Another federal slap in the face to New Orleans

It never fails to shock and anger me to see what the government has done and continues to do to the city of New Orleans. I was there. The people need help. And the federal government, under the "leadership" of Drunky McStagger, creates obstacles at every turn.

The latest outrage is yet another chapter in the government's effort to prevent African-American residents (read: Democratic voters) from returning to their homes.

On the 12th day before Christmas, the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is planning to unleash teams of bulldozers to demolish thousands of low-income apartments in New Orleans. Despite Katrina causing the worst affordable housing crisis since the Civil War, HUD is spending $762 million in taxpayer funds to tear down over 4,600 public housing subsidized apartments and replace them with 744 similarly subsidized units - an 82 percent reduction. HUD is in charge and one HUD employee makes all the local housing authority decisions. HUD took over the local housing authority years ago - all decisions are made in Washington, DC. HUD plans to build an additional 1,000 market rate and tax credit units - which will still result in a net loss of 2,700 apartments to New Orleans - the remaining new apartments will cost an average of over $400,000 each!

Affordable housing is at a critical point along the Gulf Coast. Over 50,000 families still living in tiny FEMA trailers are being systematically forced out. Over 90,000 homeowners in Louisiana are still waiting to receive federal recovery funds from the Road Home. In New Orleans, hundreds of the estimated 12,000 homeless have taken up residence in small tents across the street from City Hall and under the I-10.

In Mississippi, poor and working people are being displaced along the coast to allow casinos to expand and develop shipping and other commercial activities. Two dozen ministers criticized the exclusion of renters and low-income homeowners from post-Katrina assistance: "Sadly we must now bear witness to the reality that our Recovery Effort has failed to include a place at the table ... for our poor and vulnerable."

The bulldozers have not torn down any buildings yet and New Orleans public housing residents vow to resist. "If you try to bulldoze our homes, we're going to fight," promised resident Sharon Jasper. "There's going to be a war in New Orleans."

But surely the rationale for tearing down these homes must be legitimate, right? Even the maladjusted Bushies wouldn't destroy people's homes for political reasons, would they?

Why even bother asking?

A federal court has refused to stop the scheduled demolitions. Residents offered evidence to show the three-story garden-style buildings were structurally sound, and pointed out the local housing authority itself documented it would cost much less to repair and retain the apartments than demolish and reconstruct a small fraction of them. The New York Times architecture critic described them as "low scale, narrow footprint and high quality construction." HUD promised to subject plans for demolition to 100 days of scrutiny - yet approved demolition with no public input in less than two days. The court acknowledged some questions about the fairness of the process but concluded that if the demolitions turn out to be illegal, residents can always recover money damages later.

The US House of Representatives passed a bill that requires one-for-one replacement of any public housing demolished, but Sen. David Vitter (R-Louisiana) has stopped the Senate version cold.

The Institute for Southern Studies reports the Gulf Coast Housing Recovery Act, S. 1668, sponsored by Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-Louisiana), had the support of the entire state's delegation and - until September, when HUD and Vitter suddenly withdrew their backing. There's been much speculation over Vitter's sudden about-face on the measure, especially since he's been reluctant to disclose his objections in much detail.

The Congressional Quarterly Weekly offers partisan politics as one explanation for his actions: "... [P]olitical experts say the senatorial flap is not unexpected, given Louisiana's rough-and-tumble politics and Vitter and Landrieu's chilly relationship. Landrieu is up for re-election next year and has emerged as the GOP's top target among incumbent senators, in part because of the state's rightward shift in recent elections."

"The fact that Mary Landrieu is widely identified as the most vulnerable Democrat coming into the next election cycle, you certainly don't want to give her big victories in helping the state," said Kirby Goidel, a professor of political science at Louisiana State University. "He probably feels safe enough to hold it up as long as it's not too obviously political and he has some policy-related cover. He's a pretty hardball political player."

Republican interests are clearly not served by the return of all African-Americans to New Orleans. Louisiana was described before Katrina as a "pink state" - one that went Democratic some times and Republican others. The tipping point for Louisiana Democrats was the deeply Democratic African-American city of New Orleans. Immediately after the hurricanes struck, one political analyst said, "the Democratic margin of victory in Louisiana is sleeping in the Astrodome in Houston." Tiny turnout by African-American voters in New Orleans in recent elections has led white Republican interests to calculate immediate new political gains. Demolition of thousands of low-income African-American occupied apartments only helps that political and racial dynamic.

Unbelievably, the primary motivation appears to be the chance of limiting the Democratic vote in Louisiana. And for the courts to refuse injunctive relief when a home is going to be destroyed? "You can recover money damages later if it turns out to be illegal?" I can't believe this is America. It's not my America, not anymore.

It's unconscionable, yet every day the Bush crime syndicate does something unconscionable, something so heinous that it's become part of the normal course of business. It's become a part of life, you know, wake up, brush your teeth, Bush crime syndicate commits a crime against humanity. And it sucks.

The purported policy rationale for destroying public housing, which is taking place around the country, not just in New Orleans, is that the Republican-led Department of Housing and Urban Development wants to reduce public housing in favor of increased privatization. The real reason is far more sinister, though, and the fact that Diaper Dave Vitter is out in front of this one compounds the evil.

I hope Sharon Jasper is right. I hope New Orleanians fight this tooth and nail, in the courts and, if necessary, in the streets. And I'll gladly stand up with them and face off against the bulldozers.

Crist looks out for the little guy

I'm seriously beginning to think this Crist fella up in Tallahassee might be okay.

Like homeowners, Floridians who rent already carry a hefty housing burden, shouldering high property taxes and insurance costs passed down from landlords.

Citing those concerns, Gov. Charlie Crist vetoed a bill late Thursday that would have allowed landlords to charge up to two months rent for tenants who have to break their leases early.

[...]

"While I understand that this would provide another option to landlords who manage property, I believe the impact on those Floridians least able to afford such fees would be too great," Crist said in a statement.

Although I have owned three houses in the past (when I was married), I'm now a renter again, and I honestly don't know whether I could afford to buy in this market with just my own income (although I'm working on it). Moreover, I really like my townhouse and I wouldn't mind staying there long-term.

Even though I have no intentions of breaking my lease, and I could afford the penalty if I did break it, I think Gov. Crist's concern for those renters who need more mobility and who can't afford the penalties is admirable. A Republican with a heart -- who'd have thunk it?

Housing discrimination rampant in New Orleans

I'm saddened, but not surprised.

Blacks already feeling the pinch from a housing shortage in the New Orleans area after Hurricane Katrina are facing racial discrimination in their search for rental property, a survey by housing advocates found.

The survey sent black and white "testers" — paired by matching incomes, careers, family types and rental histories — to inquire about openings at 40 rental properties in metropolitan New Orleans.

The findings, released Tuesday by the Greater New Orleans Fair Housing Action Center, found blacks encountered "less favorable treatment" than their white counterparts in 57.5 percent of those tests.

It's bad enough that New Orleanians, especially in African-American communities, have been abandoned by the Bush crime syndicate. But to face this kind of abuse of the system from their own neighbors is salt in the wounds.

I know racism is a fact in many cities, particularly in the South. But I suppose it was just wishful thinking to believe that the unifying aspects of Katrina, the shared misery, might overcome something as heinously entrenched as racism.