Two steps forward and....

Levee restoration price doubles

WASHINGTON -- The cost of restoring levee protection in the New Orleans area to pre-Hurricane Katrina levels will be about $6 billion, twice as much as the Bush administration and Congress have appropriated to date, Donald Powell, the federal coordinator for Gulf Coast rebuilding, told members of the state's congressional delegation Wednesday.

Powell said he wanted to update the delegation on the latest cost estimates, but he did not commit to a financing source or whether the administration would seek the traditional 35 percent local share for the work. He said that "will be part of the deliberations" in coming weeks.

Louisiana delegation members who attended the briefing late Wednesday said they would insist on a 100 percent federal payment of the levee costs, because the failures of the levees and floodwalls during Katrina were caused largely by poor design and construction flaws that independent investigations have blamed on the Army Corps of Engineers.

They're hoping we'll tire of having to keep making this argument over and over. Of course, they're still holding all the chips such as...

Powell also told the officials that the Bush administration believes the release of flood maps from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, eagerly awaited by residents and businesses deciding whether they can rebuild their properties, requires authorization that the levee restoration work will in fact go forward.

Talk about your long hard slogs.