In the third legislative session since the landfall of Hurricane Katrina, many must be wondering who exactly is, and isn’t, in need of help. With yesterday’s ordering of National Guardsmen down to the Crescent City following the deaths of five teenagers in shootings, it’s apparent the city of New Orleans is still in a state of chaos 10 months after the hurricane’s landfall. While these deaths are tragic, they have also laid bare the real struggle that New Orleans continues to face, as well as the fact that members of the legislature care more about their own personal side projects than they do about rebuilding a city outside their district. Instead of solutions to the situation in New Orleans, this legislative session has seen a partial smoking ban and a ban on abortion which cannot even be placed into effect until Roe v. Wade is overturned. Precious time, time which could have been devoted to finding new measures to help the city police itself has fallen by the wayside in the rush to grab as much as one can at the end of the session. Some legislators admitted it was difficult to focus on hurricane related issues following the two special sessions devoted exclusively to the issue. “Most of us were so worn out from the special session that new legislation was the kind of put on the back burner,” said Rep. Tom McVea, R-St. Francisville. But, as the old saying goes, “When the going gets tough, the tough get going.” Mental fatigue is not an acceptable excuse to neglect a city that is years – if not decades – away from recovery. We believe that this must change. The deaths in New Orleans are a harbinger of what is to come unless the cycle of hopeless poverty is ameliorated by programs and job opportunities that could have been provided by the state. Instead, it seems that those in the Capitol have been happy enough to allow a decent man to lose faith. We call on the government to find a solution to this chaos and bring order back to a city which for years had precious little. In a way, New Orleans was given a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity: to rebuild and begin anew free of the widespread poverty and governmental corruption that has plagued the city’s past. Of course, the future of New Orleans is ultimately determined by the populace and those who are elected in our democratic society. From the events surrounding U.S. Congressman William Jefferson, D-New Orleans, to an ineffective state legislature unwilling to focus its energies on the state’s biggest problem, we are not encouraged by the government’s rebuilding efforts in post-Katrina Louisiana. Yesterday’s order only exemplifies the problems which have yet to be solved, and hardly addressed at all. We hope the people remember this day when it comes time to vote in November’s congressional elections and in 2007’s statewide elections. It is only with all of our help that New Orleans will ever break away from the old, terrible ways that have dogged this city since its founding. While the people are willing, we still wait for a government which has chosen to place the city of New Orleans on “the back burner.”