You know the second anniversary of Hurricane Katrina was very sad for

me. The ironic thing was I was in the same city I was in when Katrina hit.

Los Angeles.

Again it was strange to think that while I was in LA playing

a concert at the Hollywood Bowl with Nancy Wilson for her 70th birthday, I

was torn with thoughts of being honored that she wanted me to be there

with her, but at the same time two years ago people in my home town were

fighting to survive. I'm very thankful though that many more people didn't

loose their lives in the aftermath of the storm. Two years after the storm

my mind ponders the thought of how the govt. has still left us in the

lurch. Many people have not received their road home money, and those who

have recently fond out that they may have to pay taxes on that money. How

absurd is that. Just think. When we finally get a program to help assist

the citizens of New Orleans to rebuild their homes and lives we thought,

"Great the govt. has stepped up to the plate." Then the formality of

dealing with govt. agencies slowed the entire process down damm near to a

screeching halt, and we dealt with it.

The original program that was laid

out to us turned out to be something different all together. The rules

which were so convaluted , had to be broken down to their basic form so

many people would know how to file their papers correctly. Now we find out

that people receiving road home money may have to pay taxes on this money.

Please tell me who is  the idiot that isn't minding the store. I thought

that this program was designed to make people whole, to fill in the gaps

that were left by the insurance agencies (that took our payments on time

with no delay). To make these folks pay taxes on this money when most of

it went to rebuilding theirs homes is unfair and outragous. Couple that

with the fact that property taxes have tripled in New Orleans one can only

wonder of the motivations of the desision makers in this town. With all of

that I'm very proud to say that people still are coming back on their own.

This is what makes N.O. special. The people and their spirit. People are

doing on their own without help from our govt. When I drive around the

city I see homes being rebuilt, new stores going up, and lives being

restored.This is why I have faith in the rebuilding process. We have the

strength and determination to face anything and anyone just to be able to

say "I'm going home".