Dig a deeper hole

The headline here says they're going to spend a ton of money dredging the Mississippi River in order to accommodate deeper draft vessels. The lede makes sure to let us know that Steve Scalise helped. But I wonder if maybe this last bit is really the bigger story.

The Army Corps of Engineers will spend $85.35 million this year to begin deepening parts of the Mississippi River navigation channel between Baton Rouge and the river's mouth to 50 feet, 5 feet deeper than at present, House Minority Whip Steve Scalise, R-Jefferson, announced Monday.

And President Donald Trump's proposed fiscal year 2021 budget, also released Monday, includes another $45.7 million for the dredging project, but no money for the long-discussed new lock on the Industrial Canal or the "Morganza to the Gulf" levee project.

They're usually so proud when they chip off even a little bit of funding for Morganza. And since that is actually supposed to be a flood control project, you'd think we'd make a bigger deal out of it not happening this year. Does the Corps even do flood control anymore? This says they're taking a $1.7 billion overall cut in Trump's budget proposal.  They're going to need a bigger federal commitment than that if they want to get this 50 year plan to raise the New Orleans levee protection system up and running before the sea swallows us all.

As for the lock, Ninth Ward residents have been dreading/pushing back against the project for years raising questions about its very necessity as well as its impact on their neighborhoods.  I would have thought the pause on that would have been the headline here. But we do have to make sure Steve Scalise looks good first.