July 01, 2008
— Ace Kaus calls this "Obama's Katrina," explaining that if Obama is running on his record as a community activist and advocate, it's a pretty big deal a housing project he had his hand in is an almost-unlivable slum.
Dropping a bomb into a neighborhood and getting shot down by incompetence isn't a qualification for the presidency either. Is it?
The squat brick buildings of Grove Parc Plaza, in a dense neighborhood that Barack Obama represented for eight years as a state senator, hold 504 apartments subsidized by the federal government for people who can't afford to live anywhere else.But it's not safe to live here.
About 99 of the units are vacant, many rendered uninhabitable by unfixed problems, such as collapsed roofs and fire damage. Mice scamper through the halls. Battered mailboxes hang open. Sewage backs up into kitchen sinks. In 2006, federal inspectors graded the condition of the complex an 11 on a 100-point scale - a score so bad the buildings now face demolition.
Grove Parc has become a symbol for some in Chicago of the broader failures of giving public subsidies to private companies to build and manage affordable housing - an approach strongly backed by Obama as the best replacement for public housing.
As a state senator, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee coauthored an Illinois law creating a new pool of tax credits for developers. As a US senator, he pressed for increased federal subsidies. And as a presidential candidate, he has campaigned on a promise to create an Affordable Housing Trust Fund that could give developers an estimated $500 million a year.
But a Globe review found that thousands of apartments across Chicago that had been built with local, state, and federal subsidies - including several hundred in Obama's former district - deteriorated so completely that they were no longer habitable.
Grove Parc and several other prominent failures were developed and managed by Obama's close friends and political supporters. Those people profited from the subsidies even as many of Obama's constituents suffered. Tenants lost their homes; surrounding neighborhoods were blighted. ...
The campaign did not respond to questions about whether Obama was aware of the problems with buildings in his district during his time as a state senator, nor did it comment on the roles played by people connected to the senator.
Guess who benefited from Obama's schemes?
Antoin "Tony" Rezko, perhaps the most important fund-raiser for Obama's early political campaigns and a friend who helped the Obamas buy a home in 2005. Rezko's company used subsidies to rehabilitate more than 1,000 apartments, mostly in and around Obama's district, then refused to manage the units, leaving the buildings to decay to the point where many no longer were habitable....
"They are rapidly displacing poor people, and these companies are profiting from this displacement," said Matt Ginsberg-Jaeckle of Southside Together Organizing for Power, a community group that seeks to help tenants stay in the same neighborhoods.
"The same exact people who ran these places into the ground," the private companies paid to build and manage the city's affordable housing, "now are profiting by redeveloping them."
Perhaps Obama had good intentions here. Trouble is, he has a decidedly thin resume, and one of the biggest bullet points on it reads Miserable Failure.
Not that it matters. Obama is not only post-ideology, he's post-competency. Whether he's an incompetent hack promoted beyond his merits by the corrupt Chicago Machine is just a distraction.
How will asking about how Obama's meager legal initiatives have actually worked or not possibly help Michelle Obama's kids?
Posted by: Ace at
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Posted by: Techie at July 01, 2008 04:46 PM (RIOqz)
"Blessed are the slumlords, for they shall inherit expensive garbage dumps."
EPIC FAIL.
How, exactly, did this useless, incompetent, Chicago politico errand boy ever become seen as POTUS material?!? I feel that I owe the ghost of Aaron Burr an apology.
Posted by: exdem13 at July 01, 2008 04:52 PM (fenBi)
Posted by: GarandFan at July 01, 2008 04:53 PM (eJ32B)
Posted by: joe at July 01, 2008 04:55 PM (YcIuv)
Posted by: Obama's Bus at July 01, 2008 05:06 PM (xz/YV)
Barack always wants to be somewhere about 10 years ahead of his experience and it's catching up to him now. Sooo, this gun-clinging, bible thumping wannabe that's dealt with PH for 25 years, ain't about to toss him some paddles to get back down this particular creek.
Posted by: Dusty at July 01, 2008 05:18 PM (1Lzs1)
Now we know. And knowing is half the battle.
Posted by: Masturbatin' Pete at July 01, 2008 05:38 PM (+Ccd6)
A fat lot of good that's done them.
The real mystery is why black people pay any attention to Democrats, community organizers, and angry preachers. You'd think that by now they'd realize that decades of single-party rule, ineffectual goading by (literally) slumming liberals looking to pad their resumes, and paranoid preaching has just resulted in worse crime, poverty, and despair.
But you'd be wrong. >95% of them are voting for Obama. Some people never learn.
Posted by: Masturbatin' Pete at July 01, 2008 05:43 PM (+Ccd6)
It is just unconscionable and unfathomable to me that *anyone* with two neurons firing could believe government subsidies to shyster developers is the answer to the low income housing "crisis." Obama either knows this can't possibly work, yet supports throwing our money at it anyway, or he's too stupid to see what a bad idea it is in spite of having observed this disaster for decades. Neither possibility reflects well on him.
But even worse, it reflects terribly on the voters in this country, who have elevated this fraud to the very door of the Oval Office.
Posted by: CornFedBeauty at July 01, 2008 06:11 PM (Z07/i)
Posted by: MAJHAM at July 01, 2008 06:20 PM (DJ256)
Posted by: SGT Dan at July 01, 2008 06:48 PM (Yg+nf)
Posted by: disgruntled Pirate fan at July 01, 2008 07:33 PM (blNMI)
his boston harbor - a la ghwbush's attack on dukakis.
wiki:
Dukakis was badly hurt by the Republican "Willie Horton", "Revolving Door" and "Boston Harbor" campaign ads, which attacked the governor's failure to clean up environmental pollution in the harbor.
MICKEY'S USE OF KATRINA IS OVER THE TOP.
ALSO: KATRINA IS WIDELY AND MISTAKENLY SEEN AS A FEMA FAILURE WHEN IT WAS A FAILURE OF BLANCO AND NAGIN.
Posted by: reliapundit at July 01, 2008 07:55 PM (yXfD6)
Posted by: Da Sout Side Way at July 01, 2008 08:33 PM (h/5U0)
So it begins.
Popcorn time again. This could be a fun year, after all.
Posted by: mesablue at July 01, 2008 08:34 PM (5yNaE)
Weezy says he ain't no ghetto lord.
I told him to open a Dry Cleaning shop. You know, enjoy the good life.
Posted by: JavaJoe at July 01, 2008 08:42 PM (Am6n/)
Posted by: George Jefferson at July 01, 2008 08:42 PM (Am6n/)
Posted by: Andy at July 01, 2008 08:49 PM (23Gys)
Posted by: Ronster at July 01, 2008 08:53 PM (y3lDc)
It's a shame we don't have a Republican presidential candidate who might want to make things like this an issue in the campaign. *Sigh*
Other Republicans might, except that they're now gunshy from McCain's previous attacks on Republicans that criticized Obama.
Posted by: Maetenloch at July 01, 2008 08:55 PM (GvfnP)
Posted by: George Orwell at July 01, 2008 08:55 PM (rf5CF)
Posted by: ObamaCampaignAutoResponseBotv2.0 at July 01, 2008 08:56 PM (KOkrW)
Guess that should be Barack H. Oblunder.
Off stage: Hey wife, bring me another sammich and a tall glass of Thunderbird.
Posted by: Ronster at July 01, 2008 08:57 PM (y3lDc)
A shady public/private housing development with disastrous results?
In Chicago?
I'm shocked to point of reorganzing my twist-tie drawer.
What? Too gay?
Posted by: Circa (Insert Year Here) at July 01, 2008 08:59 PM (XsrOH)
This is usually enough of a story to finish a campaign or a career, but not for this guy. A breathtaking combination of spin and burial by the MSM will be needed to spike this one.
Hope I'm wrong.
Posted by: eman at July 01, 2008 09:02 PM (WWkFI)
Posted by: eman at July 01, 2008 09:04 PM (WWkFI)
Posted by: AnonymousDrivel at July 01, 2008 09:06 PM (sI5Ho)
Posted by: AD at July 01, 2008 09:08 PM (bBzB0)
Change you can believe in.
Posted by: VRWC Agent at July 01, 2008 09:09 PM (Z3AmO)
Posted by: alexthechick at July 01, 2008 09:14 PM (GknYa)
As a result, some people in Chicago's poorest neighborhoods are torn between a natural inclination to support Obama and a concern about his relationships with the developers they hold responsible for Chicago's affordable housing failures. Some housing advocates worry that Obama has not learned from those failures.
"I'm not against Barack Obama," said Willie J.R. Fleming, an organizer with the Coalition to Protect Public Housing and a former public housing resident. "What I am against is some of the people around him."
Good thing McCain didn't say that.
Posted by: eman at July 01, 2008 09:15 PM (WWkFI)
This, like all other signs of Obama's monstrous flaws, will be embargoed and ignored by the rest of the media. Hell, Obama could be found wandering outside an orphanage massacre in bloody clothes and it would be ignored by media hacks.
This may sound a little paranoid, but something seems really shady about how this clown came from nowhere to bulldoze his way to a presidential nomination. Being black and non-threatening isn't enough.
Posted by: UGAdawg at July 01, 2008 09:16 PM (vfDNl)
Posted by: 141Driver at July 01, 2008 09:16 PM (VpYA3)
Posted by: AnonymousDrivel at July 01, 2008 09:17 PM (sI5Ho)
Posted by: eman at July 01, 2008 09:19 PM (WWkFI)
Posted by: Doug at July 01, 2008 09:35 PM (zd5aq)
Posted by: Hollowpoint at July 01, 2008 09:36 PM (plsiE)
Posted by: Dogstar at July 01, 2008 09:51 PM (FgxdU)
Posted by: Tinian at July 01, 2008 09:52 PM (1Mq7K)
Posted by: eman at July 01, 2008 10:02 PM (WWkFI)
Kirchick, asst editor of The New Republic just ripped Obama. Interesting.
Posted by: Dogstar at July 01, 2008 10:02 PM (FgxdU)
Posted by: Bob hussein Dole at July 01, 2008 10:03 PM (4GS1g)
Posted by: Rocks at July 01, 2008 10:07 PM (7rbe9)
Posted by: cranky-d at July 01, 2008 10:08 PM (kt4mn)
eman:
What is a "tag bomb"?
It's kind of like a bug bomb but different. It's how homos try to kill the taste in their mouths.
Posted by: Tinian at July 01, 2008 10:10 PM (1Mq7K)
Holy crap! Did a tag bomb explode in here? This looks like something dude who just got laid off from Starbucks and is celebrating w/some killer bud would come up with.
eman, actually I meant all the bold lettering. But this ended up kind of funny by accident.
Posted by: Dogstar at July 01, 2008 10:15 PM (FgxdU)
It's kind of like a bug bomb but different. It's how homos try to kill the taste in their mouths.
That's true, you filled us in on it at length last week.
Posted by: coleman at July 01, 2008 10:16 PM (19xMs)
Posted by: Bill D. Cat at July 01, 2008 10:19 PM (Bivii)
Posted by: eman at July 01, 2008 10:20 PM (WWkFI)
Posted by: AmishDude at July 01, 2008 10:21 PM (FYT9x)
Posted by: Terry at July 01, 2008 10:23 PM (vQgUp)
Posted by: Don Imus at July 01, 2008 10:37 PM (KuHjy)
I find that Hobo Safaris in Chicago are much more challenging and rewarding, - as the conservation efforts of democrats, of the natural environment, tend to produce a more robust, indigenous stock of hobo.
Spirited and feisty.
Posted by: The Great White Bitter Hunter at July 01, 2008 10:37 PM (zAvxs)
Posted by: AmishDude at July 01, 2008 10:38 PM (FYT9x)
Ask any landlord how they feel about "low-income" housing. They are well aware that the folks who won't work, won't work to keep their homes nice either. You can't turn down Section 8, but you can work like hell to not accept them.
Posted by: XBradHusseinTC at July 01, 2008 10:42 PM (pSXbN)
Posted by: Bill D. Cat at July 01, 2008 10:43 PM (Bivii)
It's fairly clear that he has good intentions in most things he does. Heck, even Carter had good intentions. The outcomes just don't match the intentions. It seems to be that way with most liberal ideas.
Posted by: Kevin at July 01, 2008 10:50 PM (OEF4E)
It's fairly clear that he has good intentions in most things he does. Heck, even Carter had good intentions. The outcomes just don't match the intentions. It seems to be that way with most liberal ideas.
And, given the pattern of repeated failures, they get no slack from me. If they can't learn from their mistakes, why should I promote them to screw up on a larger scale?
Posted by: XBradHusseinTC at July 01, 2008 10:55 PM (pSXbN)
Posted by: Bill D. Cat at July 01, 2008 10:56 PM (Bivii)
Posted by: sherlock at July 01, 2008 10:58 PM (ojW85)
Posted by: AmishDude at July 01, 2008 10:59 PM (FYT9x)
Posted by: AmishDude at July 01, 2008 11:01 PM (FYT9x)
Posted by: AmishDude at July 01, 2008 11:02 PM (FYT9x)
Maybe Oprah should do her next show from the "other" side of town where these hellholes exist. Then she can brag on what a nice job her candidate did in his district?
I was thinking that because I cook with oil, drive a car, use WD-40 when needed, use various cosmetics with oil in them, that I should go to Exxon's HR office immediately with my resume and apply for a CEO position at Exxon-Mobile. I am sure that their board of directors would be thrilled and my vast experience and success with oil would make me a shoe-in for the job. Seems to be the employment model of Obama.
Posted by: Nurse Cheri at July 01, 2008 11:05 PM (cz6lG)
Posted by: Bill D. Cat at July 01, 2008 11:06 PM (Bivii)
Posted by: Bill D. Cat at July 01, 2008 11:07 PM (Bivii)
Nurse Cheri and all friends here... it is not "shoe-in", it is "shoo-in". As in the judges "shoo-in" the desired winner across the finish line.
Love you all, but realize that when we misuse the idiom, we are vulnerable to being denigrated by the idiots.
Piece out, okay?
Posted by: sherlock at July 01, 2008 11:14 PM (ojW85)
Posted by: XBradHusseinTC at July 01, 2008 11:20 PM (pSXbN)
And on the 7th day, the Holy One made a sweetheart deal with the Chosen Bag Man, and the slums were created.
I'm sure the New York Times will be all over this tomorrow. You know, like if it turned out McCain was a slumlord, er, community activist.
Posted by: fugazi at July 01, 2008 11:23 PM (MmyUf)
Posted by: Nurse Cheri at July 01, 2008 11:28 PM (cz6lG)
Posted by: Joe Marier at July 01, 2008 11:32 PM (btl0D)
This reminds me of a story my parents told me about a shitty school and the woman who helped run it. Apparently there was a very high drop-out rate, but when people from trades or ITT came by the kids would jump at the chance. The lady (hispanic) did not like it because as far as she was concerned those kids (also hispanic) were going to be janitors and they needed to be prepared for that. Of course the kids probably ended up selling drugs, I would too, and the lady did her job.
That is pretty much what I expect from the democratic party. I can't tell if they think they are doing the right thing or trying to create more "grove parc plazas" and a larger base. It would not suprise me at all if Obama thought he was helping the little people, but I suspect that these programs are intended to keep people poor and voting democrat. Black people have had a rough time in the US, but it was not fucked up like this fifty years ago. Everything the feds do to help hurts the people they are trying to help.
Maybe someone should check and see how the veterans in his district are doing. That is an issue that the next president will need to at least understand.
Posted by: bleh at July 01, 2008 11:45 PM (GNCy6)
Sigh...okay Sherlock you got me.
Sigh... was it good for you, too? But seriously Nurse Cheri (and my daughter is a nurse, BTW), I did not want to GET you, I wanted to make you a better advocate for our side.
You see, being one myself, I know what deadly pedants dwell on the other side!
Posted by: sherlock at July 02, 2008 12:15 AM (jdXw+)
What in the blue fuck did I do!?
A bukake plague on all your houses.
Also...the "tag bomb" is not bad (kind of minty).
Posted by: Lamontyoubigdummy at July 02, 2008 12:27 AM (byDbO)
I am going to give Obama the benifit of the doubt on this one even though it is clear that he had a long relationship with Rezko, but it would almost make sense. I had consumed a few beers, but when I watched his big speech on race in Philly it seemed to me that he just addressed groups that were not voting for him and told them to get over it. From what I have watched his speeches tend to follow this pattern, off the top of my head also so bear with me or correct it:
-Tell the crowd they care about X
-Presents himself as their rep. to deal with X
-By caring about X they are part of a bigger movement (him+political power) and now care about him
-He is now the reason X will be solved (world loves one another, everyone agrees with a specific obama voter, oceans stop rising etc...)
Then the press tells the public that he is a charismatic leader. It would work well with desperate people who live in a slum already. Maybe it is just me and all politicians do it, but Obama is not someone I would trust.
Posted by: bleh at July 02, 2008 12:28 AM (GNCy6)
Posted by: Vercingetorix at July 02, 2008 12:31 AM (iTDJo)
So we have a slum lord. Hmmmm. I look for his friend to have an accident sometime soon. Rizko may even commit "suicide" like that madam of the ring in Washington D.C
Anyone thing that was a suicide?
Posted by: unseen at July 02, 2008 12:44 AM (aVGmX)
Posted by: bleh at July 02, 2008 12:49 AM (GNCy6)
No.
57 It's fairly clear that he has good intentions in most things he does.
Also, no.
Posted by: Warden at July 02, 2008 12:57 AM (KXbGD)
bleh, He might be waiting for a pardon. I think he was paid off to not talk. I wouldn't be surprised to see the dirt come out AFTER the election when the pardon doesn't come.
Posted by: unseen at July 02, 2008 01:04 AM (aVGmX)
Posted by: Aaron at July 02, 2008 02:53 AM (wmAHj)
The failure of public housing projects there is legend.
We are talking, of course, about a society where subsistence housing is provided for the lower-class masses through a government run by a single Party system.
The privileged class - Party members - has an insider's advantage in obtaining contracts to build and maintain, in exchange for the support so necessary to keep that single Party system. The higher the Party status, the greater the benefits. We are talking about a system so corrupt that Al Capone would be considered clean by comparison.
But there, this is not considered corruption; rather it has become so expected and ingrained that it is just known as the "system". Past failures, real thought, or comparisons to other systems fade into distant memory, because it is unthinkable that anything could occur to change it.
We are talking, of course, about Communist China - the model for Bill Ayers' Maoist dreams - and which differs in this respect from Obama's Chicago not one whit.
Posted by: Robert at July 02, 2008 03:03 AM (Rb4Qc)
"Perhaps Obama had good intentions here."
Yeah.
When monkeys fly out of his ass.
His intentions were to get elected to something.
Posted by: drjohn at July 02, 2008 03:25 AM (324mD)
"MICKEY'S USE OF KATRINA IS OVER THE TOP.
ALSO: KATRINA IS WIDELY AND MISTAKENLY SEEN AS A FEMA FAILURE WHEN IT WAS A FAILURE OF BLANCO AND NAGIN."
I dunno.
You're right about the assigment of blame for Katrina but this one could stick on Obama. This could resonate.
Posted by: drjohn at July 02, 2008 03:26 AM (324mD)
Let them eat cake drink a 40.
Posted by: roy at July 02, 2008 04:12 AM (cB77O)
It's a little known fact that this housing project was actually organized, built, and run by John McCain and Cindy McCain's beer distributorship.
It's true.
I think this proves that Barry cares so much about the little people and is.........aaaand, so.....................uh, uh, uh........................aaaand, the next President just because it is a black man's......................aaaand, so......chance to become President.
I still can't fucking believe this guy is the Democrat nominee, it's beyond stupid.
Posted by: Rev Dr. E Buzz at July 02, 2008 05:03 AM (B+fvp)
Posted by: Purple Avenger at July 02, 2008 07:06 AM (dcqty)
Posted by: Barack Obama Campaign Blog Outreach Manager at July 02, 2008 07:56 AM (hcwPx)
Posted by: lauraw at July 02, 2008 08:30 AM (Rb0/g)
Posted by: Dave in Texas at July 02, 2008 08:45 AM (pzen5)
"Perhaps Obama had good intentions here."
Anyone can claim "good intentions". And generally the worse the result the more they do so.
But for anyone to expect good results from any sort of public housing initiative, however it's structured, is either (a) extremely stupid or (b) expects the rest of us to be extremely stupid or (c) actually doesn't believe there will be good results, but hopes to make money.
In the case of Obama, my money's on (a) and (b) and (c).
Posted by: maxman at July 02, 2008 08:56 AM (OYeDg)
This story won't matter. McCain doesn't want to win.
Real Clear Politics electoral map has Obama way up. InTrade has Obama in the 60's and McCain in the 30's.
I need some stories about funny hobo maimings to cheer me up.
Posted by: adolfo_velasquez at July 02, 2008 09:02 AM (IIDZ+)
A bit late in the game, but Google seems to have joined the fray.
Grove Parc, per Google Maps.
http://img391.imageshack.us/my.php?image=parczo6.jpg
Posted by: BumperStickerist at July 02, 2008 09:12 AM (UeP9e)
Love you all, but realize that when we misuse the idiom, we are vulnerable to being denigrated by the idiots.
I thought we were the idiots?
Posted by: Tami at July 02, 2008 09:15 AM (P3ErD)
Posted by: richard mcenroe at July 02, 2008 09:45 AM (l3IrE)
Bah, we've got wee little mini-projects like that in every community around here... I live about 2 hours south of Chi town. I'm betting most of you, big city or farm community have a little seed plot that's similar, too. It's sorta like those community garden patches, they grow votes for the giveaway govt in these though. Filthy, ignorant, cheese eating, WIC card carrying voters who get bus rides to the Save a Lot store and the community Human Resource Center. On Sundays they take their little tribal unit up to the county jail to visit the baby daddies sometimes, they serve to keep the local police, "family" courts and Dove Inc. branches employed with assorted (often nighttime) rituals and dances. The dances move outdoors in better weather. And sometimes they hit it big and get sponsored by Habitat For Humanity who fix up some shotgun shack for them to tear back down. Since the baby factories are so busy during the day applying for handouts and figuring out ways to cheat the state unemployment system the 4 and unders are trucked to a free daycare known as "head start". This early training is critical to ensure the proper skillsets are embedded to enable a full, rich employment career at the HRC recycling center or the local Huck's or Casey's 24 gas and convienence store.
At Xmas time... well, it's Just LIKE CHRISTMAS with all the angel trees and food drives and all the other sugary, feel bad about your personal success through hard work giveaways. They even have wish lists, for the essentials, like GAP jeans and PS-3's. And now we have degree days coming up and cooling shelters, becasue everyone deserves MF air conditioning. It's only fair.
But I"m not bitter. I love them there people. Salt of the Earth. I can't wait for the messiah to get elected and tax the fuck out of me some more to give them all electric cars and shit.
Posted by: LF Mayor at July 02, 2008 11:04 AM (AkPCZ)
Posted by: LF Mayor at July 02, 2008 11:06 AM (AkPCZ)
Posted by: Tripper from Meatballs at July 02, 2008 11:11 AM (KTgUG)
GROVE PARC RESPONDS TO ARTICLE ON OBAMA HOUSING POLICY
Tenants call on all candidates to support Human Right to Housing
In recent days, leading news organizations around the country have reported on the housing policies of Senator Barack Obama, following a feature article published in the Boston Globe which highlighted the example of the Grove Parc Plaza Apartments, a subsidized housing complex in Chicagos Woodlawn neighborhood that we call home.
The Globe Article, while rightly raising concerns about the failure of the private sector to adequately provide for the housing needs of the poor, unfortunately leaves out half of the story. Grove Parc is not just an example of the failures of past policies, but a beacon of hope for the way forward. Tenants have not only stopped foreclosure and the displacement of some 500 low income families, but also brought in new management committed to working with the tenants to rebuild affordable and quality housing for all residents. In so doing, we have highlighted two fundamental principles that both presidential candidates would do well to heed as they finalize their housing policy platforms,-- first, the full participation of tenants, who have the biggest stake in housing policy, and second, the guarantee of quality housing for all as a human right and social responsibility.
In the wake of massive housing cuts, privatization, and foreclosures that have left millions without a stable home problems for which both major political parties must take responsibility - it is time for both candidates to tell the American people how they will ensure quality housing as a human right and reality for every American family. In short, the new administration must ensure a roof over the head of all American families.
Never has it been clearer that government has to play an active role in ensuring that Americas families have safe, decent housing. Millions of home-owners are facing foreclosure. Gas, food and utility prices are sky-rocketing. Thousands of units of public housing are being torn down from New Orleans to Miami to Chicago and close to 500,000 families - including many elderly and disabled - may soon be put out on the streets due to Congress under-funding HUDs subsidized housing program by $2.8 billion this year. Homelessness and poverty will continue to rise until we treat housing as a human right rather than a source of profit for speculators and developers. In Chicago, for example, a recent study published in the Chicago Tribune shows that a minimum wage worker would have to work 97 hours a week, 52 weeks a year to afford a modest two-bedroom apartment. Low-income communities of color, in particular, are being ravaged by this crisis, which extends far beyond housing. Displacement weakens our communities and in so doing makes problems like youth violence and unstable schools even worse. The promise of mixed-income communities has been a smoke screen for a set of policies that have involved tearing down lots of housing and replacing very little of it. The people affected by these policies are never at the table when they are created.
While the Globe article raises important points about the problems in both public and subsidized housing, it fails to highlight the role played by massive budget cuts to HUD, which has created a lack of oversight over all HUD programs. These cuts have been carried forth by both parties, and their effects have been made even worse by rampant corruption in the last HUD administration, whose Bush-appointed National Secretary, Alphonso Jackson, recently stepped down amidst allegations of contract steering.
But there is another way forward. Our nation needs to guarantee the Human Right to Housing for all of its citizens, regardless of income and race, and to ensure that the people affected by policies are active participants in creating them. As a start we call on both candidates to commit to:
· Fully fund HUD
The 2008 HUD subsidized housing budget was under-funded by $2.8 billion dollars, threatening to triple the rents of 500,000 families overnight (40% of whom are the elderly and disabled) unless Congress acts fast.
· Support tenant empowerment and oversight
Grove Parc is turning around because as tenants we are taking control of our housing. We chose a new management company, stopped HUD from foreclosing on our complex, and have won awards around the country for our efforts. Grove Parc is proving that when the people who live in housing finally have a voice in how it is run another future for subsidized housing is possible.
· Declare a moratorium on demolition of public housing and foreclosures
Most of the public sees housing subsidies as hand-outs to the poor, not realizing that the vast majority of HUD subsidies go to first time home buyers. Ironically, now both groups are in the same boat, unsure of where to look for housing as banks are bailed out but homeowners are left hanging while the few safety nets that exist continue to be decimated by the current administration.
· Create a comprehensive plan to ensure the human right to housing for all
We hope that the both campaigns will see this as an opportunity to take a strong stand for Housing as a Human Right and to take a critical look at the failure of privatizing housing and the need for strong public oversight and tenant control. Some will undoubtedly use the stories of wasted money and failed housing in the Globe article as justification to further cut these programs. Cutting badly needed subsidies in any housing program, especially in economic times like we are in, is irresponsible, unethical and inefficient, creating many unforeseen costs to society. With better oversight and regulation, an expansion of all housing programs and tenant inclusion in policy-making, the Human Right to decent and safe housing can become a reality for all.
GROVE PARC TENANTS ASSOCIATION
Housing is a Human Right We wont go without a fight!
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
www.righttothecity.org
Posted by: Grove Parc Tenants Association at July 07, 2008 03:09 PM (VonDL)
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