Turning from the largely inconclusive (at least on the Democratic side) Super Tuesday hoopla to the nation's capital, we have yet another wave of criminality coming out of the Bush Administration.
You may recall Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Alphonso Jackson from a 2006 fuss in which he bragged to a Dallas business roundtable that he denied a HUD contract because the prospective contractor was not a Bush supporter. "Why should I reward someone who doesn't like the president," Jackson said, "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."
Many were not pleased by Jackson's depiction of government contracting as an bald patronage racket, and said so. Senator Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) demanded that Jackson resign and Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA) called for a congressional investigation. Of course, they got nowhere (this was when the GOP still controlled Congress, remember) and Jackson stayed where he was.
That may be a little more difficult after these latest revelations - that Jackson allegedly subjected the city of Philadelphia to an old-fashioned shakedown. According to the Washington Post, Jackson demanded that the city sell off a $2 million piece of public property at a steep discount to a developer with whom he had business connections. When the city refused, Jackson retaliated by threatening to strip the city of its authority to spend federal housing funds.
This is not meaningless bluster. The move would force the city to fire 250 workers and raise rents for some 84,000 people who live in low-income housing.
"The secretary was determined that we turn over this land to this specific developer," said Philadelphia Housing Director Carl Greene. "I refused. He didn't have the ability to remove me. So he resorted to these extraordinary measures to extract what he wanted."
(And if all that isn't enough, National Journal reported that a senior Jackson aide is under federal investigation for steering a $127 million New Orleans housing project to an Atlanta-based company which owes Jackson between $250,000 and $500,000 "for past services." Scott Keller is also accused of conspiring with Jackson to award equally lucrative contracts to the HUD secretary's friends and associates.)
This is extortion, plain and simple. The fact that Jackson wasn't the direct beneficiary of the proposed deal is irrelevant; it's still as crooked as the day is long. Jackson should resign immediately, or at least go on administrative leave. Considering the seriousness of the charges against him, that's the least he can do.
You may recall Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Alphonso Jackson from a 2006 fuss in which he bragged to a Dallas business roundtable that he denied a HUD contract because the prospective contractor was not a Bush supporter. "Why should I reward someone who doesn't like the president," Jackson said, "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."
Many were not pleased by Jackson's depiction of government contracting as an bald patronage racket, and said so. Senator Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) demanded that Jackson resign and Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA) called for a congressional investigation. Of course, they got nowhere (this was when the GOP still controlled Congress, remember) and Jackson stayed where he was.
That may be a little more difficult after these latest revelations - that Jackson allegedly subjected the city of Philadelphia to an old-fashioned shakedown. According to the Washington Post, Jackson demanded that the city sell off a $2 million piece of public property at a steep discount to a developer with whom he had business connections. When the city refused, Jackson retaliated by threatening to strip the city of its authority to spend federal housing funds.
This is not meaningless bluster. The move would force the city to fire 250 workers and raise rents for some 84,000 people who live in low-income housing.
"The secretary was determined that we turn over this land to this specific developer," said Philadelphia Housing Director Carl Greene. "I refused. He didn't have the ability to remove me. So he resorted to these extraordinary measures to extract what he wanted."
(And if all that isn't enough, National Journal reported that a senior Jackson aide is under federal investigation for steering a $127 million New Orleans housing project to an Atlanta-based company which owes Jackson between $250,000 and $500,000 "for past services." Scott Keller is also accused of conspiring with Jackson to award equally lucrative contracts to the HUD secretary's friends and associates.)
This is extortion, plain and simple. The fact that Jackson wasn't the direct beneficiary of the proposed deal is irrelevant; it's still as crooked as the day is long. Jackson should resign immediately, or at least go on administrative leave. Considering the seriousness of the charges against him, that's the least he can do.
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