Katrina Rebuild Hinges on Who Will Pay (AP)

[Up2Late]

(Well. I guess we all always knew what was truly important to these people.)

Dec 4, 12:30 PM EST

Katrina Rebuild Hinges on Who Will Pay

By MATT CRENSON
AP National Writer

Three months after Hurricane Katrina, we know that damage is enormous. We know that it will cost billions of dollars to rebuild New Orleans and the rest of the Gulf Coast.

What we don't know is where the money will come from. Louisiana's congressional delegation introduced legislation in September calling for a $212 billion federally funded rebuilding effort; fiscal conservatives scotched the proposal.

Even a more modest request for $32 billion to strengthen Louisiana's flood defenses so they could withstand a Category 5 hurricane - the current standard is Category 3 - has drawn a tepid response from the Bush administration. "Hopefully that decision will be made sooner rather than later," said Donald Powell, the White House's top hurricane reconstruction official, during a recent trip to Louisiana.

Only the federal government has pockets deep enough to pay for a massive reconstruction effort. But there is a significant difference of opinion over whether - and if so, how - the government should raise the money. "This kind of major public works project has to be a state and federal partnership," said Andy Kopplin, executive director of the Louisiana Recovery Authority, which was created by governor Kathleen Blanco to advance the state's reconstruction.

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(more at link above)