Hey Tom....while in New Orleans ....how about checking out the ACORN headquarters....you know the one ....it was an old funeral home....how about some investigative reporting. Sure would like someone to tell me what the money trail for all the millions they have received from the taxpayers. Come on ....I double dare you....I triple dog dare you.

All I can say is thank you. It is exactly how I feel about not just NOLA but the MS coast too. Enjoy some bengiets and chicory coffee for me.

GREAT letter Tom! I'm from north Louisiana and am a law student @ Tulane in New Orleans, so I know what you mean. Between Brad Pitt, and Bill Clinton, John Edwards and Barack Obama, the city has seen far more star power than recovery. Thanks to the NBA, the NCAA, and the NFL for their efforts so far, but we'll need genuine, sustained leadership to rebuild the birthplace of the only truly American artform... and yes, Kim Jong Il is crazy... but so are Jindal and Vitter

Other than the incorrect semicolon usage toward the beginning, your essay was excellent. (By "excellent" I mean its point of view is a spot on match to my own.)

I don't New Orleans are going to be the only incident that needs restoring. It will be all over this world..so, American Tax Payers
get ready!

Thanks for the plug for New Orleans. So much still has to be done. If the feds want to do what they should have done from the beginning, let them have at it. I have always said that if the Garden District had been flooded like the Ninth Ward and St. Bernard Parish, the Greater New Orleans area would be at full speed once again. It's always been about race, economics, and social justice. If anyone thinks it's not, they are seriously delusional. With the budget problems the state is facing right now (higher ed and healthcare are being seriously compromised unless magic happens), I'm thinking state help in recovery is going to be pretty non-existent for the next few years no matter how much it's needed. Honestly, Tom, the federal response cannot be any worse than it was in the immediacy after Katrina. No amount of amends work will ever make up for those atrocities. Here's hoping this administration walks its talk about recovery. Enjoy the visit home.

Good song, good article. How soon we forget.

New Orleans should stay front page news until it is totally rebuilt, it still looks in some places like a bomb was dropped, now that we have an administration who believes in volunteer work, let's do this, work during the summer for those College grants, and get a positive experience to last a lifetime, the city has gone without help far far to long, this is the United States of America?

I live in New Orleans and I'm sick to death of hearing the childish moaning about ACORN when parts of the city are still torn up nearly 4 years after Katrina hit.

Its time to deal with the actual problems instead of trolling for reactions.

Yes, help is needed. And its time the government actually started taking care of the people in its own country instead of strangers in foreign lands.

Obama is showing great promise in this regard and I hope he continues the effort.

Why is it the Government's job to pay for the rebuiding of New Orleans? The Government doesn't have any money, it's us the citizens of the United States that are taxed to pay for the rebuild.

Florida gets hit every year by hurricanes and Texas was hit also by a massive hurricane, but they are not sitting around waiting for the Government to hand them money. They rebuild on their own.

People who live by the coast, any coast, or live in houses that are built under sea level should not expect the Government to pay to repair or rebuild their homes.

Mr. Forman,
Bravo! Your heartfelt comments hit the nail right on the head about our "beautiful gem of the Mighty Mississippi", and anyone whose ever spent an extended period of time there definately knows what it means to miss New Orleans.
I, like so many others, can no longer call New Orleans home...not physically at least, after losing so much and having to relocate to another state, but that beautiful, mysterious, multi-cultured city sitting at the mouth of that Mighty Mississippi will forever be home in my heart.
It's only human nature to forget a tragedy once it disappears from the headlines, and people tire quickly about hearing of others' sufferings and losses, especially if their problems are not resolved in a "timely manner". Our attention spans are often too short.
Let us all hope and pray that Mr. Obama doesn't emulate the hollow promises of his fellow polititions who say whatever one wants to hear, so long as he gets elected. So far, I have high hopes for this President. His plate is indeed full and his heart heavy, no doubt, but I will continue to remain optimistic that he will do the right thing and perhaps come down to New Orleans to host one of his famous "town hall meetings" to, at the very least, remind the country and the world that although much progress has been made throughout the entire Gulf South, much more still needs to be done. Perhaps Mr. Obama can remind our nation that these hard-working, dedicated people of the Gulf South never wanted a hand-out, but rather a hand-up and what ever aid, in what ever form, comes their way would forever be appreciated.
Thanks to fine people like you, Tom, and the fantastic Anderson Cooper who continues to report on the recovery of the Gulf Coast, maybe, just maybe that beautiful gem called New Orleans will sparlkle once again.
P.S. Have a beignet and Cafe du Monde for me, too.

Thanks Tom for what you are doing. I am a katrina Survivor and the fight is still on going. Today all over the news we hear about the struggle we are having with our economy how people are losing their jobs, losing their homes and losing their overall lively hood . Well, welcome to the life of a Katrina Survivor. We have been dealing with this problem for the last 3 ½ yrs. The things that we are going through and having to deal with is worst them what our economy is dealing with now. Yes, we lost our homes, yes we lost our jobs & yes, we lost our lively hood. And yes we had a stimulus package that was suppose to put everything back together. Well did it NO. It did not help the people who were truly in need. Just like the stimulus package of today.
I am still living in Dallas trying to repair my home in New Orleans. Do you wonder how many of us is still trying to put our lives back together.
I hear all the time about what was done for Katrina’s Survivor
1. All the money we received
2. Everything was really good for us.
2. Government help is not here to make your lives better than it was before Katrina
3. We are so much better off now because of Katrina.
4. You need to help yourself and stop depending on other people help

Well would you say we are better off now because of all the money that was given to the large CORPORATIONS. Don’t you see that the bottom fell out of the economy Aug 29, 2005. NOBODY PAID ATTENDTION. What we went through was the most humiliating thing we have ever experience in our lives.
Just take a look around our Country. Our people are crying out for help vacant houses lost jobs, lack of food. Look at New Orleans, vacant houses, lost jobs, lack of food. Nothing will change until you start from the bottom and work up. You can’t start from the top and work down. Just study the lives of Katrina Survivors study what happen in New Orleans. We have been living it for almost 4 years. Then and only then will you understand our struggle. So, thanks Tom for letting the country know we are still fighting for New Orleans a place were my heart is.

Thanks Tom. As the comments indicate, there are still those of us who are very interested in what's happening in New Orleans. Please continue to update us. Wish I could be back in New Orleans too! Have a good trip.

dear president I know you have been trying to fix all the problem confront the country but if you can fix the energy make it stable set and aford able to anyone dont let the gas prices cross .99c evrybody agin will be able to spend and all the economic problem will be sold govrnment should put the regulation that the energy componies should have the fix prices for ever that is the only key to the future.

There's nothing wrong with the semicolon - I would have used a long dash, but that's just a matter of personal preference - it's subjective.

Lovely letter, as always. Thanks very much, & have fun in New Orleans.