The disgrace that is Bush's Housing Department
Picking the single worst, most ineffective, most scandal-ridden Bush cabinet agency isn’t easy. Sure, Alberto Gonzales’ Justice Department has to get the top spot, but there’s Rumsfeld’s Pentagon, Paige’s Department of Education, and Chertoff’s DHS.
But let’s not overlook Alphonso Jackson’s HUD, for my money, every bit as corrupt and ridiculous as any cabinet agency in decades.
We learned last month that Jackson, who has a history of allowing political considerations to dictate policy matters, demanded that the Philadelphia Housing Authority transfer a $2 million public property to a friendly developer at a substantial discount. When the housing authority balked, Jackson retaliated, including threats about the availability of federal funding.
Today, there are some additional details, which make Bush’s HUD look even worse.
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 similarities between Bush administration agencies and organized-crime families are routinely striking, but this is ridiculous.
Not to mention the EPA!
People need to look across the Board at everything that is missing.... look at SSA, Look at CDC Look at everything... you'll see the same exact patterns being used everywhere to ruin and destroy our way of life everywhere...... seriously.
Time to outlaw Republicans :-D
For the record, I'm not against lining them up and shooting them.
It's not ridiculous when you look at the shrub co. crime syndicate's record. It's pretty much par for the course.
Do people see that shrub co. has all but given up pretending to anything more than the executive branch of the reslug party?
There is no government. There's just a series of crime families slowly sucking the country dry.
The only thing that surprises me about this is that there's an investigation and as soon as that actually starts to make waves it will suddenly come to an end as well.
I'm shocked. All those rich politicians being corrupt and fraudulent. Never would I have guessed that, what with most of them being rich enough to not have to work in their lives. First time I've ever considered rich people not getting it through honest hard work. Hahahahahahahahahhahahaha.
This administration is run by a bunch of god-damned thugs!
Now that we've seen Spitzer Quits 'er, and with the banksters hounding their own for payment, as in the Carlyle Capital bailout talks apparently failing, everyday reg'lar humans who don't have private jets, but who do know what the price of gasoline from first-hand experience because they don't have chauffeurs and Secret Service teams to pump it, are asking really basic questions, like this one:
"Howdy...
Should I sweat my loosing credit rating if the economy is going to collapse?.;0"
Tough one!
Dale @ 4:
As long as it's legal, why not torture them?
Staff government positions with unqualified cronies. When the government fails as a result use the failure as a political tool to justify governments cuts due to ineffectiveness.
The GOP mantra
This is as sick as Hillary's supporters defending the racist Geraldine Ferraro and Hillary's racism.
bill w @ 9:
Well, I'm against killing them, but I'm fine with shooting them.
for those of you keeping score, Alphonso Jackson is another long-time bush
conspiratorally.Aren't these actions prosecuteable? This seems extremely illegal and a clear violation of the RICO statutes.
We know that the WHOLE EIGHT years (almost eight) of this administration is a disgrace.
The social programs that helped this country have been practically eliminated. The big business and corporations have reaped the rewards of this administration's funneling of taxpayer money for their benefit.
It will take more than four - eight or even thirty years to repair the backward steps the bush administration has caused this country.
Dave @ 14:
BUSH AND CO. have run off with all the assets in the US treasury...remember when we had a surplus?
The pattern is unmistakable: BushCo has systematically and purposely ruptured the lifelines of every government agency, to prove that "government doesn't work."
It's like killing your children in order to lament, "I'll never know the joys of being a grandparent."
The republican party was hijacked by human cockroaches, and it's wayyyyy past the time to call in an exterminator.
Actually aren't there laws on the books to put people like this in prison?
Dave @ 14:
Jackson is already facing at least one criminal prosecution regarding awarding contracts in New Orleans. This guy is one of Bush's old-school pals who is just trying to do what the rest of them are doing: get his before the ride breaks down.
Impeach this asshole too, Nancy.
"Burn baby, burn. Bushco inferno."
Terrible Hussein @ 18:
Just another S+L style fraud business as usual for the Bushes.
Lollimom @ 17:
And watch, as soon as this is brought to light, you'll see the Tony Blankleys and Jim Boehners talking about how this is just another sign that you can't trust the federal government and we should get rid of it completely.
Don't forget the most useless... Elaine Chao's Labor Dept. Bush promised 12 million NEW jobs back in 2000 (wisely avoiding trying to match the 22 million the Clinton adminstration accomplished) but has come up with what? A net gain of ZERO?
I guess Elaine Chao wasn't expected to do anything because the tax-cuts were supposed to take care of it all, but as it so clearly didn;t, from the get-go, I have to wonder what the hell she does all day? She doesn't even stand in the background whilst Bush holds a presser on how well the economy is doing! .
This administration has been in violation of the RICO statutes for the past 7 years. What makes anyone think they are going to be or should be held accountable for anything at this point?
Man o man, it boggles the freaking mind. Why is it that the same thugs who are brilliant at manipulating public opinion (for instance) or ripping off the public treasury are utterly incompetent when it comes to governing?
Listen: The next time someone says they want "a president they could have a beer with" please find clever words to make them SHUT UP.
Eric
www.changeany1thing.com
Ruthless People @ 10:
It's also the mantra for fascists.
OT as usual, but I thought I'd share some recent work:
http://freewayblogger.blogspot.com/2008/03/santabarbaracentral-coast.html
cardboard, paint, overhead projector...
Time to impeach and jail the GOP :-D
Man I love this picture of Bush petting Alphie like a dog. Alphie's got this huge shit-eating grin on his face like he's happy to receive any kind of attention from Bush.
Check it out. http://static.crooksandliars.com/2008/02/bush-jackson.thumbnail.jpg
I guess he's looking to get invite to eat at the table with moves like this.
Bush Co Inc.
Specialists in Financial fraud, HUD Fraud, Real Estate Loan Fraud, Government Contract Fraud, Oil and Gas Fraud, Real Estate Loan Fraud, Securities Fraud, Pension Plan Fraud. . . and everything else.
Our Motto. Let no taxpayer bailout be denied.
Eric @ 25:
They can't have a beer with this one either... who has the money?
Wealth doesn't trickle downward, it trickles upward.
It think it's time for a revolution!!
Unmistakable pattern??? (sigh).... Yes... Everything, and I mean e.v.e.r.y.t.h.i.n.g. this man and his menions have touched in this nation has turned to shit! The Bush administration has rode this nation right into the ground like wearing out a reliable plowhorse until there is nothing left to even make glue with....And STILL they aren't done... It's STILL NOT enough to suit them... And now John McCain wants to pick right up where they are leaving off and continue this farce... This decapitation of our country...
Yea... the whole fucking eight years has been a national and international disgrace..... But Bill Clinton and his blowobs (still) and Elliott Spitzer and his hookers are the only issues the right and the media wants to beat into the ground...... Shooting? killing? prison? hanging?...the Hague? for war crimes? (Sigh)... We're not suppose to advocate violence here....not nice... probably ends up getting us all on some mean old bad naughty person list somewhere...
So what DO sane people do when locked in an insane asylum??? JD
Thanks Crooks and Liars for giving us liberals and Democrats something to rally around instead of yelling at each other.
The current Department of Housing and Urban Development scandal is yet another reason why people who hate government and think that government is the root of all that ails us, should never been allowed into government.
It reminds me of what is happening here in Arizona. The "starve the beast" crowd voted for tax cut after tax after tax and are still calling for even more tax cuts, even though the state is facing a $1.4 billion shortfall (which is the amount of taxes cut in the last two legislative sessions) and it was reported the other day that even more schools are getting rid of their librarians or cutting their hours.
Theocratic fascists, anti-public education and anti-government types have no place in our system of government. They don't want to build on our successes, they only wish to tear our government down.
Can you say RICO prosecution?
I knew you could.
------------
From WIKI:
The Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (commonly referred to as RICO Act or RICO) is a United States federal law that provides for extended penalties for criminal acts performed as part of an ongoing criminal organization. RICO was enacted by section 901(a) of the Organized Crime Control Act of 1970 (Pub.L. 91-452, 84 Stat. 922, enacted 1970-10-15). RICO is codified as Chapter 96 of Title 18 of the United States Code, 18 U.S.C. § 1961–1968. It was intended to make it easier to prosecute organized crime figures, but has been applied in several other cases as well.
Under RICO, a person or group who commits any two of 35 crimes—27 federal crimes and 8 state crimes—within a 10-year period and, in the opinion of the United States Attorney bringing the case, has committed those crimes with similar purpose or results can be charged with racketeering.
Crimes include extortion, obstruction of justice & fraud.
There isn't a single aspect of the current administration thats not corrupt. I agree with the many upstream cries for MSM and others to go after these stories. Maybe its just so pervasive... no thats not it. It's they're lazy useless hogs that love their insider privileges.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/21/washington/21loyalists.html?_r=1&oref=...
Jackson is one of the last remaining bush cronies from texas
is there any wonder why people lose it
and shoot these kinds of fucking scum.
"The similarities between Bush administration agencies and organized-crime families are routinely striking, but this is ridiculous."
Perhaps the similarity comes from the fact that the Bush family is and always has been an organized crime family, so Chimpy is running the government as he would the family business (that is if the Godfather, Don H.W.Bush or Consigliere Baker were stupid enough to let him do such a thing).
One small thing. The symbol :-D if I remember right is a symbol for laughter, or sticking your tongue out. Very unimportant :-(
moondancer @ 37:
MSM (I prefer corporate media: CM) could not care less about your cries.
Do you understand that CM *is* a vital player in the crisis?
Many have rightly said that the United States is a fascist nation; transitioning ownership of media outlets to a few giant corporations was the key to allowing fascism to thrive. The keys to the henhouse were turned over to the foxes.
The only true MSM is the Internet...and they're in the process of fixing that, too, to borrow a phrase from a fat drug addict on the radio.
They got rid of the Black Woman running GSA for doing crap like Alphonso Jackson.
Which also explains why New Orleans is still jacked up, almost three years after Katrina, and why, instead of rebuilding homes for the residents to return to, Jackson has had HUD dragging their feet and rebuilding stuff that will be too expensive for those in the Ninth Ward, and complicit in all of it is New Orleans' mayor, C. Ray "Chocolate with Vanilla City" Nagin.
Mr. Bennen, you characterized the Bush administration as organized crime based on behavior. Good. Keep it up. They have done specific behaviors that should identify the way they are both characterized and expected to behave. Continue that please. All too often bloggers - here and elsewhere - describe behavior by the administration as uncharacteristic of a rational and decent administration, an administration that hasnt behaved badly. This administration HAS behaved badly - repeatedly. They have lost the right to be presumed to be decent in anyway. Assuming they are decent can only result in a failure to predict and appreciate their true behavior. Characterizing them based on their past behavior will facilitate an understanding of what they are doing.
Never forget what THEY have told us - they are neo-cons. They have told us that they intend to ACT and move agressively forward leaving everyone else to remain behind to figure out what has happened. To be left behind is a losing proposition. These people must be paced if there is any hope. They must be properly characterized for that to happen.
Thanks again.
(unedited and uneditable blog blah - forums are better :) )
I have been saying for years that the Bush Administration operates as criminal enterprise that is more than a little mafia like.
Oh, it's a story about the Housing Department, not the housing market...
Fucked on both counts.
Dale @ 4:
After they've been convicted of treason in a fair trial.
More Republinazi treason against America.
It's ironic. These traitors are ALL Christians.
BUSH CRIME FAMILY
start saying it ..
BUSH CRIME FAMILY
BUSH CRIME FAMILY
It's not an administration .. it's the
BUSH CRIME FAMILY
I would love to see them before a Senate Panel, having their E-Mails read to them and asking them exactly what they mean by them, plus having her explain the smiley face symbols.
The only BushCo "success" is its cronyism. It has successfully contaminated all branches and departments of the government with hacks, christian zealots, criminals, and incompetency. Perhaps by 2012, the next administration (assuming its not McBush) will finally be done scraping off all the Bush barnacles off of every governmental facet.
I'm imagining a long list of their departments with a box next to each one, checked right off....
Weaseldog @ 47:
with a 22 starting at the ankles and working upwards
So?
What's going to happen to the Bush Crime Syndicate and it's wise guys?
The Bush Mafia screwing more tax paying citizens.
FUCK BUSH
Support democracy! Deport republicans!
clytemnestra @ 54:
Not a damn thing! Those criminal psychopath's will be partying in high-style (on our payroll taxes) for the rest of their dispicable, privilaged lives.
What did Mayor Nutter do? After all, it is public property and the city of Philadelphia should have addressed this problem.
They are all egregious, but the most under the radar, sorry the pun, is what the Bush Administration has done to the air traffic control system. What makes it so insidious id that the average American knows nothing about it and when an aluminum shower does occur, the obfuscation potential will mask the true reasons for the disaster. Experienced controllers are retiring in droves. Trainees are quitting. Anyone who flies is potentially a victim to the Bush Administrations attempt to bring the union to its knees and privatize a proven, inherently governmental system and sell it to the lowest bidder to enrich more cronies. Be afraid, people. Be very afraid.
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http://www.natca.org/
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The dept of housing is so screwed up here in FL we had a small riot yesterday here in Boca Raton. People were showing up before sunrise to get their apps., but were soon turned away as the dept. said they ran out. Now more homeless, and no shelters in Palm Beach County. My heart just breaks for them. We have money for bombs but not enough to take care of our own. I don't care how many degrees I get I will NEVER understand it.
bush's "house" of cards is falling apart....only one solution to this endless bushtonian qWagmire,
IMPEACH!
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