Money, Money, Everywhere

Numbers such as these are causing a revolt among a small but growing number of Republicans. In the Senate, they are led by John McCain, who sees deficits as a sign of larger, systemic problems; in the House, the renascent "green eyeshade" faction is run by Pence, an influential conservative who is often an irritant to the rest of the leadership. "We have to make sure that a catastrophe of nature does not become a catastrophe of debt for our children and grandchildren," he said.

Some GOP strategists worry that the costs of Katrina--on top of everything else--will generate pressure, at the grass roots, to cut back support for the war in Iraq. "I'm worried about the moment when a mayor in Louisiana is told that he's not going to get his bridge or his firehouse built for two years," said a top GOP staffer in the House, declining to be named because he deals with the White House daily. "And we're going to tell him to get in line, that the money isn't there right now, and he is going to say, 'How come we can afford to keep rebuilding the same damned bridge in Baghdad every day and y'all can't afford to build mine?'" Rep. Gene Taylor, a conservative Democrat from Mississippi, said he didn't envision that happening in his Gulf Coast district. "Then again, I've got one of the most pro-military districts in the country." The Mississippi National Guard is heavily deployed in Iraq, and Taylor says his constituents are proud that it is. The administration insists that there are more than enough members of the guard stateside to handle all Katrina-related duties. Taylor doesn't disagree, but adds that "you can always use more help."

However much money is spent, who is going to spend it--and monitor whether it is spent legally, let alone properly? And who's in charge? "I don't really know, and the fact that I don't know concerns me," said John Kennedy, the Louisiana state treasurer. It's hardly reassuring that the two agencies funneling money into Louisiana are the most heavily criticized government entities on the face of the planet: FEMA and the state's Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness. Local officials send their requests to the OHSEP, which forwards them to FEMA, which signs off on them and sends them back down the chain. "It looks like, right now, FEMA is playing the primary role," said Pres Kabacoff, a local developer. "But we're still trying to figure out who is FEMA, who is in charge." Local rivalries confuse things further: New Orleans officials, for example, would prefer to deal directly with the Feds, and to bypass Baton Rouge.

The ground-level confusion is fueling a debate within the White House about naming a "czar" to oversee the entire Gulf Coast effort--arguably the biggest reconstruction project since, well, Reconstruction. As the leading Republican in an otherwise mostly Democratic state, Sen. David Vitter of Louisiana wants a czar, and has been lobbying Bush directly for the appointment of one. Alabama Sen. Jeff Sessions introduced a bill calling for establishment of a post-Katrina "manager"; Sen. Judd Gregg of New Hampshire, chairman of the Budget Committee, wants a White House office to perform the same function. But in Mississippi, they don't want a czar because they figure they already have one: Gov. Haley Barbour. A former chairman of the Republican National Committee and a close personal friend of the president's, Barbour has deep ties in Washington and to his state's GOP senators. He and the Mississippi delegation want him to run the show--a message Barbour personally "relayed" to the president, according to Barbour's press secretary. Still, the administration hasn't entirely ruled out the czar idea, and the names of potential candidates continue to swirl through the capital, from Colin Powell to Rudy Giuliani to Jack Welch.

The president is dispatching "inspectors general" to audit the books, but they had better be a cross between George Patton and Eliot Ness if they are going to master the folkways of Louisiana. Concerns have already been raised about the cronies who surround Governor Blanco. Jim Bernhard, a major financial supporter, last week quit the chairmanship of the state Democratic Party so he could devote himself full time to his company, the Shaw Group, which had just won a $100 million contract from the Feds for reconstruction work. The word around Baton Rouge: friends of state officials are likely to be first in line for subcontracts. The entire spectacle brings gales of bitter laughter from the denizens of the state capital. An alderman once famously said, "Chicago ain't ready for reform." It's not clear whether Baton Rouge is ready, either.

Whoever leads the reconstruction effort--and, in the end, that's George W. Bush--will have to confront deep matters of philosophy, place and race. Everyone agrees that the levees and canals in New Orleans need to be upgraded, and the basic infrastructure restored throughout an area the size of Britain. But beyond that, no one really agrees on means and methods. Democrats see the aftermath of the disaster as a reason not only to cancel Bush's tax cuts but to expand funding of government-based health care, education and training programs. And Democrats in New Orleans want to see neighborhoods rebuilt--even if not especially the poorest of the poor--in the place where they existed before the flood.