DENNIS HASTERT GETS SOME SUPPORT IN ORLANDO

Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert (R - IL) received sharp criticism for being cruel and insensitive last week when, days after Hurricane Katrina slammed into the Gulf South, he told a suburban Chicago newspaper that, in effect, we should give second thought to rebuilding New Orleans.

Seems as though the Speaker has an "amen corner" in Orlando Sentinel columnist Mike Thomas. He writes:

New Orleans should not be rebuilt bigger and better than before. It never should have been built like it was in the first place.

The worst-case scenario is that the Bush administration, riddled with guilt over its Katrina response, gives New Orleans a blank check to rebuild without regard to consequences.New Orleans obviously will not be abandoned. But it should be confined to more defensible borders on the remaining high ground.

While Mr. Thomas has some very valid points, much of the destruction that was placed on the Crescent City could have been avoided if the federal administrations had properly funded the Army Corps of Engineers to improve the New Orleans levee/canal system during the past decade as they have clearly suggested.