The more I look ...

The more I look, the more I worry.

I know we are a resilient people. In the aftermath of 9/11, Americans rallied as they haven't in years. We came together as a people. We had a common enemy. We had a common cry.

This time it is different. There is no enemy to rally against. There is no outrage of injustice.
There is just need.

We have tossed a box of bandaids at this problem. We are worried about whether Nawlin's will be rebuilt, when we should be concerned about the rebuilding of the American economy. This is a bank buster. We have not begun to address the tendrils of this disaster.

The first repercussion was an almost instantaneous jump in gas prices. 11% of the refineries supplying gas to the country were shut down by the storm. This has nothing to do with the price of a barrel of oil. We can buy all the barrels available and it is meaningless if we cannot refine that oil into gasoline. Tendrils.

The rise in prices raises the cost of transporting goods, which is passed along in the price of those goods. Tendrils.

58 percent of Gulf oil production remains shut down, as does 38 percent of the region's natural gas production. Look for an increase in the cost of natural gas as well. Tendrils

About 8,000 people with HIV and AIDS who were displaced by Hurricane Katrina now face the massive challenge of trying to manage their disease without their doctors, their clinics and their support systems. Tendrils.

If Nawlin's is rebuilt, the drain on the building supplies available will cause prices to jump upward. Tendrils.

We scurry about looking for who is to blame for the gap in emergency services, while workers armed with only bandaids try to fix an ever growing problem.

I applaud the efforts of the American people in trying to reach and meet the needs of the individuals displaced and affected by Katrina. It is time for the Federal Gov't to step up it's efforts in fixing the economy problems.

Before the tendrils become unstoppable ...