No relief, just disaster

Tell me you're surprised.

Senior Republicans and Democrats are accusing President George W. Bush and Congress of not fulfilling the promise to do "whatever it takes" to rebuild the Gulf Coast after the devastation of Hurricane Katrina.

"We are at a point where our recovery and renewal efforts are stalled because of inaction in Washington, D.C., and the delay has created uncertainty that is having very negative effects on our recovery and rebuilding," said Mississippi's Republican Gov. Haley Barbour, a staunch Bush loyalist, in a speech on Wednesday.

Barbour said there was no money to rebuild highways and bridges; school districts were close to bankruptcy; homeowners whose houses were destroyed were awaiting help with their mortgages, and long-term state and local budgets were shrouded in uncertainty because of Congress' failure to act.

Sen. Trent Lott, another Mississippi Republican, said last week, "Mr. President, we need your leadership to ensure that the federal government fulfills its commitment to help Mississippians get back on their feet."

West Virginia Democratic Sen. Robert Byrd was even blunter. "It is December, the hurricane struck in August, and yet the victims seem forgotten by the White House," he said.

White House spokesman Scott McClellan said on Wednesday that Bush was actively involved in discussions on how to house people who lost their homes as well as whether to fund rebuilding the levee system that is designed to protect New Orleans.

In his September 15 speech from Jackson Square in the heart of New Orleans, Bush declared that New Orleans would rise again.

"We will do what it takes. We will stay as long as it takes to help citizens rebuild their communities and their lives," Bush pledged.

But others involved in the local recovery effort see only inaction. Monica Sussman, a housing expert with law firm Nixon Peabody, said she saw no signs of a plan to rebuild New Orleans so that its former citizens could return.

The administration has yet to say whether it will fund the reconstruction of the New Orleans levee system to protect against Category 4 or 5 hurricanes. The previous system only protected against Category 3 storms and was overwhelmed by Katrina.

Mississippi Republican Sen. Thad Cochran, chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, wants to add $18 billion to the budget for hurricane relief, much of it to help homeowners without flood insurance rebuild or repair their homes, on top of the $17 billion suggested by the administration.

But many Republican conservatives, especially in the House of Representatives, have resisted new spending, saying the country is already running a massive budget deficit.

So even Bush supporters like Lott and Barbour are begging Bubble Boy to do something, to live up to a pledge he made in a nationally televised speech. And the Republican conservatives who are crying poor when it comes to helping the people of New Orleans will be the same ones who vote in favor of another round of tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans.

Meanwhile, the White House says Bush is actively involved in discussions, whatever that means, about whether or not to rebuild the levees. That's right, the Bush administration is considering not rebuilding them. Which is particularly unconscionable when you consider that the residents of that once-great city have been encouraged to return home.

If those levees aren't repaired, wait'll you see what happens to that city next year. How many people will the administration have lured to their deaths by encouraging them to return to the area and then not protecting the area?

In other news, the Bush administration plans to ask Congress for up to $100 billion to fund its war of choice in Iraq.