Posted 9/25/2008 05:38:00 PM by Douglas

Dr. Ron Paul, sticking to his guns as "Dr. No" for what will most certainly be his last term in the U.S. House of Representatives:

Some Galveston officials aren't too pleased with their congressional representative, Ron Paul, R-Lake Jackson, for voting against the $22.8 billion disaster recovery aid package on Wednesday.

"That's sad. That's bad," City Manager Steve LeBlanc said.

"I find it very distressing," said Councilwoman Karen Mahoney, who represents the West End of the island, where damage was extreme. "He's voting against aid for the region that he represents? I don't find that very representative."

I've asked several people hit much more severely by Ike than I was if they had any idea how they were going to get any of this money. No one has a clue. Aside from the cities and counties getting reimbursed for cleanup and emergency services, the people aren't going to see jack squat. So put that with Dr. Paul's history, this vote should surprise absolutely no one. As it does:

But other residents said Paul's vote didn't bother them. "We've worked hard all our lives," said Gene Lossow. "We take care of ourselves. I don't need FEMA or anything else. We got insurance."

Lossow, 65, works as a clerk at the Port of Galveston. The floodwaters soaked through his one-story ranch house, rising to 4 feet. Lossow and his wife had just spent $90,000 renovating the home a few months ago.

Lossow, who said he doesn't vote, shrugged at news of the aid package. "There are too many people who expect the government to take care of them. But I'm not one of them."

Some people need some help, and everyone understands that. But all things being equal, everyone would rather take care of themselves. Why is that so hard to understand?