HUD is Destroyed From Within By Black Bush Cronies/Crooks

[Makkonnen]

<h2><img src="http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/images/alphonso-jackson-muck.jpg" align="left" hspace="5" vspace="5">Connected GOP Contractors, Join Hands</h2>

<div class="byline">
By <a set="yes" linkindex="15" href="/profile/pkiel">Paul Kiel</a> - February 4, 2008, 12:16PM</div>
<div class="body">
<p>He tends not to get the credit that he deserves, but HUD Secretary Alphonso Jackson really is a remarkable example of the Bush administration's <a set="yes" linkindex="16" href="http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2007/12/hud_snitch_jumped_ship.php">premium on loyalty</a>. </p>

<p><a set="yes" linkindex="17" href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/02/03/AR2008020303107_pf.html">Today’s <em>Washington Post</em> story</a> really brings it home. Consider: in April of 2006, Jackson created a minor storm by declaring to a Texas audience, "Why should I reward someone who doesn't like the president, so they can use funds to try to campaign against the president? Logic says they don't get the contract. That's the way I believe."</p>

<p>Only months later, according to today’s piece, which stems from a civil suit by the Philadelphia Housing Authority against Jackson, Jackson weighed in to make sure that a Republican buddy got control of a Philadelphia public housing property. And according to the suit, he retaliated when Philadelphia didn't fall in line. That’s what I call chutzpah.</p>

<p>That buddy is Kenny Gamble, the songwriter behind The O’Jays’ “<a linkindex="18" href="http://www.superseventies.com/sl_lovetrain.html" “="">Love Train</a>,” among other soulful hits. He is also, not coincidentally, an active Republican (who, for instance ,spoke at the RNC convention in 2000). Carl Greene, the Philadelphia House Authority’s director, says that Gamble fits the profile of Jackson’s cronyism:<br>
</p><blockquote>Greene, who is black, said Jackson is seeking to help specific black-owned businesses and is sending a message to other housing authorities that they had better not defy him on that agenda. "His wish is to eliminate all resistance to his desire to take care of all these politically connected African American contractors," he said. "I don't see that as my duty."

<p>Greene said, "I'm experiencing what happens when you really say no to the secretary."</p></blockquote>

<p>This same story, it seems, has been repeated elsewhere in the country, as has <a linkindex="19" href="http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2007/10/nj_feds_investigating_hud_secr.php">become evident</a> from the <em>National Journal</em>'s reporting. Which explains why investigators seem to be discovering plenty of grist for the ongoing federal criminal investigation, especially given that Jackson told Congress, "I don't touch contracts."

 

[QueEx]

<font size="4"><center>Senate Chairmen Christopher Dodd and
Patty Murray Call for HUD Secretary’s Resignation </font size></center>

CQ Politics
March 21, 2008

Two key senators called Friday for Housing and Urban Development Secretary Alphonso R. Jackson to resign for refusing to answer their questions on allegations of wrongdoing in public housing contracts.

Sen. Christopher J. Dodd , D-Conn., chairman of the Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee, and Sen. Patty Murray , D-Wash., chair of the Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, said Jackson has “continually refused to respond to direct questions” about allegations of wrongdoing and has also not adequately responded to written inquiries.

“Secretary Jackson has repeatedly demonstrated that he is not in the position to provide the type of leadership that is necessary during these trying and difficult times,” Dodd said in a statement, adding, “I do not believe Secretary Jackson is capable of effectively carrying out his responsibilities and the responsibilities of the Department of Housing and Urban Development.”

Jackson is facing allegations of corruption and cronyism in contracts awarded at public housing authorities in New Orleans, Philadelphia and the Virgin Islands.

Jackson also previously claimed to have rescinded the contract of a person who was not a supporter of President Bush, and has allegedly advised his senior staff to improperly take political affiliation into account in awarding contracts.

“We are in the midst of a national housing crisis,” said Murray, whose subcommittee funds HUD spending. “The allegations of cronyism and favoritism against Secretary Jackson are a worsening distraction at HUD at a time when we must have a credible housing secretary that is beyond suspicion. It is time for Secretary Jackson to go.”

Neither the White House nor HUD responded immediately to a request for comment.

During hearings last week, Murray criticized Jackson for refusing to answer pointed questions about the corruption allegations and told him, “It’s imperative that you clear this up as soon as possible. You’re agency is operating under a cloud right now.”

“I’m going to let investigators do their job,” Jackson responded. “I’m going to let them do their work before I make a public comment.”

http://cqpolitics.com/wmspage.cfm?parm1=5&docID=cqmidday-000002691511

 

[nyyyyce]

damn...we are going to find out sooooooooooo much garbage now and up until 1 year after Bush is out of office

 

[QueEx]

<font size="5"><center>Housing secretary says leaving April 18</font size></center>[

Mon Mar 31, 2008

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. housing secretary has resigned and will leave office April 18, he said on Monday.

Housing and Urban Development Secretary Alphonso Jackson said that he is leaving office "to attend more diligently to personal and family matters."

In recent days, Jackson has faced calls for his resignation after lawmakers have said he behaved improperly in awarding federal contracts.

Jackson took office in March 2004 and his departure is expected to complicate efforts to reform the Federal Housing Administration, which some lawmakers say could be retooled to aid more of today's homeowners who face foreclosure.

(Reporting by Patrick Rucker; Editing by Theodore d'Afflisio)

http://www.reuters.com/article/domesticNews/idUSWBT00867120080331

 

[QueEx]

<font size="5"><center>
Obama Inherits Neglected a Housing Department</font size><font size="4">
Obama Team Is Warned That HUD Needs Work</font size></center>


Washington Post
By Carol D. Leonnig
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, November 20, 2008


The Obama administration will soon inherit a $35 billion federal housing agency that was a weak backbencher during the housing crisis and moved too late to do much to keep millions of families from going into foreclosure.

Beyond the pressing crisis, the Department of Housing and Urban Development also has dramatically retreated in the past eight years from its mission of fostering affordable housing. Pushing homeownership has been the agency's top priority under the Bush administration, and HUD's budget for public housing for low-income families has been cut year after year.

In a pre-election letter sent to HUD employees through their union, Barack Obama wrote: "As we tackle the effects of the current fiscal crisis on Americans, HUD must be part of the solution. The Department's mission -- to promote affordable quality housing and community development available to all without discrimination -- is critical to the well-being of millions of working families."

Experts on housing finance and poverty cheer the sentiments but warn the president-elect's advisers that the long-neglected agency will require hefty amounts of taxpayer money, aggressive leadership and a culture shift of sorts.

HUD's work on the foreclosure crisis illustrates the challenges. The industry trend toward subprime loans -- writing mortgages for borrowers with bad credit ratings, thereby increasing the risk of default -- is expected to cause an estimated 5.2 million homeowners to lose their properties over the next two years if lenders and the government do not act.

To address the problem, HUD began the Hope for Homeowners program in October to help some homeowners renegotiate their mortgages. The program is projected by year's end to help 13,000 homeowners lower their monthly payments and avoid foreclosure.

But at that pace, HUD will not come close to providing assistance to 400,000 families, a number the Congressional Budget Office calculated that the agency could help keep in their homes over three years.

"It's all been a lot of wishful thinking," John Taylor, president of the National Community Reinvestment Coalition, said of HUD's effort to stop foreclosures. "We're in the 34th consecutive month in which there has been a rise in foreclosures, compared to the previous year. We're breaking records every month in this country for foreclosures. But this agency and its program isn't doing what we want to accomplish, which is to turn the corner on the demise of the housing industry."

Howard Glaser, an HUD appointee during the Clinton administration, warns that the department's foreclosure problems may soon grow. The Federal Housing Administration, once the primary provider of safe, government-insured mortgages, ceded its territory in the past few years to private subprime lenders, who lured many borrowers in over their heads.

Now, the FHA is being leaned on to save the day. It has been given responsibility for modifying and guaranteeing a larger portion of loans on the open market than in any of the previous eight years. But the agency is also expected to soon report record losses on its book of government-guaranteed loans.

"The early warning signals are there," Glaser said. "We may be in a situation where, 'Who is going to rescue the rescuer?' An FHA bailout is a clear and present danger."

When Obama's team arrives at HUD, it also will find about 1,900 housing authorities nationwide clamoring for money. In many of the years since 2001, they have been living on 81 to 89 percent of the amount of funding that HUD says they need to operate.

"You are seeing the result of failed policies over the years that focused federal resources time after time on homeownership," said Sharon Wilson Geno, a housing expert and lawyer at the law firm Ballard Spahr Andrews & Ingersoll. "They were starving the public housing program into near-nonexistence. It's like paying someone 81 or 82 cents for every $1 of their paycheck and telling them to live as they once lived."

The incoming administration also will find a $20 billion backlog of maintenance projects at public housing developments. If the repair list of old roofs, broken boilers and more is not addressed soon, some buildings risk permanent damage.

President Bush's HUD has been dogged by accusations of political cronyism. Alphonso R. Jackson resigned as secretary this year amid reports that he was under federal investigation for steering contracts to friends and business associates. The contracts were with housing authorities in New Orleans and the Virgin Islands.

At the same time, The Washington Post reported that Jackson's top aides allegedly had sought to cut funding from a Philadelphia housing authority whose director had refused Jackson's demand that it give property to one of his business friends.

In his letter to HUD employees, Obama agreed to appoint "a Secretary, Deputy and Assistant Secretaries who are committed to HUD's mission and capable of executing it."

After the agency's recent problems, Taylor said, he would argue that, while the FHA works with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. on the foreclosure problem, the rest of HUD should return to its basic mission.

"My number one piece of advice for the next administration?" Taylor said. "The agency charged with housing should develop a federal housing policy. Believe it or not, there isn't one right now."




http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dy...on/register&sub=AR&sid=ST2008111903895&s_pos=