Over the last two weeks, Congress has forged forward with plans to enact fiscally irresponsible budget and tax reconciliation bills that together will raise the deficit by as much as $35 billion over the next five years. That such a plan ignores new fiscal strains and the public's changed priorities since Hurricane Katrina seems of little consequence to lawmakers. Despite reaching agreement earlier this year on the elements of a dreadfully harmful reconciliation package, the House and Senate are currently crafting even more appalling (and now drastically different) bills.

It has been two months since Hurricane Katrina hit and one month since Rita made landfall on the already-ravaged Gulf Coast, yet reverberations continue to be felt not only in Washington, but throughout the country.

The debate in Congress over fiscal priorities has taken a turn toward radical conservatism this week, as the right-wing members of the House Republican Study Committee (RSC) have gained the upper hand in their push for increased cuts in the budget resolution. As Congress returns from its October recess this week, House GOP leaders are planning to amend the budget resolution to include more drastic cuts to mandatory and discretionary spending, ostensibly to pay for rebuilding in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.