Editorial: Bush’s focus blurring again

Sunday, April 2, 2006 | 7:22 a.m.

On Sept. 15, two weeks after Hurricane Katrina made landfall, President Bush spoke to the nation from New Orleans. The shattered city was still inundated, its levees having collapsed under 140 mph winds. Bush's message was strong and full of resolve.

"And tonight I also offer this pledge of the American people: Throughout the area hit by the hurricane, we will do what it takes, we will stay as long as it takes, to help citizens rebuild their communities and their lives ... This great city will rise again ... We'll not just rebuild, we'll build higher and better," Bush said in striking numerous themes of inspiration and hope.

Donald Powell, the Bush administration's rebuilding coordinator, struck a similar chord, saying, "The federal government is committed to building the best levee system known in the world."

Well, that was then. Now the Bush administration, according to a story in The Washington Post, is saying that because the cost of rebuilding New Orleans' levees to federal standards has soared to $10 billion from earlier estimates of $3.5 billion, doing what it takes might be off the table. An expenditure of that magnitude is likely out of the question, the administration says.

A possible new plan, announced last week by Powell, is for some sections of New Orleans to be protected by levees strong enough to meet federal flood insurance standards, and for other sections to be protected by levees of pre-Katrina strength.

This is just the latest example of why Bush's poll ratings are dropping precipitously. He makes grand statements and then fails to follow up. After the 9/11 terrorist attacks, he swore that those who perpetrated the atrocity would stay foremost in the sights of America's military. After a promising start in Afghanistan, he switched priorities and attacked Iraq, which had nothing to do with 9/11 and which now dominates the attention of our military.

Bush has also abandoned many domestic programs, which he had once proclaimed were priorities. He hasn't paid attention to education since passage of the No Child Left Behind Act early in his first term, despite widespread criticisms that the program needs major adjustments. Health care, Social Security, the tax code and other issues for which Bush once promised bold reform have been virtually abandoned.

Imagine what a more competent, focused president could have accomplished over these past six years.