HUD Secretary says that he denied contract to political opponents

**classicist** · 05-10-2006, 01:26 PM

Housing Secretary Denies Rejecting Contract of Opponent

By DAVID STOUT
Published: May 10, 2006

WASHINGTON, May 10 � The administration's housing secretary sought to head off a furor today over his recent account of scuttling a government contract because the person who was about to get it was critical of President Bush.

Published reports quote Alphonso Jackson, the secretary of Housing and Urban Development, as telling a real estate forum in Dallas on April 28 about how he withdrew an advertising contract that was about to go to a deserving minority publisher.

Mr. Jackson and his aides have tried to portray his remarks as anecdotal, meant to illustrate how Washington works rather than a recounting of an actual incident. But a senator and two House members, all Democrats, have demanded a fuller accounting.

An account of Mr. Jackson's speech in the May 5-11 issue of the Dallas Business Journal has him describing someone who had been trying for a decade to land a contract with HUD.

"He made a heck of a proposal and was on the G.S.A. list, so we selected him," the secretary said, alluding to the Government Services Administration.

Mr. Jackson then recalled how the publisher came to see him in Washington to thank him and how the man then volunteered, "I don't like President Bush."

"He didn't get the contract," Mr. Jackson told the real estate forum, according to the Dallas publication. "Why should I reward someone who doesn't like the president, so they can use funds to try to campaign against the president? Logic says they don't get the contract. That's the way I believe."

But in a statement this afternoon, Mr. Jackson said, "I deeply regret the anecdotal remarks," and he said that during his tenure "no contract has ever been rewarded, rejected or rescinded due to the personal or political beliefs of the recipient." He said his agency is committed to awarding contracts "on a stringent merit-based process."A spokeswoman for Mr. Jackson told the business journal on Tuesday that his story was just meant to illustrate how some people in Washington "will unfairly characterize the president and then turn around the ask you for money." The spokeswoman, Dustee Tucker, said the secretary "did not actually meet with someone and turn down a contract."

She added that Mr. Jackson was not involved in awarding contracts, a process that is overseen by a senior procurement officer, and that "politics does not play a part in who we advertise with or who we award contracts to."

Ms. Tucker offered a somewhat different account of the Dallas incident last Wednesday, telling the business journal then that Mr. Jackson had been referring to "an advertising contract with a minority publication," although she said she could not give its value.

Senator Frank R. Lautenberg of New Jersey and Representatives Henry A. Waxman of California and Barney Frank of Massachusetts expressed outrage, with Mr. Lautenberg saying President Bush should demand the secretary's resignation if the reports of his Dallas speech are accurate.

"Whether the secretary's story was factual or fictional, it tells a sad tale," Mr. Lautenberg said today. "He sent the message that federal government contracts are based on the vendor's political attitude rather than merit. Apparently, Secretary Jackson's yardstick is whether an applicant supports the president."

That standard is "illegal, immoral and unacceptable, and requires repudiation," the senator said. Today, Mr. Lautenberg called Mr. Jackson's expression of regret "encouraging." Nevertheless, he urged the HUD inspector general, Kenneth M. Donohue, to investigate the agency's contracts.

Representatives Waxman and Frank told Mr. Jackson in a letter on Tuesday that the accounts of his speech, if accurate, are dismaying. "Your statements imply that you view government contracts as 'rewards' to be doled out to political supporters," the lawmakers wrote. They asked him to produce all paperwork related to contracts he has been involved in since he became HUD secretary two and a half years ago.

Mr. Waxman is the ranking Democrat on the House Government Reform Committee and Mr. Frank the ranking Democrat on the Financial Services Committee.

Mr. Jackson, a personal and political friend of the president from Texas, served as HUD's deputy secretary until he replaced Mel Martinez, who resigned in December 2003 to run for the Senate. Mr. Jackson was president of the Dallas Housing Authority from 1989 to 1996.

Just, wow. The idea that you'd go to a business meeting and tell people about how you're not going to give contracts to people who oppose the president... wow.

**sonnylarue** · 05-10-2006, 01:33 PM

The hits just keep on comming...

**classicist** · 05-10-2006, 01:39 PM

I love that his defense is "Look, I tell businessmen that I deny contracts to minority business that oppose the president, but I don't actually get around to doing it."

**xyzzy** · 05-10-2006, 01:44 PM

It's nice how he doesn't even see that, even as he says he intended the statement, it's still wrong.

**RickM** · 05-10-2006, 01:44 PM

Reason number 498 why I would like to thank all the dumbasses who voted to keep the corrupt stooge in office for four additional years.

**Ray G.** · 05-10-2006, 01:46 PM

I didn't even know we had a Secretary of Housing and Urban Development.

Seriously, I follow political news like crazy, and I didn't even know this guy existed.

**classicist** · 05-10-2006, 01:47 PM

Originally Posted by Ray Goldfield

I didn't even know we had a Secretary of Housing and Urban Development.

Seriously, I follow political news like crazy, and I didn't even know this guy existed.

yeah, they tend to do more in Democratic administrations...

**Ray G.** · 05-10-2006, 01:49 PM

Originally Posted by classicist

yeah, they tend to do more in Democratic administrations...

Eh, better he puts a corrupt fucktard here than in somewhere like State or Education.

**sonnylarue** · 05-10-2006, 01:49 PM

Originally Posted by Ray Goldfield

I didn't even know we had a Secretary of Housing and Urban Development.
Seriously, I follow political news like crazy, and I didn't even know this guy existed.

aren't you a school teacher?

I hope your subject is math.

Former HUD secrataries included former VP candidate jack Kemp, Henry Cisneros, mel martinez,

**xyzzy** · 05-10-2006, 01:49 PM

Originally Posted by Ray Goldfield

I didn't even know we had a Secretary of Housing and Urban Development.

Seriously, I follow political news like crazy, and I didn't even know this guy existed.

Seriously? It's not like there are that many cabinet level positions. I mean, I didn't know this guy specifically, but everybody should know of his position.