Everyone Can Stay At Alphonso's Place

Homeless? Alphonso Jackson will let you crash on his couch. Disgruntled regulator? Hey, it's all good. Have a free portrait of Jackson to put on your wall. Left holding the bill? Too bad, sucker. You should have left town when Alphonso left town. After all, this happened on his watch:

In 2004, as regulators warned that subprime lenders were saddling borrowers with mortgages they could not afford, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development helped fuel more of that risky lending.

Eager to put more low-income and minority families into their own homes, the agency required that two government-chartered mortgage finance firms purchase far more "affordable" loans made to these borrowers. HUD stuck with an outdated policy that allowed Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae to count billions of dollars they invested in subprime loans as a public good that would foster affordable housing.

Housing experts and some congressional leaders now view those decisions as mistakes that contributed to an escalation of subprime lending that is roiling the U.S. economy.

The agency neglected to examine whether borrowers could make the payments on the loans that Freddie and Fannie classified as affordable. From 2004 to 2006, the two purchased $434 billion in securities backed by subprime loans, creating a market for more such lending. Subprime loans are targeted toward borrowers with poor credit, and they generally carry higher interest rates than conventional loans.

Today, 3 million to 4 million families are expected to lose their homes to foreclosure because they cannot afford their high-interest subprime loans. Lower-income and minority home buyers -- those who were supposed to benefit from HUD's actions -- are falling into default at a rate at least three times that of other borrowers.

As these people lose their homes, the ripple effect through the economy will carry well into the next administration--and we need to remember that. Jackson is gone, but his "service" to this country will live on.

--WS

Alphonso Jackson: The Gift That Keeps On Giving

Over at Talking Points Memo, they've got the goods on Alphonso Jackson, the delusional HUD secretary who was forced to quit recently:

...the Washington Post reports on three minority HUD contractors who in very short spans went from few, if any, HUD contracts to many millions of dollar's worth. The common denominator for all three firms was that they were well-connected in GOP circles or with HUD officials.

Now that may be a scandal in itself, but so is what happened to the career HUD staffers who raised questions.

The contract specialist who flagged concerns about one of the companies was asked to return to her previous job within HUD, the Post reports. "At that point, the top procurement people -- Jo Baylor and Annette Hancock -- decided my services would no longer be needed because I was a pain in their neck," said Gloria Freeman, the specialist, who has since retired.

Another contracting specialist, also since retired, was reassigned to a different HUD job within weeks of finding that one of the companies had submitted an exaggerated claim under the contract and instead owed HUD money.

The Post doesn't link these three contractors directly to Jackson; rather, their rapid rise despite performance issues is symptomatic of HUD during the Jackson era. This isn't the first time retaliation has been alleged. The Philadelphia public housing director is suing for retaliation, alleging that his refusal to help out a Jackson buddy led HUD to take enforcement action against the housing authority as punishment. Emails previously published by the Washington Post suggest a warped management climate within HUD, with one HUD official asking another, "Would you like me to make his life less happy? If so, how?"

The Washington Post goes on to detail the work of Gloria Freeman, who, like Bunnatine Greenhouse, stood up against the onslaught of incompetence and corruption and paid the price for it:

During a few weeks in 2004, the three-employee company, Harrington, Moran and Barksdale Inc. (HMBI), went from no government work to landing $71 million in contracts with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to oversee the upkeep and sale of defaulted homes. It had previously managed a handful of apartment buildings and development projects.

The company's meteoric rise -- and HUD's willingness to bend the rules to accommodate it -- surprised veteran agency contracting specialist Gloria Freeman.

"After you've been in the business awhile, you get to know the signs -- 'This is a friend; let's help him out,' " she said in an interview. Not long after Freeman complained to her supervisors, she was asked to return to her previous policy job.

[SNIP]

HMBI, of Fort Worth, was led by Republicans with significant HUD experience. Chief executive Maurice Barksdale was an assistant secretary to Reagan-era HUD Secretary Samuel R. Pierce Jr. and became a minor figure in a 1980s political favoritism scandal. Its vice president, Albert Moran, also worked at the agency during the Reagan years.

Listed as having three employees in 2004 when it won its first contract, HMBI has accumulated $282 million in HUD work, all but $18.8 million of it in small-business awards. Former and current contract officials said staff members questioned HMBI's qualifications.

Contract specialist Freeman said she first ran into trouble when she insisted that the company follow procedures and post a required bond. She said her supervisor proposed waiving the requirement. Freeman prevailed, and HMBI posted the money.

Tensions mounted again when Freeman objected to a fifth contract award that HMBI was seeking. She and others at HUD feared that the company could not handle more work. Her bosses did not want HMBI to fail or to trigger a Small Business Administration review of the company's abilities, she said. Freeman opposed her bosses' rule-bending efforts to try to avoid that review. Later, she said, she and another official persuaded Barksdale to withdraw the bid.

"At that point, the top procurement people -- Jo Baylor and Annette Hancock -- decided my services would no longer be needed because I was a pain in their neck," she said. After moving back to the policy job, she retired in 2005.

The whole sordid tale of Alphonso Jackson is a microcosm of this administration--cheap, tawdry behavior, the fox guarding the henhouse, the hand in the cookie jar, whatever you want to call it--and it is a sad and troubling example of what happens when cronyism rules the day.

The Delusions of Alphonso Jackson

For a man who's going to go down as nothing more than a lackey and an ethically-challenged chump, he sure knows how to throw himself a lavish going away party:

Last Wednesday, Alphonso Jackson got the send off he deserved, as you can see from the cover of the program for the event obtained by TPMmuckraker. The event, which was held in the main auditorium at HUD, included an overflow crowd of about 1,000 HUD employees, said HUD spokesman Jerry Brown. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was the special guest speaker at the event, Brown said.

Despite the regal appearance of the program, Brown said that the event mainly involved "a slide show and a person who sang the national anthem." It was "pretty much the standard fare when a secretary departs." You can bet that the slide show contained plenty of pictures of Jackson -- and maybe even a painting or two.

You know, you only get to have the loving photo composite done when you've accomplished something. You only get the admiration and the respect when you can point to one Goddamned thing that you've done that actually made life better for people. The only thing missing were the children with flower baskets, dancing about, throwing petals upon the very floor where Mr. Jackson might trod...the better to cushion his tender, royal feet with the soft petals of that which are so very not as wonderful as he.

There are royal weddings that aren't as lavish as Jackson's "get the hell out of town before the indictments hit" party. Jeebus. What a delusional train wreck of a Federal political appointee.

h/t to TPMMuckraker...

Dodd and Murray Call on HUD Secretary To Quit

I would file this under the category of 'doesn't have the decency to do the right thing and quit.'

WASHINGTON -- Two Democratic senators said Friday that Housing and Urban Development Secretary Alphonso Jackson, buffeted by allegations of cronyism and favoritism, should resign.

Sens. Patty Murray of Washington state and Christopher Dodd of Connecticut said that Jackson's problems represented a "worsening distraction" at HUD at a time when the nation needs a credible housing secretary who is beyond suspicion.

"It is time for Secretary Jackson to go," Murray said.

Murray chairs a Senate Appropriations subcommittee on housing, while Dodd is chairman of the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee. The pair sent a letter to President Bush urging him to request Jackson's resignation.

Jackson has refused to answer questions about his role in a Philadelphia redevelopment deal. The city's housing authority has filed a lawsuit charging that Jackson tried to punish the agency for nixing a deal involving music-producer-turned-developer Kenny Gamble, a friend of Jackson.

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.

Murray said she offered Jackson a chance to "debunk any misunderstandings and clear his name." Instead, "Jackson stubbornly refused to provide the answers the American public deserves," she said.

Imagine that. Jackson decided to not respond to questions from lawmakers and, well, basically decided that he didn't need to comply with oversight.

I'd sure like to be around when a Democrat tries that in front of a Republican-controlled committee one day. Sadly, the way things are going, it might be 2075 before the Republicans ever control Congress again.

The Alphonso Jackson Saga Continues

It's a downward spiral for America's worst HUD Secretary, ever:

After Philadelphia's housing director refused a demand by President Bush's housing secretary to transfer a piece of city property to a business friend, two top political appointees at the department exchanged e-mails discussing the pain they could cause the Philadelphia director.

"Would you like me to make his life less happy? If so, how?" Orlando J. Cabrera, then-assistant secretary at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, wrote about Philadelphia housing director Carl R. Greene.

"Take away all of his Federal dollars?" responded Kim Kendrick, an assistant secretary who oversaw accessible housing. She typed symbols for a smiley-face, ":-D," at the end of her January 2007 note.

Cabrera wrote back a few minutes later: "Let me look into that possibility."

The e-mails, obtained by The Washington Post, came to light as a result of a lawsuit provoked by HUD's decision last September to strip the Philadelphia Housing Authority of as much as $50 million in federal funds. In December, it declared the agency in violation of rules that underpin its ability to decide precisely how it will spend federal housing funds. Kendrick was the official who formally notified the authority that she had found it in violation.

HUD has argued publicly that this decision was not related to the demands by HUD Secretary Alphonso Jackson that Greene turn over a $2 million vacant city lot to Kenny Gamble, a friend of Jackson's. HUD officials have said that Greene was not punished for his defiance.

Uh huh. In the real world, we call that bullshit.

On the date these e-mails were sent, HUD notified the housing authority that it had been found in violation of rules requiring that 5 percent of housing be accessible to disabled residents. The department later argued that because the authority refused to acknowledge it was in violation and to agree to a specific remedy, it was in violation of a broader agreement that put $50 million in federal funding in jeopardy.

This week, Greene sent copies of the e-mails to Sens. Arlen Specter (R) and Robert P. Casey Jr. (D) of Pennsylvania. Greene called the e-mails evidence of HUD's retribution for his refusal to give public property to Gamble. He urged the senators to demand that Jackson and his deputies explain their motives. Jackson is set to testify about HUD matters today before the Senate Banking Committee.

Casey said that he has "serious questions" about the e-mails and that "80,00 low-income Philadelphians deserve answers."

"This is the kind of stuff you read about in novels, not what you expect from government officials," Greene said in an interview. "It would appear they would carry out a vendetta against me even if it means damage to an entire city."

You can't make this stuff up. 80,000 poor people in a large American city are victims of one greedy, slimy, oily crony--and his name is Alphonso Jackson. He should never, ever be allowed to serve in a position of public trust again. He should never, ever get another chance to strip clean the dignity of his office and run a Federal agency like it's the back room of a precinct house in a corrupt, podunk town. Run him out of town on a rail, and and put him down as another example of why you ask serious, detailed questions in a confirmation hearing. As in, what are your qualifications and if you don't have any, please have the decency to withdraw your nomination.

I could sit here, sunup to sundown, and I could write thirty posts a day and, of course, my big sister Blue Girl would lap me and do 61 herself, and we couldn't even scratch the surface when it comes to accurately and thoroughly detailing the lawlessness and the petty, small-minded greed that we see from this Administration.

h/t to Shortstop. THIS story deserved its own post.

Who The Hell Does He Think He Is?

HUD Secretary Alphonso Jackson [pictured here] has decided to adorn the lobby of the headquarters of the Department of Housing and Urban Development with massive pictures of himself.

Forget that Jackson is a mere crony from Texas. Forget that he was supposed to get the memo about how all of the Texas cronies were supposed to hotfoot it out of DC last year. Forget that the man is being investigated. Forget that his tenure will be forgotten the minute the Bush Administration is rolled out of town, either in a paddy wagon or a moving van full of looted treasures and broken promises.

Who the hell puts up a "love me" wall in the lobby of a public building, at the cost of several thousand dollars? (If not more.) The "love me" wall goes in the office, dumbass.

Tour groups need not even go through the inviting metal detectors to admire 20 large, color photographs of the secretary, each about 2 feet by 3 feet. No fewer than five of them feature Jackson with President Bush-- in the Rose Garden, in the Oval Office, chatting together, coming down the steps at the Capitol.

And

Don't forget -- when you finish admiring this exhibit in HUD's southeast entrance, the one used by the public and folks on official business, there is another at the northeast-corner entrance just a few steps away.

This one is equally stunning but a bit smaller, with only 18 photos -- and only two with Bush. There are more photos of Jackson speaking, testifying and looking thoughtful, and one of him talking on a cellphone near a building, which again offers a clue as to his government job.

If that's not largesse, I don't know what is. If that's not a delusional display of pride, hubris and personal self-aggrandizement, I don't know what is. And I don't care what it cost--it's money wasted.

Here's what one commenter at ThinkProgress.org had to say about Jackson:

I was working the Kennedy Center Honors front door in 2004. It’s a major DC social event.

Long line of cars, taxis, limos, formed along the front plaza - everyone had to wait their chance to get out of their cars and into the building. Among those waiting were the trademark black Suburbans containing government officials.

I had been watching one Suburban and follow up vehicle inch forward toward the door over the course of about 5 minutes. When it finally reached the door, out bounded Don Rumsfeld. No lights. No sirens.

About 10 minutes later, two other Suburbans came into view, roared past the line of waiting cars, and with lights and sirens on, jumped the line and cut several cars off. While blocking the entire entrance, 3 security men in bad suits piled out of the chase car. About three minutes later, they popped the door open and out bounded Alphonso Jackson.

I mean, come on. No one cares who the fuck the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development is. And he needs that kind of security? WTF???

Thanks again, Republicans. You've foisted another mental case on America, in the form of a crony picked to run an agency of the Federal Government.

Notice how we got through a whole post about HUD without mentioning the dismal job that agency has done over the past seven years? I mean, why get all wonky when you can't get past the reckless delusion of the political appointees?

Hey...wait a minute...delusional self-aggrandizement...putting up pictures of yourself everywhere...didn't we already see this show?