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Bush Marks Hurricane Katrina Anniversary Along Gulf NewsMax.com Wires WASHINGTON -- President Bush on Monday marked the anniversary of the hurricane that still haunts his presidency with worries that a new tropical storm could bring the first test of his promise that the botched post-Katrina response will not be repeated. As Ernesto cut a path through the Caribbean, Bush boarded Air Force One for a two-day visit to the region that is little recovered from Hurricane Katrina's devastating strike last Aug. 29. Forecasters believe Ernesto, which grew into the season's first hurricane Sunday before weakening back to a tropical storm, will emerge with some force into the Gulf of Mexico later this week. The latest tracking indicated the system would most threaten southern and western Florida, a predication that seemed to shift New Orleans out of the expected danger zone. Regardless, with Bush's image as a leader still tarnished by the halting federal response to Katrina, the president wants to make clear he has been fully engaged in planning for Ernesto as he vacationed over the weekend at his family's summer home on the Maine coast. Aides noted he was briefed regularly and said White House representatives were coordinating with emergency management officials. A poll earlier this month found two-thirds of Americans still disapprove of the president's handling of Katrina. Democrats are converging on the Gulf along with Bush, intending to make the case that he and the Republican Party should be held accountable for failing storm victims - not just at first, but still. Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean said Bush's promises of help for Katrina victims and changes to the federal response effort remain largely unfulfilled. He called Bush's trip nothing more than a public relations offensive designed to paper over failures. Bush's trip is his 13th to the Gulf Coast since Katrina, and his first in more than three months. The highlights this time are a pair of speeches, one each in Mississippi and Louisiana. Story Continues Below
He wasn't bringing any new aid announcements or fresh policy proposals. Instead, the president was hoping the addresses would persuade local residents and doubters elsewhere that he remains committed to seeing the region rebuilt better than before. On one matter that has become a subject of finger-pointing between Washington and the region, aides said Bush would stress that state and local governments need to do their part to get federal money to victims - an unmistakable jab at leaders in Louisiana and New Orleans, where federal money for citizens to rebuild homes has yet to begin flowing. So far, Congress has approved $110 billion in hurricane aid. The Bush administration has released $77 billion to the states, reserving the rest for future needs, but $33 billion of that has not yet been spent. Don Powell, Bush's federal Gulf Coast coordinator, also warned in an interview that no more money would flow to the region until there is proof that what has been approved is being spent well. "It's now time for the people to demonstrate they're going to use this money wisely," he said in an interview. "We need to see plans, execution." Bush's itinerary looks a lot like previous trips, many of which have been criticized as featuring too much staged contact with supportive locals and overly dominated by meetings with officials. He is spending a little more time freely roaming Mississippi than harder-hit, less-recovered New Orleans. On Monday, after lunch with community leaders in Biloxi, Miss., he was to walk through a damaged neighborhood and visit a Gulfport company that builds and repair boats. Bush was ending the day in New Orleans, at dinner with state and local officials. On Wednesday, he is to appear at political fundraisers in Arkansas and Tennessee, although officials will be keeping an eye on Ernesto in case it requires presidential attention.
© 2006 Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Editor's note: Read more on this subject in related Hot Topics:
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