A CONSERVATIVE NEW DEAL FOR THE GULF COAST

Air Force One flew toward the Hurricane Katrina disaster zone on Sept. 15, Mississippi Republican Senator Trent Lott was ushered into President George W Bush's cabin to help hash out details of one of Bush's most important speeches. Lott, whose Pascagoula home had been washed away, suggested three guiding principles for the address: Bush should acknowledge mistakes, show "passion and compassion" for the victims, and employ conservative ideas to revive the region's economy. A few hours later in front of the cameras, Bush hit all the marks as he outlined the most ambitious and potentially costly domestic initiative since President Lyndon B. Johnson's War on Poverty. The Gulf reconstruction plan is a huge gamble for a President scrambling to recover from his Administration's chaotic response to the disaster. Bush's vision is something of a conservative New Deal, a radically rethought version of Big Government that bends its spending to conservative goals: lower taxes, less regulation, more local control, and bootstrap capitalism. In reshaping the region, the White House senses an opportunity to push conservative programs to the max.