Jackson Quits HUD under a Cloud

In the middle of a mortgage crisis, it might be comforting for the president to have a close pal at the Department of Housing and Urban Development. However, a HUD secretary who’s under investigation by a federal grand jury, the FBI and the Justice Department is probably not much help. On Monday, Housing and Urban Development Secretary Alphonso Jackson announced that he was leaving the administration of his friend George “LBJ” Bush.

“There are times when one must attend more diligently to personal and family matters,” Mr. Jackson told the media on Monday. “Now is such a time for me.” Whenever a politician says he wants to spend more time with his family, he doesn’t want to spend more time with his family – he’s being made to do so.

The investigations are of a rather tawdry sort; it is alleged that Mr. Jackson used the machinery of government to steer business toward friends. The Washington Post reported, “Several Democratic lawmakers demanded Jackson's resignation last month after he refused to answer questions about the accusations including a lawsuit filed by the Philadelphia Housing Authority against HUD that alleged Jackson and his aides used the department to punish the authority for refusing to transfer valuable property to one of Jackson’s friends.”

The Post also noted “HUD sources have told the inspector general that Jackson intervened in the business of the New Orleans and Virgin Islands housing authorities to steer work to friends. Two government sources briefed on the probe said investigators have been working to get a key former aide to cooperate.” And “The inspector general has also been looking at whether an occasional golfing buddy of Jackson's had performed work on Jackson's property on Hilton Head Island, SC. It is unclear whether that remains a part of the investigators' work.”

The Bush administration now has one of the most thankless jobs in the world to fill. The ad might read, "Wanted: Housing and financial expert for short-term assignment, until January 20,2009. Must know how to cut foreclosures, work with heavy opposition, and understand mortgage-backed securities." One supposes the administration will not bother to fill the post.

© Copyright 2008 by The Kensington Review, Jeff Myhre, PhD, Editor. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written consent. Produced using Fedora Linux.

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