Big Easy Come, Easy Go

I’m afraid the prognosis for the reconstruction of New Orleans got a tad bleeker… oh, I can think of something like 10 billion reasons for that… $9.5, maybe 10 billion, or about three times previous estimates, being the newly announced estimated cost of reconstructing the New Orleans levee system.
My guess is that the previous figure, in the $3 billion range, is probably what will be allocated for the project, as its probable political cost limit. Best we put hundreds of thousands of people (and hundreds of billions of dollars worth or more of property) at mortal risk than dare risk the mortal political cost of rolling back or even abating the incessant flow of tax cuts. After all, Poppy went back on the “no new taxes” thing… and lost (Poppy also won his war too early). And losing is just… for losers. It’s not an option. Ever. So no new taxes. Period. Ever.
And if a large American city with an irreplaceable historical and cultural value cannot be rebuilt and is lost forever as a result… well, that’s the way it is. The people of New Orleans should have protected themselves better, anyway… after all: this is the era of responsibility.
But think of it this way: with large number of residents having left New Orleans probably forever, Louisiana will now be a more solidly reliable red state then ever. When life gives you lemons, mix some Tom Collinses…