Bush, Congress to South: Drop Dead

As Shrub bravely and stoically forgoes two days of the five weeks he's spent getting on with his life to "assist" in "coordinating" the aid to all of us down here (read, as Paul astutely made note of below: score cheap political points), he might want to think twice about showing his face in the Big Easy. Tim Grieve of Salon's War Room found this interesting little tidbit:

In fiscal year 2006, the New Orleans district of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is bracing for a record $71.2 million reduction in federal funding.

The cuts mean major hurricane and flood protection projects will not be awarded to local engineering firms. Also, a study to determine ways to protect the region from a Category 5 hurricane has been shelved for now.

One of the hardest-hit areas of the New Orleans district's budget is the Southeast Louisiana Urban Flood Control Project, which was created after the May 1995 flood to improve drainage in Jefferson, Orleans and St. Tammany parishes. SELA's budget is being drained from $36.5 million awarded in 2005 to $10.4 million suggested for 2006 by the House of Representatives and the president.

Grieve also makes a note of the fact that $72.1 million would barely be enough to pay for nine and a half hours of the war in Iraq.

Update: Attytood has more.