So thick, you can't cut it with a knife

What is it? Red tape! And we're so tied up in it here along the Gulf Coast that we can barely move. It's as if the good folks in Congress and the White House never thought through what a real disaster would be like: overwhelming destruction, otherworldly costs, and almost no local funding. How is New Orleans supposed to put up 10% matching costs toward rebuilding when we tax revenue was a trickle? How are we supposed to do the audits and unbelievable paperwork required for rebuilding projects when we've had to cut back on city staff and budgets?

Accountability is a good thing and should be built into the rebuilding projects, but we need help at every level and we need help navigating the labyrinthine bowels of FEMA and other federal agencies.

(And if I hear one more FEMA official say, "Oh, well, we can work around [insert bureaucratic problem]. All you had to do was ask," I'm gonna smack 'em. People down here have been busting their butts to improve things. If FEMA would just remember that it's their responsibility to help us out of something the federal government got us into, things would get moving in the right direction.)