Boston Globe Exposé, Part II: Barack Obama (D-Slumlord) Is Aloof, Oblivious, Dangerous
By Un coup de des on June 29, 2008 at 4:45 PM in Barack Obama, Chicago, Chicago politics, Michelle Obama, Richard Daley, Tony Rezko
This is the second of a series of articles to be written on a lengthy exposé published in the Boston Globe entitled “Grim Proving Ground for Obama’s Housing Policy.” The 27 JUN 2008 investigative report is required reading for all No Quarter users. The editorial board of No Quarter finds the evidence cited in Binyamin Appelbaum’s article very compelling, and we will attempt to unpack it in a series of short essays to be published this weekend. The first installment of this series was published on Friday.
SusanUnPC in a 12 MARCH 2008 essay reproduced a map of 11 Rezko tenements in Barack Obama’s former state Senate district. The map originally appeared in the Chicago Sun-Times.
She cites the testimony of two residents of Rezko’s slums, and she notes how many of Rezko’s properties in Obama’s former state Senate district were either foreclosed, condemned or both. Because so many of Rezko’s dilapidated public housing structures are located in Obama’s former state Senate district, the Chicago news corps asked the aspiring Presidential candidate if he was aware of the squalor plaguing Rezko’s slum empire. Here is Obama’s response:
Still, he said it was “possible” that during his tenure in the legislature that a constituent may have written or called his office “saying, ‘We’re in a building, and we’re unhappy with the service here.’”
Such problems, he said, would normally be brought to the attention of an alderman or the city’s Housing Department. “Had I known that there were buildings that were in deteriorating or poor condition, that certainly would have given me pause. But I didn’t” know, Obama said.
Obama, in other words, equivocated: ”it is possible” he was aware of the financial and legal woes of Rezko’s slum landlord enterprise. But how do we square this statement with the following excerpts culled from the Boston Globe’s investigative report on Obama’s political and financial ties to major donors who made concerted efforts to defraud the Chicago public housing system? I quote at length:
Barack Obama was among the many Chicago residents who shared Daley’s conviction that private companies would make better landlords than the Chicago Housing Authority….
He once told the Chicago Tribune that he had briefly considered becoming a developer of affordable housing. But after graduating from Harvard Law School in 1991, he turned down a job with Tony Rezko’s development company, Rezmar, choosing instead to work at the civil rights law firm Davis, Miner, Barnhill & Galland, then led by Allison Davis.
The firm represented a number of nonprofit companies that were partnering with private developers to build affordable housing with government subsidies….
Obama translated that belief into legislative action as a state senator. In 2001, Obama and a Republican colleague, William Peterson, sponsored a successful bill that increased state subsidies for private developers. The law let developers designated by the state raise up to $26 million a year by selling tax credits to Illinois residents. For each $1 in credits purchased, the buyer was allowed to decrease his taxable income by 50 cents.
Obama also cosponsored the original version of a bill creating an annual fund to subsidize rents for extremely low-income tenants, although it did not pass until 2005, after he had left the state Senate.
“He was very passionate about the issues,” said Julie Dworkin of the Chicago Coalition for the Homeless, who worked with Obama on affordable housing issues. “He was someone we could go to and count on him to be there.”
The developers gave Obama their financial support. Jarrett, Davis, and Rezko all served on Obama’s campaign finance committee when he won a seat in the US Senate in 2004.
Obama has continued to support increased subsidies as a presidential candidate, calling for the creation of an Affordable Housing Trust Fund, which could distribute an estimated $500 million a year to developers. The money would be siphoned from the profits of two mortgage companies created and supervised by the federal government,
Fannie Mae andFreddie Mac ….
Similar problems also plagued the next generation of affordable housing de velopment in Obama’s district, created as part of the Daley administration’s efforts to subsidize smaller apartment buildings scattered throughout neighborhoods.
One of the largest recipients of the subsidies was Rezmar Corp., founded in 1989 by Tony Rezko, who ran a company that sold snacks at city beaches, and Daniel Mahru, who ran a company that sold ice to Rezko. Neither man had development experience.
Over the next nine years, Rezmar used more than $87 million in government grants, loans, and tax credits to renovate about 1,000 apartments in 30 Chicago buildings. Companies run by the partners also managed many of the buildings, collecting government rent subsidies.
Rezmar collected millions in development fees but fell behind on mortgage payments almost immediately. On its first project, the city government agreed to reduce the company’s monthly payments from almost $3,000 to less than $500.
By the time Obama entered the state Senate in 1997, the buildings were beginning to deteriorate. In January 1997, the city sued Rezmar for failing to provide adequate heat in a South Side building in the middle of an unusually cold winter. It was one of more than two dozen housing-complaint suits filed by the city against Rezmar for violations at its properties.
People who lived in some of the Rezmar buildings say trash was not picked up and maintenance problems were ignored. Roofs leaked, windows whistled, insects moved in….
By the time Rezmar asked Chicago’s city government for a loan on its final subsidized development, in 1998, the city’s housing commissioner was describing the company in a memo as being in “bad shape.” The Daley administration still made the $3.1 million loan.
Shortly thereafter, Rezmar switched from subsidized housing to high-end development, fueled by the money it had made in subsidized work. Rezko’s companies also stopped managing the subsidized complexes.
“Affordable housing run by private companies just doesn’t work,” Mahru, who no longer works with Rezko, said in an interview with the Globe. “It’s difficult, if not impossible, for a private company to maintain affordable housing for low-income tenants.”
Responsibility for several buildings fell to the Chicago Equity Fund, which had purchased government tax credits from Rezmar to help finance the projects. After Rezko walked away, the fund was obliged to maintain the buildings as affordable housing. If it did not, it would have to repay the government for the tax credits.
The fund found the buildings in terrible condition. In a 2001 plea to the state to temporarily suspend payments on its mortgages, a fund executive wrote that heating problems, lapsed maintenance, and uncollected rent made the buildings almost impossible to manage.
Most of the buildings have since been foreclosed upon, forcing the tenants to find new housing.
All the while, Tony Rezko was forging a close friendship with Barack Obama. When Obama opened his campaign for state Senate in 1995, Rezko’s companies gave Obama $2,000 on the first day of fund-raising. Save for a $500 contribution from another lawyer, Obama didn’t raise another penny for six weeks. Rezko had essentially seeded the start of Obama’s political career.
As Obama ascended, Rezko became one of his largest fund-raisers. And in 2005, Rezko and his wife helped the Obamas purchase the house where they now live.
Eleven of Rezmar’s buildings were located in the district represented by Obama, containing 258 apartments. The building without heat in January 1997, the month Obama entered the state Senate, was in his district. So was Jones’s building with rats in the walls and Frizzell’s building that lacked insulation. And a redistricting after the 2000 Census added another 350 Rezmar apartments to the area represented by Obama.
But Obama has contended that he knew nothing about any problems in Rezmar’s buildings.
After Rezko’s assistance in Obama’s home purchase became a campaign issue, at a time when the developer was awaiting trial in an unrelated bribery case, Obama told the Chicago Sun-Times that the deterioration of Rezmar’s buildings never came to his attention. He said he would have distanced himself from Rezko if he had known.
Other local politicians say they knew of the problems.
“I started getting complaints from police officers about particular properties that turned out to be Rezko properties,” said Toni Preckwinkle, a Chicago alderman.
She had previously received campaign contributions from Rezmar and said she had regarded the company as a model, one of the city’s best affordable housing developers.
But in the early 2000s, she called Rezko to ask for an explanation for the declining conditions. He told her Rezmar was “getting out of the business,” she said – walking away from its responsibility for managing the developments.
“I didn’t see him nor have anything to do with him after that,” she said….
Allison Davis, Obama’s former law firm boss, dabbled in development for years while he worked primarily as a lawyer. He participated in the development of Grove Parc Plaza. And in 1996, Davis left his law firm to pursue a full-time career as an affordable housing developer, fueled by the subsidies from the Daley administration and aided, on occasion, by Obama himself.
Over roughly the past decade, Davis’s companies have received more than $100 million in subsidies to renovate and build more than 1,500 apartments in Chicago, according to a Chicago Sun-Times tally. In several cases, Davis partnered with Tony Rezko. In 1998 the two men created a limited partnership to build an apartment building for seniors on Chicago’s South Side. Obama wrote letters on state Senate stationery supporting city and state loans for the project.
Summary:
- Obama always had an interest in public housing. In fact, Rezko recruited Obama when Obama was a student at Harvard Law in order to serve in some capacity in Rezko’s slum landlord enterprise.
- Obama as a state legislator passed and authored bills to provide tax credits and other incentives for private companies to transform public housing into private-public partnerships that would yield profit to investors such as Rezko, Allison Davis and Valerie Jarrett.
- Mayor Richard Daley and Obama both participated in this effort.
- Obama passed and authored these laws as Rezko’s tenements in his district were deteriorating.
- Obama even wrote letters to City Commissioners in order to obtain more revenue for Rezko when residents of Rezko’s tenements were filing complaints, complaints Obama may or may not have received. As Obama states, “it is possible” his office received complaints from Rezko’s slum tenants. Obama wrote these letters for Rezko at a time when City Commissioners knew of the squalor plaguing Rezko’s slum landlord business.
- As Obama passed laws and wrote letters to City Commissioners in order to obtain revenue for slum managers such as Rezko, Obama accepted their contributions.
- One local politician, Alderwoman Tony Preckwinkle, whose Chicago ward overlaps sections of Obama’s former state Senate district, severed relations with Rezko after she realized Rezko was exploiting her constituents. This occurred in during the early 2000s.
Because Rezko refused to uphold his responsibilities to African-American constituents in Preckwinkle’s ward and Obama’s former state Senate district, Preckwinkle severed relations with the slum landlord and political fixer. Obama, on the other hand, continued to pursue a political, personal and financial relationship with Antoin “Tony” Rezko.
According to the Chicago Tribune, Obama’s relationship with Rezko become more involved at the time when Preckwinkle rebuffed Rezko. I quote:
- 2003: “JUNE — Rezko helps bankroll all of Obama’s subsequent campaigns except his presidential bid. Rezko is on Obama’s campaign committee in his failed run against U.S. Rep. Bobby Rush and gathers between $50,000 and $75,000 of the estimated $600,000 raised, Obama said. Rezko also is on the finance committee for Obama’s 2004 U.S. Senate run. Rezko uses his Wilmette home for an Obama fundraiser.”
- 2004 – “EARLY 2004 — At Rezko’s request, Obama drops in at a business meeting for Middle Eastern bankers. The New York Times has cited Rezko business partners who thought Rezko was seeking to impress the foreign guests, potential investors in his business ventures. Obama says he could recall only one instance when he and Rezko discussed recommendations for appointments to state jobs, boards or commissions.”
- 2005 – “Obama disclosed in the March interview that someone else already had an option to buy the garden lot. But he said Rezko took over that option after Rezko learned Obama was bidding for the house. Obama said he knew next to nothing about those transactions and does not recall when he learned that Rezko was interested in buying the side lot—or even how Rezko learned it was for sale. But they talked about the upcoming sales.”
- 2005 – “He told the Tribune that he does not recall when he learned that Rezko was interested in buying the side lot, or how Rezko learned of the sale. But Obama raised the possibility that he was the first to bring the lot to Rezko’s attention. The senator’s campaign provided a copy of a previously released e-mail from the sellers. In response to questions from the Obama campaign, the sellers agreed that they “did not offer or give the Obamas a ‘discount’ on the house price” because Rezko paid their asking price for the yard.”
- 2005 – “At some point before the sale closes, Obama tours the property with Rezko for 15 to 30 minutes, a fact the Obama campaign disclosed this February. The campaign said Obama wanted Rezko’s opinion of the property because Rezko was a real estate developer in the area. In previous accounts of the purchase, Obama did not divulge the tour. In 2006, he told the Tribune that he recalled talking to Rezko about the potential home purchase “either at an event or some conversation we had where they mentioned to me that they either knew the property or knew the developer or something like that. …I actually asked him what he thought of the house and he thought it was a good house. And I said, ‘I’m looking at putting in a bid on it.’ And from that point on I just worked through my real estate broker, purchased the property.”
- 2005 – “MARCH — In the months preceding Obama’s June 2005 purchase of his home, Rezko had already become a controversial figure in Chicago and Illinois politics. In March 2005, for example, city officials alleged that a minority contractor at O’Hare International Airport acted as a front for a Rezko firm. Then in May, Rezko reportedly was among several to receive Cook County grand jury subpoenas in a joint county-state investigation of jobs and campaign contributions in Blagojevich’s administration. Subsequent reports showed a federal grand jury asked the state teachers’ pension system for records involving Rezko and other political insiders. Obama said he was aware of the growing controversies.”
- 2005 – “JUNE 15 — A land trust controlled by the Obamas buys the house for $1.65 million, and the Obamas secure a $1.32 million mortgage from Northern Trust to complete the purchase. That day, Rezko’s wife, Rita, buys the side lot for $625,000. Rita Rezko, who made $37,000 a year as a member of the Cook County Employee Appeals Board, secures a $500,000 mortgage from Mutual Bank of Harvey to complete her purchase. Michael Sreenan, the corporate attorney for Rezko’s food and real estate companies, told the Tribune that he provided some of the $125,000 down payment. As to why the Obamas did not buy both the house and the lot, Obama said he could not afford both. The house, he said, was “already a stretch.”
- 2005: JULY — The Obamas decide to build a fence between their property and Rezko’s. Because the surrounding neighborhood is covered by a city landmark designation, special permits are required. Michelle Obama, who had served on the city Landmarks Commission from 1998 to March 2005, contacts commission staff about the fence just days after the home purchase. The Obamas’ attorneys and architect work for several months to secure the permits. The Obamas pay for the paperwork, but Rezko pays the roughly $14,300 cost of erecting the fence. The bill is sent to one of his construction firms. Obama told the Tribune in 2006 that he wanted the fence for security and to clearly demarcate the two parcels. He paid for the permit work, he said, because “I felt it was important to make sure that all the T’s were crossed and I’s were dotted in terms of compliance with landmarks. I thought it would be embarrassing if somehow whatever fence was erected didn’t comply.
- 2006 – “Obama seeks to put some space between his house and the proposed fence, so he asks Rezko to sell the Obamas a portion of his lot. Using a standard formula, Obama’s appraiser estimated the 1,500-square-foot portion to have a market value of $40,500. But Obama pays the Rezkos $104,500, or one-sixth of their original $625,000 purchase price, because he is acquiring one-sixth of their land. Obama later said the extra land was purchased to preserve aesthetic balance. He said the sale would not restrict Rezko’s ability to build on the lot.”
- 2005-2006: “Obama pays his landscaper to mow and maintain Rezko’s 7,500-square-foot lot as well as his own property. After the 2006 Tribune story, Obama says he sent a bill to the subsequent owner for the work, but doesn’t recall how much it was.”
- 2003-2004: “In Rezko’s trial, prosecutors allege that Rezko in two instances used straw donors to funnel $20,000 to the Obama campaign. Obama says he conducted an internal investigation to determine if there were other instances when Rezko used straw donors.”
Responding to her constituents’ complaints and to Rezko’s dereliction of duty to his buidlings’ residents, Alderwoman Preckwinkle terminated all contact with Rezko. Obama, on the other hand, remained aloof and oblivious: he appointed Rezko to his 2004 Senate campaign finance committee; he allowed Rezko to hold fund raisers on his behalf; he accepted straw contributions from Rezko’s bundling network; he had multiple conversations with Rezko about the purchase of a home; he toured the home with Rezko; he payed Rezko’s landscaper; he arranged for payments to be made by Rezko for a fence Michelle had to approve; and he attended business meetings Rezko coordinated. ”It is possible” he was aware of Rezko’s legal and financial woes, but he did not care, for Rezko promised to raise cash and to help him purchase a home.
Michelle Obama also engaged with Rezko after Alderwoman Preckwinkle severed ties with the slumlord who left her constituents in squalor. I quote Chicago Magazine:
Two days before last November’s elections, benefactors held a fashion show in the Rosemont convention center to raise money for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis. The invitation to the affair offered a veritable guidebook to political influence in Illinois, much of it centered on one St. Jude benefactor, Antoin “Tony” Rezko.
The chair of the event was Rezko’s wife, Rita, a member of the Cook County Employee Appeals Board, which hears cases brought by fired or disciplined workers. (She was appointed to the part-time post, which pays $37,000 a year, by John Stroger, the former president of the Cook County Board, whose 2002 campaign finance committee was headed by Tony Rezko.) The fashion show’s honorary cochair was Governor Rod Blagojevich’s wife, Patti, who owns a real-estate firm (and has been involved in real-estate deals with Tony Rezko dating back to 1997).
The event’s sponsoring committee included Governor Blagojevich’s former spokeswoman, Cheryle Jackson, who now heads the Chicago Urban League; Becky Ruff Chipparoni, whose husband, Guy Chipparoni, was the press secretary for then secretary of state Jim Edgar before setting up a public-relations firm in Chicago (Chipparoni has represented some of Rezko’s businesses); and Hollie Rumman, whose husband, Michael Rumman, served as one of Blagojevich’s cabinet members (and is an investor with Rezko in various deals, such as a proposed power plant in Iraq).
Michelle Obama, wife of the Democratic U.S. senator and presidential candidate Barack Obama, was a special guest that day (even though the news had just broken about Rezko’s participation in a funky real-estate transaction involving the Obamas’ Hyde Park home).
Tenants freeze, Obama’s raises campaign cash, the Obamas obtain a home, Rezko defrauds residents of low income housing and the upwardly mobile Michelle Obama enjoys a fashion show: Obama continued his relationship with Rezko even when it was widely known in Chicago that Rezko was neglecting the slum landlord business he built with government funds.
Alderwoman Preckwinkle acted, while Barack Obama, a man who desires to serve as President, remained aloof, oblivious and dangerous. I write dangerous, as the aloofness of Barack and Michelle Obama is partially responsible for the following:
“In the winter I can feel the cold air coming through the walls and the sockets,” said Anthony Frizzell, 57, who has lived for almost two decades in a Rezmar building on South Greenwood Avenue. “They didn’t insulate it or nothing.”
Sharee Jones, who lives in another former Rezko building one block away, said her apartment was rat-infested for years.
“You could hear them under the floor and in the walls, and they didn’t do nothing about it,” Jones said.
The dangerious obliviousness and aloofness of Barack and Michelle Obama is also partially responsible for this woman’s plight. I quote:
Mrs Larkins, 51, lives just seven city blocks away, in a district where posters advertise “dirt cheap properties” and “foreclosure advice”. She moved there almost a decade ago, taking a subsidised apartment with her 20-year-old daughter and one-year-old grandson in a building that had fallen into neglect when run by Mr Rezko.
The family boiled water on the stove and draped plastic sheeting across the windows in an effort to keep warm during the city’s bitter winters, as the heating was not working. Rubbish piled up uncollected and repeated requests for basic repairs were ignored.
“It was a terrible place to live: there were a lot of drug dealers and people fighting and getting shot,” Mrs Larkins, a widow who receives invalidity benefit, told The Sunday Telegraph.
“The owners never took any interest in the place; they just wanted the rent money. We had to call the city just to get the garbage collected.”
Michelle attends her fashion show; the Obamas obtain their mansion; Barack is elected to the US Senate; Barack is bankrolled; Barack and Michelle climb the political and social ladder: as wonderful as all this may be, it was accomplished on the backs of African-Americans who were forced to live in squalor as Barack and Michelle remained oblivious to their plight. Preckwinkle understood Rezko was a problem, but Barack and Michelle Obama chose to engage even more intimately with the convicted slum landlord and political fixer. Aloof, oblivious and dangerous, Barack and Michelle Obama do not belong in the White House. Some would say they do not belong in the Rezko house they could not afford.
(Release: November 13)
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That is why I will not vote for Obama and I do not think it is gonna matter if I vote for him or not because after FOX News is through with him , he will be toast. Rezko, Ayers, Wright, NOI, Black Liberation Theology, Levine, Sinclair, etc. .
Hillary or McCain 08!!!!!!
PUMA HYPE
THISIS WHY!!!!
IT IS WELL DESERVED!
WHAT IS THE POINT OF PUMA WHY THE BIG SHOWING?:
We are the voice of VOTERS, not of special interest groups, not of corporations, not of politicians.
http://hillaryloyalistnowformccain.com/pumahype.aspx
Will Bower of justsaynodeal appears in the French Media
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4R4kH3YSyRY
this scares the shit out of me that someone as dangerous as Obama along with his many co-horts, some who are hiding behind closed doors and no doubt very notorious, has infiltrated our government and election process in running our country!! We all need to do all we can to fight this.
Thank you for the maps showing exactly where these Rezko buildings are. My family is from the South Side. Some of these areas were beautiful family neighborhoods when I was a child. Very depressing.
While I don’t know exactly where Rev. Wright’s church is, I do know that some of the Rezko buildings are in St. Sabina’s parish. What was Father Phleger doing while people in his parish lived in squalor facilitated by his hero BO?
What was Father Phleger doing while people in his parish lived in squalor facilitated by his hero BO?
Rev Wright and Father Phleger were exploiting of the very same people BO was exploiting montarily and in the “religous” sense. It is because of the conditions this crowd created that the “message” was re-enforced.
Pleger was writing another sermon…blaming Whitey!
now this is a post worth respecting.
Google Shuts Down Anti-Obama Sites on its Blogger Platform
http://conservablogs.com/publiusforum/2008/06/29/google-shuts-down-anti-obama-sites-on-its-blogger-platform/
now this is a post worth respecting. now this is a post worth respecting. now this is a post worth respecting.
So Obama befriends slum lords, gives them tax money, leaves his constituents in rat-infested buildings with no heat in the winter, and is now running for President. As a former Democrat, I am ashamed that my former party is nominating this untrustworthy, inexperienced, dangerously irresponsible loser.
I will be looking for comments from the trolls to see how they will try to justify Obama’s role in all of this waste and corruption.
Bush and Cheney have their Halliburton and Blackwater. Obama, as President, I have no doubt, would have his little army of private developers raking in billions of dollars to duplicate Rezko and Davis’ accomplishments in South Chicago.
Obama please write a little speech to be televised nationally in prime time (you can use a teleprompter if you must; otherwise, not too many of us will be able to sit through the stammering and stuttering) and please explain yourself.
This looks very bad.
haha.
OT; slightly
Blackwater and Obama; There is more than mets the eye. Blackwater has a facility down state Illinois which opened after BO recieved calls from Alsammarae family members and this happened.
If you think for one second BO is going to remove BlackWaterUSA from anything think again.
60 Minutes ran this story.
“http://www.stumbleupon.com/url/www.crooksandliars.com/2008/04/15/60-minutes-corruption-in-iraq-killing-us-troops-with-us-dollars/”
Thanks un coup de des, this is a story the American will pay attention to. I have noticed none of this is on fight the smears. Great work.
it is my pleasure.
.
Here is the problem I have with what Toni and BO said. Toni and BO are so closely tied to Rezko that that if police are complaining to Toni, it is impossible for BO not to know.
FYI; Un coup de des; BO has a page up “Fact Check on Boston Globe Housing Story” you might wish to look at. Bizarre spin on that page.
Keep at it.
I took a quick look at the Fact Check. It immediately brought to mind the old adage, “If you can’t overwhelm them with brilliance, snow them with bullshit.”
I don’t think a jury, in which I include myself, would be very impressed with all the distracting detail. We want an overview, proof (like documents and records), objective character witnesses, and a good summation.
I just read that “fact” check page. Your word bizarre
says it all.
What is the web site to look at the fact check. I have not been able to bring myself to look at any of pro-nobama sites.
thanks
This is the link:
http://tinyurl.com/44cudt
It is Obama’s site
Thanks !
Obama must appoint propaganda minister. To bad Joseph Goebbels is not alive anymore. Just wonder how he can get away with so much BS as they post at his site.
McCain vs. Obama: The Hero or the Zero.
I was looking for the link where Toni is pulling favors fo BO and Toni was on his Finance Committe of BO for State Senator.
It was in the Suntimes 8 months back. Ah well.
Where are his Legislative records for that time? Calendars, schedules, appointments, expenses? I am sure they are a treasure chest full of damning BO facts.
How many more AA does he have to hurt before the AA community realizes he just doesn’t give a hoot if they are all freezing and without water. He never did care. His whole ‘career’ was a way to get on the Oprah Winfrey show to sell his books that are full of half truths..I especially love the descriptions of his younger years as a poor boy..ya..sure-like his grandparents couldn’t afford to send their daughter traveling and pay for young BO Punahoe school. Where are the receipts from the loans he says he needed to take out to go to college?
They must be with the missing records from 8 years of his life.
He has been telling lots of stories since he decided to use the AA half of his heritage. That is until he refused to help the Jenna 6 because he did not want to be viewed as AA-ask Jesse Jackson. Jesse Jackson asked him for help and was told to back off by Axelrod who wishes he could be a politician but found a career by putting forward AA frauds like Patrick DeVille..whoops I meant Deval and now BO. Everyone he chooses is sure to have records that have vanished…Ask Emil and John Jones-they are next in the Rezko controversy. Ask BO why John Jones was listed on his 2005 tax return and now that page is gone..
Where are the records?
He claims he didn’t keep them. And in his typical Obama smart-ass snarkiness, he cracked that he wasn’t expecting their to be a Barack Obama Senate Library. He is unbelievable. I am ashamed of the Chicago media for treating him like such a golden boy.
I’m really pissed about the Obama thugs getting people’s blogs delted so sorry about the cross and off topic comment, but I want to get this out.
I’ve posted some tips I’ve used on my blog to help me gain top positions on my Anti-Obama posts.
You can read my tips at http://www.mytowntalks.com/misc/blogging-tips-for-anti-obama-sites.php
good post, i wish the main stream media does this type of research.
MSM is corrupt and hijacked. What a shame.. we tell other countries need to reform and we are full of corruption.
This is a sad day for America, it will be even worse if this Obama gets elected.
I could not believe that more wasn’t made of that letter from Obama recommending Rezko’s outfit to build and oversee public housing.
I can’t believe the awkward grammar and typographical errors. Barky must’ve had this typed by one of his Nation of Islam hires.
Grove Parc Plaza
why would anyone vote for a man that has no leadership skills? My dog that is dead could get more done!
Hillary called him out about slum lords hear obamas stupid response again at slumin with obama page at http://www.hillaryloyalistnowformccain.com
What ever happened with the UN’s investigation into racial/rascist issues in the US?
The UN needs to stick to those countries that are accustomed to having dictatorships. We’re America and don’t need them coming here analysing us. WHen they do something about Pakistan setting women on fire, I might find their presence more of a comfort.
You can see now why Obama is so popular with the Dem Leadership. He fit’s right in. He’s corrupt as hell. He did his goldigging in housing most of them are sucking the MIC teat.
He’s incompetent. Couldn’t even be bothered to cover his tracks. Neither does DiFi or Pelosi.
It’s all about him the citizenry are just a bunch of rubes to be fucked with.
I take it back about him being ‘too Republican…’ he’s the model of a modern Dem Leader.
Which is why they all gotta go.
What we are witnessing is old time Chicago politics coming soon to a city near you! This is the Chicago patronage system that anoints loyal partisans to elected positions, irrespective of qualifications, and guarantees the votes will go their way.
When I lived in Chicago during the reign of Daley the First, the local media was questioning his motives for awarding a major city contract to a construction company owned by his son. Daley responded that if a father cannot help out his own son in business then who can he help. The local media instead of hammering Daley for a blatant conflict of interest started to shed tears of compassion for this fine family man.
If the GOP is going to get all of this “unhappy” stuff out about BO before the election, they are going to go non-stop 24/7, there is so much of it. The American public won’t be able to digest it all in time.
I always thought of the Democratic Party being the party of “the people”… I just never realized “the people” they were really for…
This is not the party I knew.
….they are going to have to go non-stop 24/7…
Thank You! The post is full of maps, facts and puts into dollars and cents how much Obama has already helped to defraud taxpayers.
May I assume that links to this post (and the prior related ones) have been sent to the inboxes of Sen. Edward Kennedy, Sen. John Kerry, Speaker Pelosi, and Chairman Dean?
So Obama never drove through his own district?
No wonder his records as a state senator are all missing. Gone. Non-existent. No paper trail at all. Unheard of. Unless of course your name is Barack Obama.
My question, too.
Upptiy Women; When I read heard BO say he did not know, I asked the same question. The only answer is BULLSHIT!
If he didn’t spend time in his district then he is derelict in his duty. If he did and ignored it he is a fraud
That is when I could not vote for him. A full year ago.
Either way you look at it he is immoral and unfit in all respects to be POTUS.
Obama said that wasn’t the slum he knew.
No records as a state senator??? No phone records -
Nothing????? Larry Sinclair!!!! I believe that MAN!!!
http://larrysinclair0926.wordpress.com/
Thanks for posting this article. It is damning isn’t it? I know I am not the only one with my mouth agape over the sheer treachery of this guy.
I cannot believe our party knows about and condones this corruption – in a man who would be President. I hang my head in shame, really.
I am sure the Kennedys did a thorough vetting of this Rezko relationship, and determined, in one way or another, that it would just go away. Very powerful friends in very high places.
I bet Obama is barely hanging on mentally because he knows he’s not qualified to be our nominee. He knows he’s corrupt and if there’s any decency left in him, he should step aside now. Especially with what I read recently about his “birth certificate”. A coverup like that takes a lot out of a person IMO.
Taken out of context, Barack Obama’s payment of $104,500 for a parcel of land appraised at $40,500 makes no sense. But considering this land deal involved his buddy Tony Rezko and his wife, such close friends of the senator and his wife, the Obama’s even visited the Rezko’s at their vacation home; suddenly, it makes sense.
It makes sense, because to make sure there was no perception of impropriety, Obama erred on the safe side and over-paid for the land. the $104,500 figure represented the percentage of land he bought relative to purchase price for full parcel. that was explained in the article above.
But, if you are saying this is a clear case of a politician buying off a developer, well, go for it. There’s a first time for everything I guess.
There are certainly things in the article that are questionable, but this ain’t one of them.
Why I can never figure out is if THAT piece of land was appraised at 40,000 and it was 1/6 of rezko’s property THAT means the whole property (rezko’s section) would be appraised at 240,000. I know you can charge any amount some foll is willing to pay, but since Rezko was broke (even with the 3.5 mill auchi just gave him right before this)and needed to get a mortgage HOW could they get a 650,000 (can remeber the exact cost) mortgage for property worth 240,000? I know when we bought our house, i was nervous waitng for the appraisal, because we could not get a mortgage for more than the property was worth (incase of default the bank doesn’t want to not be able to make up the money they put out)
Also SINCE this was shortly after they bought the house, with a mortgage, technically the bank owned the land, so why would the bank let them subdivide and sell 1/6th of it?
HOW could they get a 650,000 mortgage
Harvey Bank; Rita got the down payment from Rezko’s corrupt Iraqi buddy Ayham al-Samarie.
Un coup de Des;
This a very good summary of the overall events.
Regarding the purchase of his “mansion”
When was the Northern Trust numbered trust set up? BO has stated that the trust was setup on the advise of a “some people” who thought it was a good idea. I have never found when the trust was setup and who the “some people” where. I suspect it was Rezko because of the way he operated.
One more than one occasion, Michelle Obama used her position on a Public Board for personal gain.
Michelle needs a mention as she was the one who found the house in the first place. Michelle Obama, while on the Landmarks Commission, was made aware of this house first going on the market. Due to fact it was listed as Historic, paperwork was submitted to the Landmarks Commission in advance of being able to list the house for sale of which Michelle Obama was made aware of.
The doctors, the Wilford’s (sp?) worked at the same hospital as Michelle worked at and she would have reached out to them. The sellers wanted to list the property as one parcel and had no intention of subdividing the lot as all they wanted to do was unload the property.
As stated, the only way the Michelle Obama knew they could afford the property was to subdivide it. (Michelle wears the jeans in their house.) However there was an option on the undeveloped portion of the property, which is why the seller wanted to sell “as is” and let the buyer deal with the option. Obama said, the person who had the option of the lot was a former employee of Rezko’s. When looking to subdivide the lot this would have come up with in the process of a title search.
The sticking point came up when Michelle contacted the sellers via the hospital connection and was told basically “we don’t care what you want to do, just so we can close the whole thing on the same day. Michelle indicated they, the sellers would have to do the subdividing paper work or she would jam the sale. At this point the empty lot would have been still have been buildable.
In the mean time Michelle was in a position to jam the sale until she could get her ducks in a row. This was in third quarter of 04
Enter Tony Rezko (enter stage left).
Michelle was hell bent on getting THAT house. BO contacted Resko to see what could be worked out. Resko who was under the Federal microscope, could not afford his half of the deal and he contacted Auchi, who Obama had met 2004. The money was wired thru the Panamanian front and three weeks later the deal goes to escrow. After the close of the deal, Michelle did not want anyone building on the empty lot and this is why the fence was deal was done. While Rezko’s wife held the remaining property in trust, eventually the Obama’s figured they could purchase the rest of the lot. Having Rezko as a place holder meant a quid pro quo. Obamna denies this occured. This may be true, because of the wire transfer that assisted in the purchase of Obama’s house, Rezko got his bail revoked for his troubles. So with Rezko going to jail, Rezko transfers the property from his wife his lawyer and known associatte of Rezko. At some point it was part of the deal to sell the whole thing back to the Obamas.
“http://rezkowatch.blogspot.com/2008/03/obamas-rezko-house-another-fairy-tale.html”
“http://www.suntimes.com/news/politics/124171,CST-NWS-obama05.article#”
barack obama has no past on paper. isn’t THAT special? can’t quite remember where he put all that stuff. what an amazing liar he is. how does he do it with such a straight face. oh yeah…that;s right…he’s a Typical Politician. just ask his former pastor of 20 yrs.
no more new hopey pony changey type politics.
all gone.
smelly crapola going down, and the H.O.U.N.D. just can’t pick up the scent. too busy chasing it’s own tail.
oblah is in deep doo doo.
the dem elites have truly managed to throw themselves under the bus!
PUMA!
http://www.suntimes.com/news/metro/353786,CST-NWS-rezquestions23.article
Suntimes says:
The Sun-Times first sought to interview Sen. Barack Obama on March 14 about indicted businessman and longtime supporter Antoin “Tony” Rezko and a series of troubled low-income housing deals involving Rezko’s company, Rezmar Corp. Obama’s staff asked for written questions. It responded Sunday but left many questions unanswered and didn’t directly address some other questions.
I would love to know what questions he did not answer.
But here is an example of not directly addressing a question:
Q: Given all the problems Rezmar’s buildings caused for many South Side neighborhoods, including those the senator represented, does the senator still consider Mr. Rezko a friend? And can you explain. What would the senator say to his constituents who live near Rezmar buildings that are boarded up, subject to numerous vacancies, and in need of repairs?
A: The Senator is troubled by the allegations against Mr. Rezko and expects that the legal system will runs its course and resolve the charges brought. Nothing in the prior political or personal relationship with Mr. Rezko will affect the Senator’s independent judgment in this matter.
http://www.suntimes.com/news/politics/425305,CST-NWS-obama13.article
PS, I don’t think I can take any more!
Cottage View Terrace was supposed to be managed by Davis’ longtime business partner, William Moorehead. But Moorehead said last week that his company was dumped before the apartments opened in 2002. The apartments are now managed by Urban Property Advisors, a company owned by Davis’ son, Cullen Davis.
Moorehead is due to report to prison next month to begin serving a four-year sentence for stealing more than $1 million from the Robert Taylor Homes and other public housing projects he managed for the Chicago Housing Authority and the U.S. Housing and Urban Development Department, as well as from two developments he co-owned with Davis near Cabrini-Green on the North Side.
Chicago Housing Authority Chairman Marty Nesbitt; Obama’s closet friend. BO is the godfather of Marty’s kid.
BO Did not know my ass.
I also wanted to add two things to look into.
Where are Obama’s record?…MIA. He can’t seem to find any of them even though he harassed Senator Clinton for months over her documents and tax records.
I really think it is better to make a fuss about this than to fuss over a birth certificate.
Did not Rezko have ties all the way to Rove in the White House. I seem to remember reading that about the Chicago machine contacting Rove to get rid of Fitzgerald/Fitzpatrick?..(I always get that name confused)
Is this the example of “Bi-partisanship” Obama was referring to?
Fitzjerald has to be digging thru all of this housing scam between Rezko and Obama. Obama should be arested, the lot on his house had to be a favored owed.
And PUMAs are supposed to come around,
And support this Chicago corruption POS.
I think not.
VIVA, PUMAs!!!
Saturate the swing states of PA and OH with this information, and Obama could be in serious trouble.
The Obama’s mansion and how they got it — is the TIP of the ice-berg. It is the symbol of how crooked both the Obamas are.
Thank you for pulling all of this information together — and THIS is just the tip of the corruption ice-berg.
Nope — I KNOW I want nothing to do with this incarnation of the democrat party — especially now that we know that the Dem party headquarters is moving to Chicago.
PUMA
I think all of us who believe that Obama has scammed the American public as well as the shenanigans of the DNC by railroading Hillary, should collectively, all on the same day, flood FOX news, O’Reilly, Hannity, Van Susteren, etc, and as voters DEMAND an explanation of this, as well as all of the crap in Obama’s past and present. Even CNN and MSNBC. We have got to be heard!
Story from Tim Novak at Chicago SunTimes: Check the date.
April 24, 2007
BY TIM NOVAK Staff Reporter/tnovak@suntimes.com
U.S. Sen. Barack Obama said Monday he accepted campaign contributions from Antoin “Tony” Rezko without knowing that Rezko was a slumlord with problem buildings in the state Senate district Obama represented at the time.
“Should I have known these buildings were in a state of disrepair? My answer would be that it wasn’t brought to my attention,” Obama, who’s seeking the Democratic presidential nomination, said at a South Side campaign stop.
His comments came in response to a Chicago Sun-Times report that he had done previously undisclosed legal work between 1995 and 1998 on a series of troubled low-income-housing deals involving Rezmar Corp., owned by the indicted businessman.
Obama worked for a small Chicago law firm — Davis Miner Barnhill & Galland — between 1993 and 2004. The firm worked on deals that got $43 million in government funds for 15 apartment buildings Rezmar rehabilitated with not-for-profit community groups. Four of the buildings ended up being foreclosed on.
In all, Rezmar rehabbed 30 buildings. A third of those were in the Illinois Senate district Obama represented between 1997 and 2004. Many of the buildings fell into disrepair and financial straits while Obama was state senator, prompting the city to repeatedly sue over problems including no heat.
Obama, a friend of Rezko for 17 years, said he often got complaints as a state senator about housing problems. But, he said, “As far as I can tell, we were never contacted by Rezko tenants.”
Obama got more than $50,000 in campaign contributions from Rezko, Rezko’s family, his businesses and business associates between 1995 and 2004, records show.
“Mr. Rezko gave me campaign contributions,” Obama said. “While I was a state senator, he had buildings in my district that apparently were not managed properly. I had no knowledge of that at the time.”
Obama said he did just five hours of legal work on Rezmar projects. END OF THIS STORY.
Ob is not telling the TRUTH. Hope, Change, his key images are LIES also.
“Should I have known these buildings were in a state of disrepair? My answer would be that it wasn’t brought to my attention,” Obama, who’s seeking the Democratic presidential nomination, said at a South Side campaign stop.
Ok, I am going to watch some tv and calm down.
Obama, as they say where I live, is workin my last nerve.
Have a good night yall.
So Obama does legal work for Rezmar on slum housing in his district and he does not know the conditions. I got a bridge to sell you.
.
Barack Obama supporter and possible VP Gov. Kathleen Sebilius of KS has just claimed that the words ‘qualifications and liberal are “racial code words”‘…We are now entering the General Election with Barack Obama as the Democratic Presumptive Nominee, and the list of things you are no longer allowed to say is growing. It was established in January that the words “fairy tale” are racist, and in May, if you speak of the assassination of RFK, that is code for Obama somehow. From January through May any democrat was allowed to be branded as racist for anything at any given time. Fast forward to June, 2008 and there are some key words that are now deemed “racial code words” when spoken about in regards to Obama. Liberal. Scary. Experience. Unqualified. So take them out of your vocabulary, or else.*
Republican and POW are code words for crazy old geezer. Call the bastards on it. We won’t have racism OR ageism.
Sort of OT, but does anyone know if a prez candidate has to provide papers proving he is ELIGIBLE to become prez?
do a search of Obama’s financials and find the name of his consultant
on the Congressional race. they have been heard to say that the State Senate records are in the consultant offices. this is
a consultant who is not in the Axelrod group. dan is the man.
I would venture to guess that Barack, Michelle and Axelrod, et al, probably believe that these schemes are too sophisticated and complex to capture the attention of the average American voter, who gets his/her news from TV. Only history will tell whether they are correct.
As a financial professional who used to be a professional intel officer, I have to say, this is one of the slickest schemes that I have ever seen to use political office to convert tax dollars into campaign contributions. What a great conspiracy, involving a bipartisan partnership between Democrats and Republicans. Perhaps this is why Obama thinks that he can unite across the aisle. His Chicago experience has proven that bipartisan corruption can ameliorate many partisan rivalries. In that respect, he indeed represents change, a change to accomplishment via thorough corruption of both sides.
Retired do you think fitzgerald see it the way you do and has a bead on it?
So this is their great messiah..Screwing them royally. The great Democractis nonimee of change. Looks like the worst form of polluted corruption and the screwing of low income people and the American tax payer. The candidate of change and his hate-monger associates and corrupted crooks, mafia who disguise themselves as servants!
Rev Wright preaching his hate of America, while the hyprocrite drives out of the ghetto to his multi-million dollar mansion, in a white hood with his 10 million dollar line of credit. William Ayers, wishing he had bombed more governmental buildings. yet enjoying the benefits of America’s academic freedoms. Obama and his dirty little posse of haters,and crooks.
I guess a little too much of “smoking dat crack-pipe” can distort your cognitive reality and get you into a limo for high risk behavior and poor judgment. This is what we want in the W/H? A compromised, drug-addicted, controlled, blackmailed puppet! We already had 8 years of one, we sure in the hell don’t want anotherr!
For those of you not from Chicago, and new to Barky’s School of Political Corruption, search the term “Illinois Combine” and you will see just how they work across the aisle here. Our former Repub. governor is in the slammer. Our present Dem. governor could be next.
Compare Obama’s support of the poor with this example from Mexico on how to have the poor thrive. Obama’s tactics spread pestilence. The Mexican tactics spread vitality and thriving. Will an Obama presidency provide the same quality results as his past? Is Obama a dud?
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121478119445214333.html?mod=todays_columnists
NEWS & OPINION ROUNDUP (30 JUNE 2008) THE WESLEY CLARK SMOKED HONDURAN CRACK IN SAN FRANSICKO EDITION
Given San Fransicko’s penchant for harboring illegal immigrants, Honduran crack dealers, must be who Wesley Clark spent the weekend with, fiendishly pressing a crack pipe to his lips. This could be the only reason he would say such things a…
As someone who lived in Chicago for three years and who has driven all over the South side, I can attest that even if Obama had not received any complaints he should have known that buildings were falling apart. South Chicago looks like a war zone in a poverty stricken region. If so many buildings were supposed to be shaped up (with these grants to developers), it would have made a significant difference in the look of that part of the South side (Obama’s district). It would have been visually noticeable. Any refurbished building would be visually noticeable in an area as battered as South Chicago. They would stand out and improve the feel of the area. One does not need letters of complaint to realize that nothing was being done to improve any buildings in his district.
I have lived in Chicago all my life, and Obama would have to be deaf, dumb and blind not to notice the blight all over the South and West sides outside of his Hyde Park haven.
Here is a Nov, 2007 story from the Chicago Sun-Times that alludes to the longstanding Obama-Davis connections.
Obama helped ex-boss get $1 mil. from charity
Senator’s spokesman: ‘Not a conflict to do what’s right’
November 29, 2007Recommend
BY TIM NOVAK Staff Reporter/tnovak@suntimes.com
Seven years ago, Sen. Barack Obama was on the board of a Chicago charity when his former boss, Allison S. Davis, came looking for money.
At the time, Davis was a developer represented by the law firm where Obama worked, as well as a small contributor to Obama’s political campaign funds. He wanted the charity to help fund his plans to build housing for low-income Chicagoans.
» Click to enlarge image When Allison Davis (right) sought money for a project, his former employee, Sen. Barack Obama, voted to help.
(AP/Sun-Times file)
» Click to enlarge image Rogers Park Montessori School at 1800 Balmoral in Chicago.
(Tom Cruze/Sun-Times)
RELATED STORIESMore local news headlines
Obama agreed. He voted with other directors of the Woods Fund of Chicago to invest $1 million with Neighborhood Rejuvenation Partners L.P., a $17 million partnership that Davis still operates.
It’s not clear whether Obama told other board members of his ties to Davis, whose family would go on to donate more than $25,000 to Obama’s political campaigns, including his bid to be president of the United States.
“Let me get back to you on that,” Obama presidential campaign spokesman Bill Burton said when asked about that two weeks ago. He never did.
But Burton defended Obama’s voting to invest the charity’s money with Davis rather than abstaining to avoid the appearance of a possible conflict of interest.
“It was a worthwhile project,” Burton said. “It’s not a conflict of interest to do what’s right for your community.”
The Woods Fund — whose board is chaired by Laura Washington, an opinion-page columnist for the Chicago Sun-Times — has no records to show whether the board knew about Obama’s ties to Davis, said Woods Fund president Deborah Harrington.
Under its agreement with Davis, Harrington said, the fund cannot disclose how Davis has spent the money.
Davis declined to comment.
City records show Davis used some of the money to build a 72-unit apartment building for senior citizens at 87th and Ashland. The $10 million project — built with a $5.7 million loan from the city — netted Davis nearly $700,000 in development fees, city records show. His son Cullen Davis is paid to manage the building, which opened three years ago with a ceremony featuring Mayor Daley.
Davis, who’s now business partners with Daley’s nephew Robert Vanecko, has known Obama for years. Obama began serving on the Woods Fund board in 1993, the same year he was hired as an associate lawyer with Davis’ small Chicago law firm, Davis Miner Barnhill. Obama kept working there until he was elected to the U.S. Senate in 2004.
No longer on board
Davis quit the firm in 1996 to become a developer. But he continued to use his former law firm to represent him.
As a developer, Davis’ partners have included Tony Rezko, the now-indicted political fund-raiser who has been among Obama’s biggest political supporters.
A few months after Davis left the law firm, Obama won his first political office — a seat in the Illinois Senate. His campaign contributors included Rezko and Davis.
Two years later, Obama wrote to city and state officials, urging them to give money to New Kenwood LLC, a company that Davis and Rezko formed to build an apartment building for low-income seniors at 48th and Cottage Grove.
Davis and Rezko were building that project in 2000 when Davis approached the Woods Fund, seeking its investment in future projects. Besides Obama, Davis also had ties to another of the not-for-profit organization’s seven board members — Howard Stanback, a former city aviation commissioner who worked for Davis at New Kenwood.
Stanback was the board chairman of the Woods Fund, a $68 million foundation “whose goal is to increase opportunities for less advantaged people and communities” by giving money primarily to not-for-profit groups involved in housing, the arts and other areas, according to its Web site.
While Obama voted to make the $1 million investment with Davis, Stanback abstained, Harrington said.
Stanback and Obama are no longer on the Woods Fund’s board. Obama left in 2002. Stanback left last year.
Press Contact:
Cynthia Ashley (773) 355-8222
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – July 2, 2008
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 Chicago’s 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 America’s 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 HUD’s 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 won’t go without a fight!”
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
http://www.stopchicago.org
http://www.saveourhomes.org
http://www.economichumanrights.org
http://www.righttothecity.org
construction bidding
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