TSmith

Judah, point taken. And really, good luck with Rita. I mean it. I like Houston, and we owe a debt of gratitude to yall for taking our people in. Good luck. Hopefully Rita will go somewhere down the coast... maybe to one of those less populated counties along the coast. I'll be thinking about yall.

Thanks guys, pile it on. Way to show some class. Good luck with Rita.

Gees man I was just kidding... and you call me a hysterical loon. My city is ruined, I lost a house, and I'm in a better mood than you. Guess there's a silver lining in any bad situation.

Oh man, why didn't I think of that? Let's not clean up the toxic waste. Hey, let's abandon the city! Great idea! And yes, the water will be contaminated forever. Man, somebody needs to call the president and cancel this rebuilding effort. Come on man, are you this naive?

We'll always have the naysayers. That's ok, but negativity will get us nowhere. Gotta stay positive.

I wish I could thank every Texan personally, face to face. Yall have really helped my city in it's time of need. You are true friends, and New Orleanians will never forget it. Just wait... on your next visit to New Orleans, hopefully in better times, people will thank you personally. It certainly hasn't gone unnoticed.

I write this sitting behind my computer in New Orleans. First day back... lots of damage, but the city's still there. We'll be back. Unfortunately, many neighborhoods are ruined, and will have to be bulldozed. But, most of the neighborhoods that made this city famous... survived. The French Quarter, Uptown, Treme... all spared. The 9th ward will be torn down, in all likelyhood. And that neighborhood needed to be torn down. It was a haven for crime. It offered very little to the city, and it contributed to all of it's problems. Other flooded neighborhoods were normal run-of-the-mill neighborhoods that you'd see in any city in America. I feel for all of those who lost their homes. I hope they come back and rebuild. If they don't, we'll still make it. As mayor Nagin said today... "we're about to find out who the real New Orleanians are." And, I'm in that number. Thanks for all of your support... especially yall in Texas... we'll never forget it.

Well, with the price of oil near $60/barrel, Louisiana is flush with cash at the moment. Every budget estimating conference finds more money each time they issue their report. Paying the Saints is a matter of priority, and right now, they are near the bottom, unfortunately. As for the city, hotel/motel taxes have been hurt by blocks of rooms being purchased at drastically reduced rates by websites such as Hotels.com. However, Mayor Nagin has run the city like a business, and has New Orleans on sound financial ground. Before he took office, the previous mayor had let the state of financial matters get out of control. When Mayor Nagin took office, the city only had 12 hours of cash reserves on hand to run city services. Now, it's close to a month, which is the norm. A little known fact about New Orleans is that it is home to many small businesses. There are few large businesses left, but the city has a robust community of small businesses... one of the largest number of small businesses per capita in the country. Mayor Nagin also recently passed a $250million proposal to replace or repair hundreds of miles of streets in New Orleans, freeing up millions for other services and for the city's department of economic development. All of this has New Orleans' bond rating at it's highest point in years, allowing the city to help finance projects throughout the city. As a matter of fact, at the moment, there is approximately $1.5Billion worth of construction in the city's downtown district alone... with more on the way. Hopefully, this clearred things up for you.