Katrina Coverage

From the long article All eyes turn to Blanco:
...Caught between overwhelmed local leaders and a federal bureaucracy that was simply not prepared for the size of the catastrophe, Blanco was criticized for her response during the crisis by New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin and deposed FEMA Director Michael Brown. She has been the target of various pundits who have commented on everything from her appearance to questioning key decisions she made as the state's largest city was engulfed in floodwaters.
After the immediate disaster subsided, the criticism did not wane. Blanco was perceived as too indecisive about how to begin the process of rebuilding the New Orleans area. She waited seven weeks after Katrina hit to name the membership of a 24-member "recovery authority," although supporters noted that the governor also had been dealing with the aftermath of Hurricane Rita, which slammed the southwest corner of the state a month after Katrina.
Some of her allies in the state Legislature had joined the chorus of complaints that the administration needed to be more aggressive, scoffing at Blanco's initial pronouncement that the legislative session that begins today would mostly deal with legal technicalities.
In recent weeks, Blanco has changed gears, announcing that during the 17-day session the Legislature will begin the difficult task of trimming the state budget. Her call for the special session, which delineates the topics that can be discussed, is expansive, allowing discussions of business tax cuts, the state takeover of most New Orleans public schools and figuring out how to fill a budget hole expected to be at least $1 billion...
...The governor seemed to be siding with preserving the status quo last month when the State Bond Commission, which she largely controls, directed $45 million in construction spending away from projects in the areas hit by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. The money ended up going to projects in the rest of the state, including many that critics said were frivolous at a time when untold millions -- and likely billions -- of dollars are needed to deal with the devastation in south Louisiana.
But late last week her office was trying to take a more aggressive approach to reshaping how to spend money after the storms, saying they are crafting a plan to cut more than the $300 million that previously was considered to be the limit on what the governor could slice from the current year's budget without legislative approval. The governor's office on Saturday announced an executive order that would made cuts of nearly half a billion dollars...
[...will she borrow money?...]
Although many Capitol insiders believe the governor can lead the session if she is forceful with a clear agenda, Blanco clearly enters the session as a weakened politician.
Her public approval ratings have plummeted, from 55 percent job approval in May to just 38 percent last month, although pollsters caution that surveys cannot possibly be truly representative at a time when so many citizens are displaced from their homes...