Budget deficit yet another storm victim

The L.A.Daily News has this reminder:

The federal deficit may have been the last thing on California congressional leaders' minds Friday as lawmakers approved $10.5 billion in Hurricane Katrina relief aid, but analysts say the newest burden on the national debt shows a federal unwillingness to budget for major disasters.

"Obviously it's going to cost a lot of money. My guess is that it will add tens of billions of dollars to the budget, and since there is no extra money, it's going to add to the deficit," said Robert Bixby, executive director of the Concord Coalition, a D.C.-based

group that advocates for the elimination of the national debt.