Yesterday was a field day for “armchair mayors” discussing the Mayor’s speech. Whateva… It is so much easier to stand in the sidelines and say what you woulda done or said better, but fun to pick it apart (fess up …you know it is). I’ve heard so many dollar figures bounced around this week that it made me crazier than usual. We need 70 gazillion trillion dollars for this and 100 fazillion for this or else….whammies (sorry NOLA you lose). The bottom line is, the most important part of the recovery is what impacts an individual and/or their family’s life. When I spend $40 on a pair of shoes, I walk away satisfied knowing I got what I paid for. When I give the feds or the state my tax money, I’m not sure how it is spent, I just know that it is gone. Back to the big numbers, I think New Orleans needs some Ross Perot style charts right now. All these big dollar figures for Road Home money, FEMA and the other gazillion things the city & state are asking for are very confusing. This observation is coming from a woman who can’t balance her checkbook and cowers when she has to figure out a tip/gratuity. For the love of all that is good and evil – stop throwing those big numbers at me – dumb it down to a basic chart with a picture and how much it costs. Could there ever be enough money thrown here to fix this place up to where it was pre-Katrina? Probably not. It is going to take a “come here because we are managing all the dollars we have been given so well & this place is safe, alive with culture, good schools, fabulous people and has so much to offer for opportunities.” There…I feel all better now. Aren’t you glad?
(c/p at NOLA.com)