No one can deny that the hurricane Katrina is one of the greatest tragedies in the American history. After the failure of the federal government to handle the situation, it seems like everyone from the ordinary people, local government, and state government to the federal government are extremely alert about hurricane Rita.

Fortunately, it turned out Rita was not as devastating as Katrina.

The hurricane season is far from over. It is forecasted that there will be at least 5 major hurricanes waiting in line.

Katrina has bared the failure of the government to handle the natural catastrophe of this scale. To show his leadership and concern, Bush proposed today to hand the natural disaster management to the military. Some said Bush should propose the military to take over the job of wrapping Christmas gifts and sending them to seniors and children as well.

To manage the crisis is important. However, to manage the money to be allocated to the disastrous area is equally important. The budget to be allocated to the Gulf States is expected to exceed hundreds billion of dollars.

Who will manage this mega-budget?

The Bush Administration is quick to reward their friends from left to right, in particular, the best friend of Dick Cheney-Halliburton. The New York Times reports that the government projects are handed to the Halliburton’s affiliates without bidding.

Cronyism is pretty normal in the government. JFK appointed his brother to be the Attorney General. However, this administration has elevated this practice to the new level by giving out the government projects to their friends since the war in Iraq that most of the military projects were operated by Halliburton without any bidding. In addition, they appointed people who were not qualified for the job just to reward their support to the Bush dynasty. Michael Brown is the best example.

In the mist of the heavy budget deficit, that money should be used effectively. The media should focus on investigating the way the government will spend that money instead of focusing on the tragedy that has already passed.

We do not want to have another tragedy that in order to help the victims, the government breaks the treasury, puts the whole country in the huge debt that the next generation will have to pay but the victims of the tragedy have to share that money with the Bush-Cheney’s friends.

Tae Athikomvittaya