Editorial: A most somber anniversary

Saturday, Aug. 26, 2006 | 7:29 a.m.

I t made for dramatic television when President Bush spoke from Hurricane Katrina-ravaged New Orleans nearly one year ago, illuminated by floodlights on a darkened Jackson Square. Bush made a passionate speech and some bold promises, including bringing forth "one of the largest reconstruction efforts the world has ever seen."

The president looked into the cameras and pledged: "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." He vowed accountability for failures in the government's disaster response. The president seemed to suggest that he would not let down Gulf Coast residents any more than he already had.

But sadly, as we approach next week's one-year anniversary of Katrina, the Bush administration has accumulated a long list of failures since he spoke from the French Quarter. Tens of thousands are struggling to move themselves out of trailers. Tons of debris have yet to be removed. And little has been done to protect the poor in plans for a new New Orleans.

Other failures were outlined in a Democratic report: Thousands of families are still waiting for FEMA trailers; waste and fraud have claimed 11 percent - $2 billion - of the $19 billion spent by FEMA so far; and 80 percent of Gulf Coast businesses approved for disaster loans are still waiting to receive the money.

In an attempt to lessen the sting of negative media attention that is sure to pain the administration next week, the White House on Wednesday orchestrated a Bush meeting with Rockey Vaccarella, perhaps a rare storm victim in that he supports the president. He praised Bush as the two addressed reporters and posed arm-in-arm.

Many Katrina victims have harsher words for the president. They deserve his attention, too. People like Derek Guth, a 46-year-old man who is living in a FEMA trailer parked outside his home in New Orleans. "What recovery?" asked Guth in an interview with Bloomberg News. "The streets speak for themselves. It's a year later. They don't even have the traffic lights fixed."

Bush should work swiftly to make good on promises that so far have not been kept. His administration has already let down the residents of the Gulf Coast by its failure to rapidly respond to the disaster. The least that Bush and the Republican-controlled Congress can do is ramp up the reconstruction efforts.