Katrina $$$$$$$$$$$? No. Maybe $$$$

I'm still waiting for somebody like Hugh Hewitt or Fox News to give me a call. The reports continue to come in supporting all of my estimates of Sept 1. Haley Barbour, now Governor of Mississippi, says that the $200B - $300B numbers are excessive.

(Barbour)estimated the total federal costs for relief, recovery and rebuilding in his state would be under $50 billion and might not be much more than $30 billion.

Also, from the Congressional budget office

The final tab is likely to be less than $150 billion, instead of an estimated $200 billion or more that was tossed about immediately after Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast in August, Congressional Budget Office Director Douglas Holtz-Eakin said Thursday.

"There's nothing that we've seen so far that adds up to even approach $200 billion," Holtz-Eakin told The Associated Press, amplifying on testimony to the House Budget Committee. "Everything we've seen is in the vicinity of $150 billion or below."

He went on to report

As for hurricane damage, the CBO's Holtz-Eakin told the House Budget Committee that his office now estimates damage to homes, government buildings, oil refineries and businesses will cost between $70 billion and $130 billion. But at least $40 billion is covered by private insurance, he said.

Now these numbers from the Congressional Budget Office are still far higher than my estimates, which are more in line with the Mississippi Governor.

My concern is that if you give people three times what things cost, they will spend it.