Hey...look at the brightside...it wasn't Newt.
Besides the hysteria, he was dismissive of the cost of going into full war mode, said that the government could take money from other areas, and then pointed out how much money was wasted in the aftermath of Katrina!
Of course, if people like Newt hadn't gone on TV and gotten hysterical about the slowness of the government's response, perhaps Congress wouldn't have felt threatened by the press and public opinion and would have been more cautious in their spending.
I swear, I don't think he realizes what he says, and for sure he must think we all have the memories of toadstools.