It's time for some budgetary and political common sense.

It's doubtful the American public, awash in images of storm damage and suffering throughout the Gulf region, has the stomach to see billions of dollars in tax relief bundled off for the well-heeled when a natural disaster has stripped an entire region of the country of its means to survive.

Yet that seems to be precisely what the Bush administration — and some congressional Republicans — seem determined to do. They want to salvage at least part of the administration's second-term ambitions for tax cuts, which — given the horrendous events at home and ongoing financial obligations abroad — seems irresponsible.

Among many reasonable politicians, Republican and Democrat alike, Hurricane Katrina has swept away much of the enthusiasm for an agenda of givebacks.

Many now agree that government must restore some semblance of normalcy to the states bereft by wind and floodwaters. That will cost billions at a time when we're facing a staggering federal deficit and mounting costs of war. Congress would be hard-pressed to justify favoring the financially privileged over the needs of the nation.

A fiscal course correction could be one of the few benefits to be derived from the recent tragic events on the Gulf Coast. That requires a more balanced approach in a federal taxation policy that currently leaves the lower and middle classes paying a disproportionate share of the bills.

Those bills are sure to be enormous, the costs rising well beyond the $62.3 billion in federal aid that Congress already has approved.

The president recognizes this, of course, but his response so far — suspending federal minimum-pay requirements for reconstruction contractors — is insufficient. These laborers should not be the only ones to sacrifice.

Even if the Katrina recovery is staffed with low-paid workers, whatever revenue that yields must be paired with savings carved out elsewhere.

At least part of the $350 billion in tax cuts should be rescinded, as should many of the $25 billion worth of highway projects recently enacted. Other social programs doubtlessly will feel the ax, but certainly some of the whacks should be aimed at the pork barrel.

Our nation's military commitment to Afghanistan and Iraq will persist for years, and the administration's efforts to have it both ways — massive spending on defense and tax cuts, too — can't continue.

In defending the suspension of the Davis-Bacon Wage Act for Katrina recovery, U.S. Rep. Mike Pence of Indiana, chairman of the House Republican Study Committee, argued: "We must ensure that a catastrophe of nature does not become a catastrophe of debt for our children and grandchildren."

Agreed. But this is when those with the most money have to bear a proportionate share of the burden, too.