http://www.chron.com/…

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.”

Texas won’t get all that money, since some is dedicated to Iowa flood victims, Gustav victims and other disaster areas, but it could get more than half.

The legislation passed the House on Wednesday, 370-58. It also included other federal spending and the lifting of the ban on offshore drilling in the Atlantic and Pacific.

Eight of the Houston area’s nine lawmakers voted for the bill, with the exception of Paul. His spokeswoman, Rachel Mills, said Thursday that the congressman did not vote for the bill because it contained other “unconstitutional” provisions, which she did not specify.

Paul is famous for his consistent positions on limited government and low taxes. His views have drawn a vocal grass-roots following across the country.

Reactions among Galvestonians were mixed.

“That’s not too good,” said Mareia Schreiber while shaking out water-soaked artwork. “It feels kind of bad for the citizens of Galveston.”

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.”

Tina Rios, who was helping her elderly parents clean out their flooded home on Ibis Street, said it was too early for her to think about “political stuff.”

“The only thing going on in our house is trying to save whatever we can,” she said. “We had flood insurance, but not contents insurance.”

Mills said Paul voted for a separate bill that passed Wednesday, the Disaster Tax Relief Act of 2008. The measure offers individuals and businesses in disasters to claim tax deductions for losses and to write-off expenses related to cleanup.

Who knows what the sampling was like but it’s encouraging to see some people out there who are truly self sufficient. He’s been doing this for years and they keep electing him so these kinds of votes must not really concern the people much.