water filtration plants and some other critical infrastructure in the state. for that, we ve got emergency generators. we ve got a navy ship that has some helicopters that can help to move assets around the state as well. and so we re going to be working with governor christie s office and local officials to identify, what are those critical infrastructure, how can we get what s needed as quickly as possible. just a couple other things that we re concerned about. one is, as power starts coming back on, we want to make sure that people can also get to work. obviously, there are a lot of folks in jersey, who work in new york, in the city, and in other places, where transportation may be hobbled, one of the things that i mentioned to the governor is the possibility of us using federal assets, military assets, as well as taking inventory of assets from around the country that can be brought in, so we can help people get to their
well, first, i concluded i was very lucky, relative to many others, who were devastated by this storm, but on a broader perspective, what i concluded was that mitt romney and paul ryan s position on fema, on disaster relief, is one that s totally inconsistent with a centralized role for disaster preparedness. it makes absolutely no sense to think about privatizing or block granting this function to states. they simply can t do it. it s unimaginable that the federal government would tell a state, i m sorry, your block grant ran out, so we can t help you. if you actually look back at mitt romney s comments about shuddering fema or shuffling it off to the states, or even better, privatizing it, it s pure ideological rhetoric about how any time you re kick something to the states, that s better. that s not what you want from a president in a time of natural disaster. and even romney and ryan recognized that now, as you can tell from your current rhetoric, but they really have no place to
speeched a are the republican convention. he has been a great cheerleader for mr. romney. do you think people in the republican party are going to wonder exactly what he s doing, by the way he keeps praising the president? today he was saying, the president is here, it s important he s here, we re thankful that the president is here, we appreciate his support. how is that going down do you think, with republicans who are fighting this presidential campaign? the republicans who are fi t fighting the presidential campaigns, the hard and fast warriors there, can t possibly be thrilled or happy with what chris christie is doing. first he goes to the come nating convention, gives the keynote speech and mentions himself or the word i more than the way he does mitt romney s own name. but also, he wants to leave presidential politics out of this, but politics is all part of this. and what you have here is the governor of a devastated state who is up for re-election next
answer questions about fema. because his position thus far on everything has been, tell me what you, voter, want to hear, and i ll tell you that s my position. on a day like yesterday, with the devastating storm, he really couldn t his antenna couldn t pick up just which way to flip-flop or pander. because the currents were so strong, understanding the kind of bipartisanship you re about to hear from these two political representatives, where politics takes a backseat. and actually doing something serviceable for a country in need takes over. so it s been fascinating, really. jared, are you honestly suggesting that mitt romney is not actually competent on policy, but principally, about pandering? you couldn t possibly be suggesting such a thing. to me, seriously, that was the i am being serious, jared. yes if you look at the foreign policy debate, that was another example to me, again, of mitt romney saying, i can t figure out what the median voter who s going to ultimate
voted in health care, for example, against ideas that they hads espoused on the floor of the senate. but they vote against them. and at one point, the president asked one senator in particular, you know, what can i do? what can i put into this bill that will get your vote? and the answer was, you know, frankly, mr. president, there is nothing, because i simply cannot expose myself politically and vote for even things that i support. i mean, that s the lunacy that has passed for congress, under the republicans in the past four years. indeed. richard, stop press. we have breaking news. mitt romney, although refusing to answer personal questions of any kind, three-week anniversary today from the last time he answered a question, he has now issued a statement, supporting fema. he says, i m quoting, as president, i will ensure fema has the funding it needs to fulfill its mission. so once again, here s mitt