[innerSpaceman]

While I don't mean to diss him on this, it was the only avenue left open to him. His poll numbers crumbled and his wise advisers have told him to verbally mia culpa and throw (borrowed, national-debt-increasing) money at the recovery effort; to stage big hoopla recovery benefit agenda items that he can tout (while burying stingy recovery agenda detriment items like suspending minimum wage requirements).

The cost is now looking like $200 billion. That's twice as much as last week's estimate, so look for that to go up again. Protection from the hurricane would have cost a tenth of that. But what the hell, just add it to the national credit card that will never be paid off in our Empire's lifetime.