Housing Secretary's tenure foreclosed
You've got to hand it to President Bush. Just as our nation plunges into a economic crisis driven by loose lending in the area of "subprime" mortgages, he finds himself with no Secretary for Housing and Urban Development. Heckuvajob!
Alphonso Jackson, an old Texas pal of the president, is on his way back to the Lone Star State to attend to "personal and family matters" if he doesn't instead attend a federal penitentiary for favoring golfing buddies and firms with ties to his wife in handing out federal contracts from HUD, particularly down in post-Katrina New Orleans. Heckuvajob once again!
Americans like to talk about their houses, but we don't much like talking about the problem of *housing* which is why it was a great place to arrange some graft for any ambitious politician/disaster capitalist. Jackson had plenty of fun with this, telling a room full of minority executives down in Dallas in 2006 that he steered housing contracts away from a contractor because he said he didn't like President Bush. That was the only reason, and shooting his mouth off in that scenario got him to where he is today. Heckuvajob three times!
Taking over, at least for a little while, will be former Syracuse Mayor Roy Bernardi, currently the Deputy Secretary. His official bio at the HUD website highlights his responsibilities in that post as working to "meet President Bush's management agenda to improve ethics and accountability within HUD's programs and among its grant partners." Heckuvajob, over and out!
