Romney still won’t answer questions posed by Sandy on funding FEMA

>>> let's not freak out over hurricane sandy and think we need the feds. the response should simply be handled by whatever individual state is the entire eastern seaboard .

>> mitt romney 's view that fema be abolished and its responsibilities trans fered back to the states doesn't make much sense at the end of a week when a state like new jersey has been crippled by a hurricane. what's become clear is there are some things in this world that an individual state or even the private sector simply cannot do on their own. i'm joined now by representative carolyn maloney , democrat of new york . good afternoon, ma'am.

>> good afternoon.

>> when you were here earlier this week, both of us, because we both live in new york , but you serve constituents who were grief-sti grief-stricken by what ha happened. you were worried about the jobs numbers. we now have them, 171,000 new jobs. 25 consecutive months of job growth , 5.5 million under that president. your reaction to that figure?

>> we're marching in the right direction particularly when you put it in the perspective of what he first walked into. when he was elected this country was shedding over 750,000 jobs a month. because of his economic policies , we've been digging our way out of that deep red hole and providing more jobs for people and moving in the right collection.

>> now, speaking going back for a moment to the disaster that's happened this week and the storm, mitt romney has not answered a single question from any reporters for 23 days. would that be because he would have abolished fema if he had the power to do so and that now places him in a somewhat difficult position given what has happened?

>> absolutely. because the first question would be, governor, you are obviously wrong. fema is doing an excellent job. fema is reacting to 17 states that were hit by this terrible storm, and at one time, martin, the storm was hitting both bermuda and the great state of north carolina at the same time. and not only was the federal response and reaction to it and protection of people in the first responsibility of the government is to protect our people, save lives, but the response, the recovery needs to be coordinated, too.

>> he said give it back to the states. even the private sector can deal with it.

>> he's obviously wrong. that's why he's not answering the question and furthermore he chose as his running mate congressman ryan who has proposed to cut fema by 43%. tell that to the lines of people lined up to get water and food today and yesterday. these high rises, they have volunteers running up and down taking water and food to 345emany people that are seniors. i thought the timing of campaigning today with eric cantor in virginia, virginia is hard-hit, too, and eric cantor also advocated that there should not be one federal dollar spent for fema unless there was an offset where you cut, what, medicare, medicaid? what are you going to cut to account for any expenditure? and fema is saving lives. not only are they saving lives in this recovery with food and water and batteries and blankets, but the recovery. they have loans to help people get back on their feet, these small businesses that have lost all their produce, all their inventory, all their food. they don't even have the money to restock. it will guarantee a bridge loan with the bank.

>> i'm delighted you mentioned the great eric cantor because he was out campaigning, as you said. let's listen to what he said.

>> this country is in desperate need of a leader who understands, first of all, that reasonable people can disagree. that's what this country is built upon is a spirit of cooperation, of understanding.

>> mr. cantor has spent the last four years opposing absolutely everything that this president has tried to do to stir the recovery. you know this man. what is he talking about? he talks about cooperation, a spirit of understanding. have you ever seen eric cantor deliver that over the last four years?

>> we have not, and i hope he will deliver it over the next four years. they spent the last four years trying to discredit and stop president obama in absolutely everything he tried to do to help people. they thwarted his jobs program, thwarted many of his initiatives, and i'm all for bipartisanship, with he need to get back to work and avert the fiscal cliff. we need to work together to get people back to work and get this economy moving in an even stronger way, but based on history, they were not cooperative and if anything they stopped every single jobs-related economic development effort of the president.

>> can i ask you about the new york marathon? because everybody everywhere is arguing about whether it should go ahead this weekend. we know that it raises a great deal of revenue and brings in a lot ever money to the state and to the city. what's your feeling about whether it should go ahead?

>> it's a very special new york event, and it's special to me. my late husband ran 22 times in the new york marathon and it's very important to many people in the city and many that have traveled here to be here. there is a lot of people that are still hurting, particularly in staten island , people that are -- two hospitals have been closed down. the only hospital serving people below 59th street , they're in a crisis situation trying to take care of everybody. there's many, many concerns, but i feel that the president, the governor, and the mayor are all doing extraordinary jobs in every city and state and federal employee. i don't want to second guess the mayor. i want to support him. we're in a crisis and we need to work together. his agencies are responding to my constituents. secretary sebelius will be in the city tomorrow. secretary lahood is coming. the head of fema is coming.

>> congresswoman, i hate to cut you short. you didn't answer my question but i forgive