It should be pretty clear how I feel about the current Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, Alphonso Jackson (if you don’t know read here, here and here). Jackson has made it clear that there has been, more or less, a Bush loyalty test in regards to the awarding of HUD contracts and that he has, on at least one occasion, exerted his influence to get a buddy a sweet property deal in Philadelphia.
In other words, like other members of the Bush Administration, he has undermined the mission of the very office of which he was trusted to run.
However, Jackson can’t hide in his office, now. You see, in America, we have a terrible crisis in the housing market and there are some leadership questions being raised anew. Senators Patty Murray of Washington state and Christopher Dodd of Connecticut are calling for Jackson’s resignation. Their rationale is clear — Secretary Jackson’s behaviors in office call into question his competence at a time when American’s need a credible voice regarding this home mortgage crisis.
Here’s an example of what the Senators are calling into question:
At a subcommittee hearing last week, Murray repeatedly asked Jackson about the Philadelphia deal and other allegations of wrongdoing, including an investigation by HUD’s inspector general that was triggered by Jackson’s boast that he once revoked a contract because an applicant said he did not like Bush.
The inspector general, after a four-month inquiry, turned up no evidence of a canceled contract. But the report found what it called “some problematic instances” involving HUD contracts and grants, including Jackson’s opposition to money for a contractor whose executives donated exclusively to Democratic candidates.
Will a resignation come? Who knows? But, what is obvious is that Jackson’s priorities are with his political party and not with HUD or even the American people.
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hey thanks for the cool photo.
not bad for prophesy! you posted on 24 March, and 1 week later:
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The New York Times
Monday 31 March 2008
Report Says HUD Secretary Will Resign
WASHINGTON —- Housing Secretary Alphonso R. Jackson is expected to resign Monday, The Wall Street Journal reported Sunday night.
Mr. Jackson has scheduled a news conference for 9:45 a.m., 15 minutes before Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson Jr. is supposed to outline plans for dealing with the financial crisis set off by the risky mortgage lending.
If Mr. Jackson steps down, it would remove a key player from the administration team dealing with the problem.
Mr. Jackson, 62, has been under investigation by the Justice Department and the housing department’s inspector general in inquiries focusing on whether he gave lucrative housing contracts to friends. The Federal Bureau of Investigation has interviewed several of his employees.
Mr. Jackson is the first housing secretary with experience running public housing authorities, having led them in Washington, St. Louis and Dallas.
But his tenure has also been marked by controversy.
In 2004, less than two months after his confirmation as housing secretary, Mr. Jackson told a House panel that he believed poverty “is a state of mind, not a condition.” Two years later, he said in a speech that he had canceled a contract for a company after its president told him that he did not like Mr. Bush. Mr. Jackson later said he had made the story up.
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