Questions Remain About US Housing Secretary, friend of W

[Omaha Steve]

http://apnews.excite.com/article/20071020/D8SCT4EO2.html

By PETE YOST

WASHINGTON (AP) - During an investigation of his conduct last year, Housing Secretary Alphonso Jackson defiantly defended his interaction with federal contractors doing business with the Housing and Urban Development Department.

Jackson survived that investigation, but now he faces a new one stemming from the same forceful style that got him in trouble the first time.


Housing and Urban Development Secretary Alphonso Jackson gestures during a meeting in Washington in this Sept. 12, 2007, file photo. During an investigation of his conduct last year, housing secretary Alphonso Jackson defiantly defended his interaction with federal contractors doing business with the Housing and Urban Development Department. Jackson survived that investigation, but now he faces a new one. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta, File)


The FBI and HUD's inspector general are examining Jackson's ties to a friend who was paid at least $392,000 in federal money after Jackson passed along the man's name for a job as post-Katrina construction manager at the Housing Authority of New Orleans.

Jackson, 62, has spent much of his career working for housing agencies in several cities. He has a personal friendship with President Bush that dates to the late 1980s, when they lived in the same Dallas neighborhood.

Two weeks ago, within hours of news reports disclosing the criminal probe, the White House issued a statement saying the president supports Jackson.

Jackson was the first black leader of the housing authority in Dallas, where his integration efforts caused clashes with some local homeowners in predominantly white neighborhoods. "They don't want people of color out there. It's simple," Jackson told a reporter.

FULL story at link.

[SharonAnn]

1. Under the GOP, it's always been a crony organization for theft. Nixon, Reagan, GHWB, and now W

It's one of those places where the GOP can put people who can divert our tax dollars into the pockets of their well-connected friends.

Sad, but true.

[zippy890]

2. Alphonso Jackson is an asshat

republican crony from the get-go.

few years ago as HUD secretary he made a statement to the effect that being low-income is a'state of mind'.
This coming from the head of a department that provides federal rental assistance to low-income families, elderly and disabled people.

the word at HUD is that Jackson's dealings with contractors is directly tied to what political party the contractors belong to. Contractors who are democrats need not apply.