Accounting

One storm could end up costing almost as much as two wars. Although estimates of Hurricane Katrina's staggering toll on the treasury are highly imprecise, costs are certain to climb to $200 billion in the coming weeks. The final accounting could approach the more than $300 billion spent in four years to fight in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Analysts inside and outside government agree that the $62 billion that Washington has spent so far was merely the first installment of perhaps an unparalleled sum.

"I cannot put a cost figure on it," Vice President Dick Cheney said Thursday in a visit to the hard-hit states.

We couldn't afford the Wars as they've played out [that is, with nominal results in bringing major Terrorists to justice in Afghanistan; and the endless cesspool that has grown from our flawed Invasion of Iraq]. The difference: We will afford this. We must. We have no choice- it's the only thing to do.

Of course, thanks to a permanent and poor-harming, rich-benefiting series of wartime tax cuts, this is harder for us to do. And Trent Lott's tax-baby, the Estate Tax, had to be delayed. Let's see if they realize that income is necessary to manage the Trillion Dollar needs of America's biggest projects.