New Orleans is not bouncing back

Set aside the French Quarter and the trucks hauling away debris. New Orleans is not bouncing back. ‘We are not OK. We are desperate.‘

Few of the tens of thousands of houses that eventually must come down have been demolished, and it is possible still to drive through mile upon mile of badly damaged houses and commercial strips

Without question, the failure of Washington to commit to construction of a greatly enhanced levee system is cited most frequently as the root cause of the city’s collective inertia.

"We are in limbo," said Kroloff, "because the federal government won’t make a decision in a timely fashion, because the federal government basically is holding the city hostage. Part of it, I think, is willful. Part of it is just the way Congress works. Things take time. 

Congressional Republicans have said they don’t want to give money because Lousiana is corrupt. This while the Abramoff investigation rages in DC! Tens of thousands are homeless, a city has been demolished. Yet DC is asleep at the wheel. Seems purposeful rather than ignorant to me.