Fool Me Once

"Mr. Bush's speech, at a luncheon for the Republican Jewish Coalition, appeared to be part of a White House strategy to restore the luster of strong leadership that Mr. Bush enjoyed after the Sept. 11 attacks, and that administration officials fear he has lost in the faltering response to the hurricane. . . .

"Until the speech on Wednesday, Mr. Bush had kept the issues of terrorism, Iraq and the hurricane separate. But the public has not: polls show declining approval of Mr. Bush's handling of both Iraq and Hurricane Katrina. By suggesting for the first time that America's enemies were pleased to see the devastation caused by the hurricane, he appeared to be linking the country's natural and human challengers."

Here is the transcript of yesterday's speech.

Bush said: "You know, something we -- I've been thinking a lot about how America has responded, and it's clear to me that Americans value human life, and value every person as important. And that stands in stark contrast, by the way, to the terrorists we have to deal with. You see, we look at the destruction caused by Katrina, and our hearts break. They're the kind of people who look at Katrina and wish they had caused it. We're in a war against these people. It's a war on terror. These are evil men who target the suffering. They killed 3,000 people on September the 11th, 2001. And they've continued to kill. See, sometimes we forget about the evil deeds of these people."

We may not have to wait long to see if this is indeed an emerging strategy. Bush makes a short speech about terrorism today at the Pentagon at noon ET.

Katrina Fallout

Finlay Lewis writes for the Copley News Service: "Under attack from both the left and the right, President Bush's plan for rebuilding the Hurricane Katrina-stricken Gulf Coast may soon become a political football instead of a broadly accepted disaster relief program. . . .

"Contributing to Bush's challenge is that he has devised a relief package that has distasteful elements to those on both ends of the political spectrum."

Jonathan Weisman writes in The Washington Post: "National gambling companies -- already rushing to rebuild casinos on the Gulf Coast -- would be granted access to millions of dollars in tax breaks under President Bush's plan to entice businesses into the Katrina disaster zone.

"In a break from previous Gulf Coast economic development practices, White House officials said they do not plan to exclude the gambling industry from huge tax write-offs for investment in equipment and structures in the president's proposed Gulf Opportunity Zone."

Weisman also reports one other developments on the Hill: "Democrats moved yesterday to repeal Bush's suspension of federal wage supports, which require federal contractors to pay workers prevailing local wages, on federally financed construction projects not just in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama but also in lightly affected South Florida. Dozens of House Republicans yesterday proposed significant spending cuts -- many of them on signature Bush programs -- to finance hurricane relief."

How to Make David Broder Angry

David S. Broder writes in a Washington Post op-ed that "even now, when the president is saying all the right things about the problems of poverty highlighted by the plight of Hurricane Katrina victims, his administration is dragging its feet on practical steps to help meet their needs."

Rather than immediately making evacuees eligible for Medicaid for the next few months, the Bush administration is insisting on a slower, more cumbersome approach, requiring state by state waivers.