http://news.yahoo.com/ron-paul-no-federal-financial-aid-tornado-victims-102533838.html Ron Paul: No Federal Financial Aid for Tornado Victims Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas, stood by his libertarian beliefs on Sunday, saying that victims of the violent storms and tornadoes that have battered a band of states in the South and Midwest in recent days should not be given emergency financial aid from the federal government. "There is no such thing as federal money," Paul said, on CNNâs State of the Union. "Federal money is just what they steal from the states and steal from you and me." "The people who live in tornado alley, just as I live in hurricane alley, they should have insurance," Paul said. Paul said there was a role for the National Guard to restore order and provide care and shelter in major emergencies, but that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) led to nothing but "frustration and anger." "To say that any accident that happens in the country, send in FEMA, send in the money, the government has all this moneyâit is totally out of control and it's not efficient," Paul said.
Horrible politics and I think states should get federal disaster assistance but I respect the fact that he stands by his principles even when he knows he will take a political hit
As Paul correctly pointed out, that "federal money" is all money that the people and the states would have if the federal government didn't take it. So it's a zero sum game. We're in the mess we're in because everybody except Ron Paul thinks that the federal government is an infinite source of free money. Including Romney who can be seen in a video bragging about how he had got one million dollars from the Department of Education to buy tickets for kids so they could see the Olympics. Politicians other than Paul simply recognize no limits on what the federal government should do or fund.