(2006-02-23) — New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin today reacted to shocking remarks by several city council members who suggested that able-bodied poor people who want to return to this flood-ravaged city should work for a living.

However, in his characteristic progressive style, Mayor Nagin took the opportunity to lay out what he called a “bold, positive vision to make living in the Big Easy easier than ever for those who have opted out of the workforce.”

The mayor called for rebuilding the core of each poor neighborhood around a magnificent public assistance office, where standing in line is replaced by lounging in luxurious recliners while government waiters, dubbed ‘Blight Attendants’, serve beverages and light snacks to the unemployed. In ‘Nagin’s Nouveau New Orleans’, welfare recipients will have the option of receiving payments by check, electronic funds transfer or in a combination of lottery tickets and the colorful casino poker chips that have become legal tender at so many locations nationwide.

The mayor’s plan was greeted with enthusiasm on the streets of New Orleans, where forlorn young men still line up daily in front of piles of rubble that used be public assistance offices. “I came back to the city hoping to start a new life,” said an unnamed 24-year-old homeless man. “But there’s no work to do here. There’s nothing but mountains of debris, busted down buildings and crowds of contractors and church people cleaning up the mess and rebuilding stuff. I don’t know whether to blame FEMA or George Bush, but someone needs to stand up and take responsiblity.”