Philadelphia Housing Director Punished By The Republican Leaders?

  I've spent the last few days in court so I have gotten behind on the latest issues of the day. Time to play catchup, a little.

  WaPo

After Philadelphia's housing director refused a demand by President Bush's housing secretary to transfer a piece of city property to a business friend, two top political appointees at the department exchanged e-mails discussing the pain they could cause the Philadelphia director.

"Would you like me to make his life less happy? If so, how?" Orlando J. Cabrera, then-assistant secretary at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, wrote about Philadelphia housing director Carl R. Greene.

"Take away all of his Federal dollars?" responded Kim Kendrick, an assistant secretary who oversaw accessible housing. She typed symbols for a smiley-face, ":-D," at the end of her January 2007 note.

Cabrera wrote back a few minutes later: "Let me look into that possibility."

HUD has argued publicly that this decision was not related to the demands by HUD Secretary Alphonso Jackson that Greene turn over a $2 million vacant city lot to Kenny Gamble, a friend of Jackson's. HUD officials have said that Greene was not punished for his defiance.

But Greene and the Philadelphia authority have accused HUD and Jackson in a lawsuit of fabricating problems in the authority's performance as a way to retaliate against Greene.

The e-mails suggest that HUD leadership sought to punish Greene by threatening the authority's funding. What is not explicitly said in the e-mails is why.

  This would be President Bush and his cronies attempting to screw over not just another individual who won't tow the party line, but the people who are living in the housing.  Just to see how fast Bush's boys went on the attack, there is this:

On the date these e-mails were sent, HUD notified the housing authority that it had been found in violation of rules requiring that 5 percent of housing be accessible to disabled residents. The department later argued that because the authority refused to acknowledge it was in violation and to agree to a specific remedy, it was in violation of a broader agreement that put $50 million in federal funding in jeopardy.

  The Republican criminals waste no time trying to discredit anyone who does not bow down to them when it comes to the President and his boys making a little extra cash. Cash is king with this group of hoods, and everyone else and anything else means nothing to them.

  Copies of the emails were sent to Senators Arlen Specter (R) and Robert Casey Jr. (D) of Pennsylvania, and they were both urged to have Jackson and his cohorts explain their reasoning.

Casey said that he has "serious questions" about the e-mails and that "80,00 low-income Philadelphians deserve answers."

"This is the kind of stuff you read about in novels, not what you expect from government officials," Greene said in an interview. "It would appear they would carry out a vendetta against me even if it means damage to an entire city."   Read More

  Can we begin impeachment actions against all of the Bush Crime Syndicate members yet?

Technorati Tags: HUD, Philadelphia, Kim Kendrick, Alphonso Jackson, Arlen Spector, George Bush