ATLANTA (AP) -- Barbara Bonseigneur looked to her hometown mayor Saturday for a reason to return to New Orleans and help rebuild the battered city and home she fled ahead of Hurricane Katrina. She didn't get one.
"There is nowhere to buy food or get gas. It's chaotic," said Bonseigneur, 50. "Bringing us back to living in poverty is not a new beginning. How can a city that's broke help New Orleans rebuild?"
New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin spoke in Atlanta and pleaded with his former constituents to come home. While most in the frustrated crowd said they were eager to do so, the same question kept coming up: "Home to what?"
That's not surprising. Mayor Nagin does not fail to (at very least) entertain. He certainly isn't leading very well, so he might as well be funny.
Gov. Blanco has just given her okay and now "good old" Ray wants to get his people back. Not wanting to be subtle (it appears that she won't be able to give him forever, to circumvent the democratic process) he hits it, coming right out of the box. The very day after, he shows his desperation to get his base back into town; because he has almost no chance to get re-elected, whatsoever, if they stay away to make new lives for themselves and their families.
But Mayor Nagin isn't the only one that is on the hot seat, a former Louisiana governor is now publicly criticizing Blanco. In fact, as time goes on, we will likely see more and more problems for her, as well as Mayor Ray. The opportunists in both parties will soon be jumping ship, to support anyone that will tell them what they want to hear. And the electorate will gobble it up as gospel.
4 comments:
New Orleans--indeed Louisiana--will never be as it once was. I predict that the vast majority of citizens will never return. Re-establishing the infrastructure will take years, and some families aren't going to wait. They'll resume their lives elsewhere. I've been seeing more about this lately.
You can live off of the government in Atlanta, as easily as you can a depressed and flood-ravaged city that may take years to rebuild. Not all will live off of the government, of course. But many will, just like they did in N.O.
The trick is going to be getting them out of the hotels they are being put up in. Many are not going to want to leave without a fight. It is my understanding that some relocatees in hotels have retained counsel and plan to fight FEMA's ending of this benefit.
This is some Great Society, huh?
The next plea is to the Feds for money to buy votes. Of course it won't be phrased that way.
AICS,
Don't laugh, you may be right.
I do not have any trouble envisioning the government paying for these people to go back to N.O. just to vote, then go back and live where they are now.
I mean, we are talking about a place where the dead vote is a demographic. Just like Chicago and other places.
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