Should Republicans go ahead and add Supreme Court Justices to head off Democrats

The Bring New Orleans Back Commission is not working

NY Times:

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At last Monday's meeting, Mr. Thomas asked his fellow commissioners to commit formally to rebuilding the Ninth Ward, an impoverished, largely black and heavily damaged area that some experts have said is too environmentally precarious to be rebuilt. Mr. Canizaro abstained, but Mr. Thomas's resolution otherwise passed unanimously without debate. That prompted commissioners both black and white to grumble about the wisdom of making commitments before they have had a chance to discuss an issue.

"I'm a little concerned that members of the commission are starting to use the meetings to cater to certain constituencies and stakeholder groups they know are watching," Scott S. Cowen, a member and the president of Tulane University, said.

Still other members complain that the panel's meetings are devolving into protracted gripe sessions that have nothing to do with devising a workable plan to rebuild the city. Last Monday, for instance, more than an hour of public comment was taken up by residents angry about recovery jobs being filled by outsiders, business owners wanting government contracts and complaints about the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

At that meeting, Daniel F. Packer, the chief executive of the New Orleans subsidiary of the Entergy Corporation, tried to persuade his fellow commissioners that the task before them was daunting enough without the additional burden of "trying to solve all the problems that come along." Mr. Packer had only limited success, as several commissioners took up the residents' causes.

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They seem to be playing to a nonexistent constituency. The Ninth Ward is empty with its former residents scatter across the 50 states, and many of which have already indicated they do not plan to return, whether it is rebuilt or not. They should let the market determine what is rebuilt as much as possible. To rebuild the Ninth Ward would probably cost more than the property would be worth after completion, with no assurance that significant numbers would want to live there. If Louisiana wants the rest of the country to pay for rebuilding, it is going to have to do better than this.