A few hundred thousand people with no housing other than trailers or ????

Those same people finding their insurance won't pay seeing BILLIONS going to the companies that bulldozed whatever was left of their home...

Mail finally catching up with everyone and they find their credit cards are maxed out, government aid is minimal - though it took FOREVER waiting on the phone to even get through to anyone and MONTHS to see ANYTHING....  and they can't even declare bankruptcy to get out of it all....

The jobless rate going through the  roof - with only a few of theose "underpaid" jobs going to displaced locals.

Heating oil and natural gas prices going through the roof in a bad winter with federal aid cut - Venezuela's offer is going to look good....

Oh, and have they gotten ANYTHING out of the strategic reserve yet - none were open in last reports, though refining capacity was still down with  closed refineries.  Don't forget all the shut-down and damaged wells off-shore.

Iraq is seeing increasing attacks.  Wait until the vote..... and wait for one HUGE and dramatic event....if anything like Tet happens, forget it. Meanwhile the Saudis are pissed about the current mess - THEY don't want anarchy.  WHo are you  going to keep happy?

The Army can't recruit fast enough.  What happens when Reservists and NG units get hit with a THIRD tour?????

Wait for the DeLay fallout, Frist, Plame......and on and on and on.........

Meanwhile the kleptocracy grows.....Doonesbury has Duke in NO - more profitable than Iraq.  Wait for the stories on waste.....the cruise ship is already getting coverage....

Wait for the body counts - and the reports that numbers were manipulated soon after.... how many are "Missing?"

And how many kids will still be missing or looking for parents months from now?  

Texas communities are already getting pissed with FEMA - while LA, MS and AL are still waiting to see SOMEONE, ANYONE a month after Katrina......

Does anyone see things getting all that much BETTER?

Oh and wait for the economy to see the fallout...who's going to spend what on Christmas - THE retail season - when they can't afford to heat their house - or when it costs $20 to go to Walmart 70 miles down the interstate.

And if the housing market bubble finally pops?
I can't see how those driving 2 hours in LA to get to work are going to afford this.... are we going to see brand new abandoned slums in the fringes of exurbia?  What about mortgage defaults?

Too many are already skating on the edge - leasing their cars, paying the least they can for a house they just bought and can't even furnish...

There's a HUGE downside potential coming up and I don't see much to be optimistic about.

Only real worry is that the ignorant sometimes seek solace in totalitarian regimes when their world falls apart.... but I can't see that happening here... it's too clear WHO is responsible for what's happened.

JMO