President Obama stood at ground zero in New Jersey in the aftermath of Storm Sandy and promised that he would “cut the red tape and reduce the paperwork” in order to get relief to the victims as soon as possible. Even NBC aired the videotape of it.

This is the first direct admission by Obama of the presence of Governmentium in his administration, after many implied admissions. If he promised to cut the red tape, there must be red tape there to cut. And, if he promised to reduce the paperwork, there must be too much paperwork to begin with.

So, what did FEMA do? We know now from first person eyewitness accounts by victims that FEMA showed up, all right, but did nothing more than survey the damage, put checkmarks on their checklists and leave. Where’s the FEMA assistance, the victims are shouting? The answer? Drowned by Governmentium.

Oh, there’s assistance going out to the victims, but it’s coming from the States, the local governments (where Governmentium deposits are much smaller) and from private donations (probably the biggest source of assistance). Meanwhile, “assets” of the Federal Government, such as generators and tanker trucks full of gasoline, are being denied to the people in favor of assuring that the FEMA “resources” are not inconvenienced.

This is not the first sighting of Governmentium in the Obama administration or in the Bush and prior administrations, for that matter, and it will not be the last. But, one hopes that whoever is elected President will do a videotape replay to spot the Governmentium deposits in this calamity and remove them.