Harry Shearer: In New Orleans, the Road Home Adds a New Bump

When people outside New Orleans ask, "what happened to all the federal money?", the question is echoed by those in the city. One answer: the Road Home program, designed by the State to insure that Louisiana, in this case, would be less corrupt than Chicago, Boston, or Washington, D.C., has instituted a Kafkaesque array of hoops for applicants for the money, designed to compensate homeowners for the damage caused by the federal flood, to jump through.

Now the Times-Picayune reports there's a new twist to the process that adds another layer of frustration to the process, a twist that would stun even Kafka. To avoid the possibility of paying homeowners compensation for damage they've already (improbably) received an insurance settlement for, the Road Home is now stalling insurance payments until they can review any imaginable paperwork. So now homeowners can wait an unconscionably long time for both their own insurance settlement and the federal compensation.

What's not to like?