Disaster politics.

Byline: The Register-Guard

Politics play a role in any disaster, and political forces have had a huge impact on the very different trajectories Hurricane Katrina recovery efforts are taking in Louisiana and Mississippi.

Haley Barbour, Mississippi's Republican governor, has proven to be a much more decisive and skillful manager of his state's disaster recovery planning than Democratic Gov. Kathleen Blanco in Louisiana. Barbour's high-level connections to powerful Republicans in Washington, D.C., also give him a huge advantage over Blanco.

To be fair, Blanco is hamstrung by a political system that's legendary for its corruption and cronyism. During a recent special session of the Legislature, Blanco was unable to win long-overdue reform of New Orleans' bloated public payroll. The city, which is flat broke, continues to pay salaries for seven elected tax assessors, two sheriffs and two city court systems.

Louisiana's reputation as a bribe-infested fiscal swamp that swallows taxpayer dollars may be exaggerated. But perception is reality in Washington, D.C., and the perception has hurt the state's credibility in Congress. Sen. Larry Craig, R-Idaho, during town hall meetings in his home state last year repeatedly said that Louisiana and New Orleans had "the most corrupt governments in our country."

Almost on cue, a federal grand jury last month indicted St. Tammany Parish Councilman Joseph Impastato on felony extortion charges, making him the first Louisiana politician accused of Hurricane Katrina corruption. The FBI caught Impastato on tape taking two checks for $85,000 that were supposed to pay for debris removal.

Louisiana stumbled badly right out of the blocks when its congressional delegation foolishly asked for $250 billion in recovery and reconstruction funding. The request was a preposterous, pork-laden, public relations nightmare. Louisiana has had to fight a predictably skeptical Congress for crucial recovery funding ever since.

Meanwhile, Mississippi is doing almost everything right, speaking with one voice and making steady progress, even though the state has been overshadowed by blanket media coverage of the debacle in New Orleans. Initial results of the Governor's Commission on Recovery, Rebuilding and Renewal have been impressive and could point the way to a renaissance in the 11 storm-damaged cities on Mississippi's Gulf Coast.

Mississippi's coastal communities also benefit from having hitched their economic wagons to the fast-rising star of a burgeoning casino industry. Before Katrina reconfigured the coastline, there were nine casinos in Biloxi. Now, as a result of favorable changes to the casino siting rules by the Mississippi Legislature, proposals for at least nine more are in the works.

Although the political winds have blown more favorably for Mississippi, it's important to remember what hasn't happened yet. Almost nothing has been rebuilt in the six months since Katrina struck. Hundreds of thousands of Mississippi and Louisiana residents are living in trailers or other temporary housing out of state.

Mississippi needs at least 50,000 new homes to be built as soon as possible, and Louisiana could use a couple of hundred thousand new houses and apartments. As each day passes, the June 1 beginning of the 2006 hurricane season moves ever closer, and no amount of political clout can slow it down.

Associate Editor Jim Godbold recently returned from a National Conference of Editorial Writers fact-finding trip to Louisiana and Mississippi.