Ken Walsh's Washington

Ron Paul Takes on FEMA

By Kenneth T. Walsh

August 29, 2011 RSS Feed Print

Presidential candidate Ron Paul's strategists say he doesn't pull his punches when talking about the excesses of the federal government. They aren't kidding.

The latest example came when Paul, who is seeking the GOP presidential nomination, condemned the Federal Emergency Management Agency at precisely the time when many Americans were counting on FEMA to provide efficient and effective disaster relief in the wake of Hurricane Irene. [Read more about how President Obama is handling natural disasters.]

The long-time House member from Texas, however, didn't back off from his libertarian views and he spoke with the candor that endears him to his supporters. "FEMA has been around since 1978," Paul told "Fox News Sunday." "It has one of the worst reputations for a bureaucracy ever. It's a system of bureaucratic central economic planning, which is a policy that is deeply flawed."

Paul added: "We've conditioned our people that FEMA will take care of us and everything will be okay, but you try to make these programs work the best you can, but you just can't keep saying, 'Oh, they need money.'...Well, we're out of money. This country is bankrupt....FEMA creates many of our problems because they sell the insurance because you can't buy it from a private company, which means there's a lot of danger. So we pay people to build on beaches, and then we have to go and rescue them." [Read: Could Ron Paul 2012 Pave the Way for Rand Paul 2016 or 2020?]

Paul also told CNN that FEMA's track record in Texas, where Paul lives, has been poor. "All they do is come in and tell you what to do and [what you] can't do," he said. "You can't get in your houses, and they hinder the local people, and they hinder volunteers from going in."[Read:Is Ron Paul a fringe candidate?]

FEMA was widely criticized in 2005 for its weak response to Hurricane Katrina, which devastated New Orleans and much of the Gulf Coast.

Tags:
FEMA,
2012 presidential election,
politics

Reader Comments Read all comments (12)

Add Your Thoughts
Your comment will be posted immediately, unless it is spam or contains profanity. For more information, please see our Comments FAQ.

Paul's right

I am from Florida and have been through 7 tropicals and 1 tornado and they are the biggest set of crooks around.They use the national guard to stop local contractors from getting in the wealthy neighborhoods with the FEMA guys escorting their already millionaire cousins in to steal the most lucrative insurance contracts.The great part is WE PAY FOR OUR OWN ROBBERY!,or as Ron keeps reminding us,we borrow from really rich people,to pay for our own robbery.That money should go right to the State.They know what to do with it unless you have an evil man like Jeb Bush in charge who lets old people freeze in winter with no roof in Northern Florida.

Julian Alien of FL 12:11AM August 30, 2011

Why is it so hard for some people to accept the fact that FEMA is nothing more than another wasteful and financially bankrupt federal program? They have no money, and they do nothing that the Red Cross and local, county and state governments don't already take care of. FEMA only comes in after a disaster has already occurred and they get in the way. It's wasteful spending at its worst! Anyone who thinks that FEMA does a good job only needs to look back to Hurricane Katrina as a classic example of why we don't need FEMA.

If you live in a dangerous area like along the coast, within Tornado Alley or along an earthquake fault, take some responsibility for your own actions. There is a reason why you can't buy insurance in places like this, or if you can it will be very expensive. It's called taking a risk. The taxpayers should never have to pay to rebuild someone's home just because they want to live along the beach. I would like to live along the beach too but I wouldn't want to worry about my house blowing away, or put the burden on someone else. If you think that this is acceptable, you need to grow up and take responsibility for for yourself and your stupid and selfish choices. Ron Paul is 100% correct on this!

Bob Vondruska of CA 7:24PM August 29, 2011

>> Ron Paul? Doesn't like FEMA? Then why did he acceept more than $220M from FEMA when hurricane Ike hit Galveston harbor?

Paul has rebuttaled that by stating that he's more than happy to take money handed out to use for his constituents. He considers it the same as giving his constituents their tax money back. So, while he doesn't like a lot of the mismanagement many government dept's do, he's more than happy to take money they'll give him and give it back to his folks.

Think of it. You may not like the Bush tax cuts, but even if you didn't you were probably more than happy to take that check they cut you and go cash it and put it to use (either savings, retirement, buying something, etc). If someone's gonna give you cash, you're not going to be an idiot. Likewise, it's not like he pocketed $220M, and is keeping it in an off-shore account; his constituents got it for Galveston repairs.

His point here in this article is that why should we bail folks out when they knowingly build in a flood plain, a hurricane zone, etc? Leave that up to their insurance and their own cognizance. Leave that to the local and state governments to coordinate their own, area-specific disaster relief programs. Get the federal government's nose out of it. The most the fed gov't should do is call in the national guard to mobilize resources, not provide some umbrella catch-all program that will save everyone that didn't account for stuff like this happening. I guess I'm callous about it, but I'm not sure why I, as a person that pays for my own insurance and takes care to have money saved for emergencies, should have to pay taxes to cover for folks that don't. If you keep bailing folks out, they'll just keep expecting it and using it as a safety net.

blah blah of TX 3:24PM August 29, 2011

Ken Walsh's Washington

A longtime chief White House correspondent for U.S. News & World Report, Kenneth T. Walsh has covered five presidents beginning with Ronald Reagan. Along with other U.S. News writers, he continues to provide insight into the White House of Barack Obama and the world of presidential campaigns.

advertisement

Cartoons

Photo Galleries

Memorial Day Around the Nation

Our nation honors fallen troops on memorial day.

advertisement

Latest Video