Becky Houtman » lame-ducks http://beckyhoutman.com Wed, 26 Nov 2008 06:59:10 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 en hourly 1 HUD Mud http://beckyhoutman.com/2007/03/21/hud-mud/ http://beckyhoutman.com/2007/03/21/hud-mud/#comments Wed, 21 Mar 2007 04:42:57 +0000 becky http://beckyhoutman.com/2007/03/21/hud-mud/ I missed this last year, but surprise, surprise, Bush appointed HUD Secretary Alphonso Jackson was found to have “urged staff members to favor friends of President Bush when awarding Department of Housing and Urban Development contracts,” (Washington Post, 8/22/06). This after an anecdote he told at a Real Estate Executive Council forum in Dallas last April, about revoking a contract awarded for “a heck of a proposal” (is “heck of a” a required phrase in Bush Administration circles?) after the chief of the firm said he didn’t like the president (Dallas Business Journal, 5/5/2006).

Alphonso Jackson, Alberto Gonzoles, Michael Brown…

I have to doubt that HUD’s intervention in the Road Home Program at such a late stage was entirely on behalf of the beleaguered citizens of Louisiana.

I wonder whether self-lamed duck Blanco will find a stronger voice regarding “her” Road Home Program (with ICF, HUD, or anyone else) now that the re-election pressure is off, or whether she’ll wilt. Waterfowl can get pretty aggressive when they want to. (Seriously. There was this goose once, on my uncle’s farm…)

photo by evehorizon

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