Obsid­ian Wings: Rebuild quotes the fol­low­ing from George Friedman:

New Orleans is not optional for the United States’ com­mer­cial infra­struc­ture. It is a ter­ri­ble place for a city to be located, but exactly the place where a city must exist. With that as a given, a city will return there because the alter­na­tives are too dev­as­tat­ing. The har­vest is com­ing, and that means that the port will have to be opened soon. As in Iraq, pre­mi­ums will be paid to peo­ple pre­pared to endure the hard­ships of work­ing in New Orleans. But in the end, the city will return because it has to.

How likely is the smirk­ing boss of the Fed­eral Gov­ern­ment to offer the needed, absolutely nec­es­sary monies, in a politically-​​charged year like this?