I’m not so fond of the headline, but it is what it is. The article provides one of the better summaries of the previous two weeks. I want to highlight a couple of things, though, as I don’t think people are making enough noise about this now:

Mr Bush’s personal weakness is shaming; but the structural failures in government that Katrina has revealed are perhaps more worrying. After September 11th Mr Bush poured billions into creating the Department of Homeland Security, but the department has flunked its first big test.

…

The second structural problem is Washington’s addiction to pork-barrel spending. The anti-war left is keen to blame the Iraq war for depleting government’s resources. The real problem, however, is not a lack of resources—Mr Bush has increased discretionary spending faster than any president since Lyndon Johnson—but the way they are allocated. The funding for New Orleans’s levees, which has fallen by nearly half over the past four years, started dropping in 2001—before the Iraq war, but after Bob Livingston, a Louisiana congressman and erstwhile chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, left politics under a cloud. The recent transport bill contains some $24 billion-worth of pure pork—including $231m for a “bridge to nowhere” in Alaska. Although this sort of thing is endemic in Washington, it has got far worse since the Republicans took over both the White House and Congress. (emphasis added)

A LOT of pundits often claim that the deficit is no big deal. They miss the fact that while the long term effects of a deficit are debatable, the causes of this deficit are really the issue. We hear that the President was saddled with 9/11 and that our response to that attack has been the primary cause of our large deficits. It’s not true. Think about what the Economist reported above: “Mr. Bush has increased discretionary spending faster than any president since Lyndon Johnson.” Think about that… more than Reagan, who “outspent” the Russians into oblivion. More than the surplus-generating, Internet boom Clinton presidency.

Of course, reality doesn’t matter to the modern Republican leadership. This was Tom DeLay earlier this week:

House Majority Leader Tom DeLay said yesterday that Republicans have done so well in cutting spending that he declared an “ongoing victory,” and said there is simply no fat left to cut in the federal budget.

Mr. DeLay was defending Republicans’ choice to borrow money and add to this year’s expected $331 billion deficit to pay for Hurricane Katrina relief. Some Republicans have said Congress should make cuts in other areas, but Mr. DeLay said that doesn’t seem possible.

“My answer to those that want to offset the spending is sure, bring me the offsets, I’ll be glad to do it. But nobody has been able to come up with any yet,” the Texas Republican told reporters at his weekly briefing.

Asked if that meant the government was running at peak efficiency, Mr. DeLay said, “Yes, after 11 years of Republican majority we’ve pared it down pretty good.”

Congress has passed two hurricane relief bills totaling $62.3 billion, all of which will be added to the deficit.

Republican leaders have been under pressure from conservative members and outside watchdog groups to find ways to pay for the Katrina relief. Some Republicans wanted to offer an amendment, including cuts, to pay for hurricane spending but were denied the chance under procedural rules.

OMG. Please just shoot me now.