive through."

The Romney campaign did not respond to a request for comment.

[gokenin]

not a very good track record...........


As Governor, Mitt Romney Was Slow To Respond To Disasters In His State, Local Critics Say

Ok just out of curiosity what the heck does you second post there matter one bit? In 2006 the govenor of the state was Devall Patrick not Romney so why would a private citizen have do do anything about floods when he had long since been governor? As for the dynamics of local politics unless you live in the state you don't know that the western part of the state has always felt ignored by the politicians in Boston, so it's hardly surprising that one they would be critical and two it's hardly surprising that the would be critical of a republican.

[jeffkrol]

Ok just out of curiosity what the heck does you second post there matter one bit? In 2006 the govenor of the state was Devall Patrick not Romney so why would a private citizen have do do anything about floods when he had long since been governor? As for the dynamics of local politics unless you live in the state you don't know that the western part of the state has always felt ignored by the politicians in Boston, so it's hardly surprising that one they would be critical and two it's hardly surprising that the would be critical of a republican.

Dolan says the state's response was exceptional. But the idea that the state could do the kind of recovery and damage assessments on their own as, Romney has recently suggested,

Just an example..... right wrong.. good bad.. attitude...

Did Mitt Romney suggest eliminating FEMA? - CSMonitor.com

On Monday, before Sandy engulfed much of the eastern US late in the day, the editorial page of The New York Times slammed Romney’s 2011 statement in “A big storm requires big government.”
“Does Mr. Romney really believe that financially strapped states would do a better job than a properly functioning federal agency?” the editorial asked. “Who would make decisions about where to send federal aid? Or perhaps there would be no federal aid, and every state would bear the burden of billions of dollars in damages.”
So far the Obama campaign has not taken up this line of attack. That might be risky. At a time of tragedy, Americans have little tolerance for politics.

[Ratmagiclady]

Ok just out of curiosity what the heck does you second post there matter one bit? In 2006 the govenor of the state was Devall Patrick not Romney so why would a private citizen have do do anything about floods when he had long since been governor? As for the dynamics of local politics unless you live in the state you don't know that the western part of the state has always felt ignored by the politicians in Boston, so it's hardly surprising that one they would be critical and two it's hardly surprising that the would be critical of a republican.

The 2006 incident, and a much better disaster response by another governor, including cleaning up a mess Romney's inaction left when he *was* in office, was cited for contrast. Romney's neither being 'blamed' for 2006 nor is there anything about the response to be blamed *for.* That's the point.


I used to *live* in Western Mass: Beacon Hill tending to give short shrift to routine concerns didn't extend to callous ignoring of a need for emergency or disaster response: and that itself was a perception that was to some extent cultivated by those who wanted to blame the other party for every budget cut or pothole, particularly in the face of the Big Dig.

Some of that was reasonable, and some of it was less so. ie, people blaming 'gummint' for less government services from 'small government' people they voted for.

Which doesn't excuse Romney's negligence, meanness, or general 'a-hole factor,' (Yeah, I'd use a mild epithet about his arrogance and insensitivity and all that personality stuff: 'Guy Smiley' and all for that plastic missionary smile and not-really-looking-at-you-or-listening-while-faking attention, maybe believing the Herald's hype like being a rich boy on a boat made him Jack Kennedy or something: ) ...Everyone knows I had a dislike for him as governor, and even more's coming out now about just how much he broke his promises to not mess with my own civil rights.

If that extended to blowing off urgent need for disaster response, it's certainly a pertinent question considering how the present disaster is likely to impact this election.

I'm sure he thought he was just brilliant, of course.

[jeffkrol]

Gov are you going to eliminate FEMA?" a print pooler shouted, receiving no response.

Wires reporters asked more questions about FEMA that were ignored.

Romney kept coming over near pool to pick up more water. He ignored these questions:

"Gov are you going to see some storm damage?"

"Gov has [New Jersey Gov.] Chris Christie invited you to come survey storm damage?"

"Gov you've been asked 14 times, why are you refusing to answer the question?"

Mitt Romney Refuses To Talk About FEMA After Hurricane Sandy Event

[mikemike]

Saw this one earlier:

Don't worry about evacuating. If it's a legitimate storm, your home has a way of shutting itself down to protect itself.

[jeffkrol]

Saw this one earlier:

thanks for the laugh..

unfortunately.. a sad story...........
Mitt Romney, the hollow man - Salon.com

Romney won’t answer because he can’t. We saw him pivot to the center, to become the white Barack Obama, in the three debates, as he realized his unpopular policies and his contempt for 47 percent of the country was dooming his presidential bid. He’s got no standing now to talk about how he’d handle this disaster. The heroes of Sandy, so far, are the first responders, the cops and firefighters and emergency technicians, the folks evacuating patients from hospitals and trapped citizens from flooding. These are the people who’ve been demonized by Republicans for the last two years: the public workers who have become the new “welfare queens.” When Obama pushed a jobs bill that would have helped states and cities avoid laying off such workers, GOP Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell derided it as a “bailout,” and Paul Ryan, of course, voted against it.

To top it all off, George W. Bush’s laughable FEMA director, “Heck of a job, Brownie” Michael Brown, is criticizing Obama for reacting too quickly to Sandy. Are Democrats paying Brown to remind voters of the contrast between Obama’s quiet competence and Bush’s disastrous handling of Katrina?

As I write, the president is arriving at a Red Cross site to ask Americans for donations. Chris Christie, meanwhile, has rebuffed Romney’s offer to visit New Jersey’s devastated shore. (Politics aside: Really, what could Romney offer?) I can’t be sure whether or how much disaster relief will matter to swing state voters outside of the hurricane zone, but I am stranded (on a blue island) in the swing state of Wisconsin, where people are tuned in to the storm and the government response. No one can be reassured by Romney’s empty posturing. Unless there is some government-abetted or neglected further disaster, I think Obama will be reelected next Tuesday. Hurricane Sandy has reminded us what’s at stake.

[jeffkrol]

addendum.................

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R), generally a harsh critic of President Obama, has nothing but praise for the White House response to Hurricane Sandy.

“The federal government’s response has been great. I was on the phone at midnight again last night with the President, personally, he has expedited the designation of New Jersey as a major disaster area,” Christie, a top surrogate for Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, said on NBC’s “Today.”

He added, “The President has been outstanding in this and so have the folks at FEMA.”

Chris Christie: Obama ‘outstanding’ in response to Hurricane Sandy

For fun.. current intrade chart


And on Fox News’ “Fox and Friends,” asked if Romney would visit New Jersey, Christie replied, “I have a job to do. If you think right now I give a damn about presidential politics, than you don’t know me.”

Mitt Romney Vetoed Flood Prep Funding In 2004, Blamed For Subsequent Flooding

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/10/30/mitt-romney-flooding_n_2042886.html...elections-2012

For fun current intrade chart