Grim Proving Ground For Obama's Housing Policy (The Boston Globe Rips Barack Obama

Boston Globe ^ | 6/27/2008 | Binyamin Appelbaum

[Laissez-faire capitalist]

The candidate endorsed subsidies for private entrepreneurs to build low-income units. But, while he garnered support from developers, many projects in his former district have fallen into disrepair.

The squat brick buildings of Grove Parc Plaza, in a dense neighborhood that Barack Obama represented for eight years as a state senator, hold 504 apartments subsidized by the federal government for people who can't afford to live anywhere else.

But it's not safe to live here.

... Grove Parc has bvecome a private symbol for some in Chicago of the broader failures of giving public subsidies to private companies to build and manage affordable housing - an approach strongly backed by Obama as the best replacement for public housing.

... But a Globe review found that thousands of apartments across Chicago had been built with local, state, and federal subsidies - including several hundred in Obama's former district - deteriorated so completely that they were no longer habitable.

[EagleUSA]

Ever look at pictures of the “low-income” (no-income) housing of the Soviet Russia???

[Laissez-faire capitalist]

Obama: “Yes, that was my housing policy, but it's not the housing policy that I knew.”

Obama: “Yes, that was the district I represented, but it's not the district I knew.”

/sarc.

Will Obama take any responsibility at all for this?

[EagleUSA]

Will Obama take any responsibility at all for this?
:::::::
You must be kidding...this nut-case radical socialist is so fanatic, he does not even comprehend the CONSEQUENCES of his own proposals and actions.

[airborne]

Will Obama take any responsibility at all for this?

LOL! Who's gonna make him?

The media? John McCain? The GOP?

I seriously doubt it.

[vpintheak]

Don’t worry, all we have to do is “Hope” for “Change we can believe in” and everything will be alright.

[Laissez-faire capitalist]

It was a rhetorical question...

We all know that Obama won't take any responsibility for this or say that his proposals were and are sadly flawed and must be abandoned.

[fortunecookie]

The Boston Globe rips Obama? It’s the 7th sign. Wow, I expected nothin but love for Obama from Boston, but he’s even too left for them??

[Laissez-faire capitalist]

Yes, just click your heels together and say “There’s no place like hope, there’s no place like hope, there’s no place like hope,” and all will be changed for the better.

Just try it, you’ll see.

[fortunecookie]

Obama: “Yes, that was my housing policy, but it's not the housing policy that I knew.”

Obama: “Yes, that was the district I represented, but it's not the district I knew.”

Huh? What do those statements even mean? Take responsibility? I won't hold my breath. I'd love to hear an explanation, but I won't wait for that either. It's like the Dems all go to the 'Depends on the meaning of is' School of Public Speaking.

[vpintheak]

I just tried, I really did, and I still thinkObama is a comunist turd. Maybe I did it wrong? Here, let me try again.... nope still a turd. I guess I don’t have the gift.

[Laissez-faire capitalist]

What do those statements even mean?

Barack Obama: “That’s not the Rev. Wright I knew.” ... “That’s not the Tony Rezko I knew.”

[F-117A]

Bump for later reading!

[Former Proud Canadian]

If you didn't read the article, it basically says that Obama sponsored legislation that gave millions of dollars to developers (Resko and other friends of Obama). They proceeded to build public housing that fell to ruin fairly quickly.

Obama thinks this is excellent public policy.

[freeangel]

Ho Hum-—more of do as I say, not as I do.

[Laissez-faire capitalist]

Notice that the column says: “Grove Parc and several other prominent failures were deveolped and managed by Obama’s close friends and political supporters.”

[fortunecookie]

Barack Obama: “That’s not the Rev. Wright I knew.” ... “That’s not the Tony Rezko I knew.”

It's gobblety-goop. It's Seussian. But I forgot, he's a man of vision, inspiring us to reach beyond ourselves, inspiring ideals. It's not his words, someone told me, it's how inspiring he is. I hope we don't have to eat those words.

[Laissez-faire capitalist]

Yes, the column says that “Grove Parc and several other prominent failures were developed and managed by Obama’s close friends and political supporters.”

[fortunecookie]

Notice that the column says: “Grove Parc and several other prominent failures were deveolped and managed by Obama’s close friends and political supporters.”

Of course, like Teflon. It's not him, it's those around him. He just gives the guidance, the inpsiration, if they can't follow through, well, it's not his fault...

[keepitreal]

Among those tied to Obama politically, personally, or professionally are:

Valerie Jarrett, a senior adviser to Obama's presidential campaign and a member of his finance committee. Jarrett is the chief executive of Habitat Co., which managed Grove Parc Plaza from 2001 until this winter and co-managed an even larger subsidized complex in Chicago that was seized by the federal government in 2006, after city inspectors found widespread problems.

Allison Davis, a major fund-raiser for Obama's US Senate campaign and a former lead partner at Obama's former law firm. Davis, a developer, was involved in the creation of Grove Parc and has used government subsidies to rehabilitate more than 1,500 units in Chicago, including a North Side building cited by city inspectors last year after chronic plumbing failures resulted in raw sewage spilling into several apartments.
Antoin "Tony" Rezko, perhaps the most important fund-raiser for Obama's early political campaigns and a friend who helped the Obamas buy a home in 2005. Rezko's company used subsidies to rehabilitate more than 1,000 apartments, mostly in and around Obama's district, then refused to manage the units, leaving the buildings to decay to the point where many no longer were habitable.

Campaign finance records show that six prominent developers - including Jarrett, Davis, and Rezko - collectively contributed more than $175,000 to Obama's campaigns over the last decade and raised hundreds of thousands more from other donors. Rezko alone raised at least $200,000, by Obama's own accounting.

One of those contributors, Cecil Butler, controlled Lawndale Restoration, the largest subsidized complex in Chicago, which was seized by the government in 2006 after city inspectors found more than 1,800 code violations.

Butler and Davis did not respond to messages. Rezko is in prison; his lawyer did not respond to inquiries.

Friends helping friends. One hand washes the other.