I live in New Orleans, because it's the strangest city in the United States. It has the highest murder rate in the country, the highest incarceration rate, and often we have to boil our drinking water, but there's nowhere else remotely like it.

The Safe Drinking Water Act was passed in 1974 after tests discovered carcinogens, lead and dangerous bacteria flowing from faucets in New Orleans, Pittsburgh and Boston and elsewhere.

The United States already has the highest corporate tax rate in the world.

In parts of the United States, there are cast iron water pipes that date back to the late 1800s and have an average life expectancy of about 120 years. Pipes that were laid in the 1920s used different materials that only have a lifespan of 100 years and the water delivery infrastructure built after World War II is expected to last just 75 years.

New Orleans is like the bad-kid island in 'Pinocchio.'

Underage drinking costs the United States more than $62 billion each year. At this crucial time when research shows that girls are binge drinking with alarming regularity, more must be done to reduce youth access to alcohol, and the appeal of alcohol to our youth.