Louisiana post-Katrina update

I anticipate that someone will sue Governor Kathleen Blanco and the legislature because of the shockingly unfair decision to pay 100% of pre-Katrina house values only to people who remain in New Orleans. The others--who have no place to live and no jobs, or who choose not to live in a city where the government cannot guarantee their safety--will be punished by receiving only 60% of the value of their houses.

In the meantime, who wouldn't want to live in a city where the garbage isn't being picked up?

Carnival may be over, but there is still plenty of entertainment, brought to us by the completely insane Kimberly Williamson Butler, Orleans Parish Criminal Court Clerk and all-around lunatic. Williamson Butler, who used to be Mayor Nagin's CAO but was fired, then became Clerk of Court and managed to screw up an election by not getting voting machines to the polling places, has just gotten released from jail and is running for mayor, and compares herself to Ghandi and Nelson Mandela, and, oh...read it yourself.

The state has an unexpected budget surplus, which Governor Blanco wants to use to give teachers pay raises, but that is never a popular use for money in the Louisiana legislature.

We now know for sure that the Army Corps of Engineers had plenty of data for correctly designing levees and floodwalls in New Orleans, but chose to ignore it.

And the coveted Alliance for Good Government New Orleans mayoral candidate endorsement goes to Ron Forman.