Neocons Using Katrina to Railroad Policies

The similarities between Iraq and New Orleans are becoming too obvious.
Naomi Klein described is as "disaster capitalism" On Iraq reconstruction, Klein wrote:

Few ideologues can resist the allure of a blank slate--that was colonialism's seductive promise: "discovering" wide-open new lands where utopia seemed possible. ...And where there is destruction there is reconstruction, a chance to grab hold of "the terrible barrenness," as a UN official recently described the devastation in Aceh, and fill it with the most perfect, beautiful plans.

Compare that to the bizarre line from Bush's speech: "Along this coast, for mile after mile, the wind and water swept the land clean." Clean? Rotting bodies, feces, petrochemicals, house cleaners and urine in standing water do not make for "clean." (Maybe he just meant that the poor people went away.)
When it was announced that Karl Rove would head the Ketrina reconstruction (or rather, when Rove assigned the job to himself), the message was clear. Rove has zero experience with urban renewal and even less experience with humanitarian work. His talent is in exploiting divisions among people, turning those divisions to the GOP's advantage and smearing opponents.
The new role for Rove gives him the added advantage of a backdoor if he is indeed indicted in the next several weeks. If he is brought up on fraud, conspiracy, espionage and perjury charges in the Plame affair, Bush could pardon Rove under the ridiculous pretext that Rove is vital for the future of New Orleans.
As it stands, there are numerous neocon pet projects that have NOT passed, even in today's GOP congress. But now, thanks to Katrina, policies such as, school vouchers, eliminating affirmative action, environmental deregulation, and repeal of the estate tax may be forced on the Gulf coast and possibly leveraged against the rest of the country.
Meanwhile, the administration seems to be covering up the toxicity of New Orleans, and the same handful of well-connected contractors are receiving no-bid contracts for the reconstruction. From the Huffington Post:

Indeed, responding to the devastation caused by Katrina, Treasury Secretary John Snow claimed: "Making the [Bush] tax cuts permanent would be a real plus in a situation like this." Sure, why ask for some sacrifice from the richest Americans when we have scout troops doing their part?
The feeling that the Katrina relief effort is going to be Iraq all over again is unavoidable when you look at the list of the companies already being awarded clean up and reconstruction contracts. It's that old gang from Baghdad: Halliburton, Bechtel, Fluor, and the Shaw Group (which has a tasteful notice on its website saying "Hurricane Recovery Projects -- Apply Here!"). Together again. A veritable moveable feast of crony capitalism.
Even the Wall Street Journal is getting an uneasy sense of déjà vu, pointing out that "Hurricane Recovery Projects -- Apply Here!"). Together again. A veritable moveable feast of crony capitalism. "the Bush administration is importing many of the contract practices blamed for spending abuses in Iraq," including contracts awarded without competitive bidding, and cost-plus provisions "that guarantee contractors a certain profit regardless of how much they spend." So what's the thinking on this one, Mr. President -- 'If at first you don't succeed...'?

We've seen too many cities devasted in the past four years. We need to end this disaster capitalism before it becomes a business model.