For days, Hurricane Katrina was front page, above-the-fold news and the darling of news at 11. Battered by criticism and clear displays of failure, President Bush visited New Orleans and vowed that its victims would not be forgotten and that the community would be rebuilt better than ever. Two months later, it seems that the president has lied again. The Gulf Coast is not being rebuilt. Instead, it’s being forgotten.

Bush has not visited the torn region since October. If Katrina is mentioned at all, it’s only in passing. According to state officials, reconstruction aid is hitting its snags on the federal level. While the Bush wars have wracked up a tab in excess of $300-billion (U.S.), and new tax cuts for the rich total $95-billion, Congress feels that $32-billion for new levees is wasteful.

Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour blames halted reconstruction efforts on “inaction in Washington.” Speaking on Meet the Press, Washington Post columnist Mike Allen said that one Bush advisor told him that Katrina had “fallen so far off the radar screen, you can’t find it.”

» Scott Saxon