Free Republic

The lone African American member of President Donald Trump's Cabinet said Monday he would “work” the president on the issue of athletes taking a knee during the national anthem, though Trump has shown no signs of softening, tweeting over the weekend that he would not watch soccer or football if players don't stand for the national anthem. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson said he believes that players are kneeling to protest police brutality, not because they disrespect the flag. He added that players need to make that clear.

Subprime Scandal: We've long suspected the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission wasn't honest in examining events before the meltdown. But an ex-commissioner says the probe was actually a full-blown political cover-up. In a just-released book, former FCIC member Peter Wallison says that a Democratic Congress worked with the commission's Democratic chairman to whitewash the government's central role in the mortgage debacle. The conspiracy helped protect some of the Democrats' biggest stars from scrutiny and accountability while helping justify the biggest government takeover of the financial sector since the New Deal. Wallison's sobering, trenchantly written "Hidden in Plain Sight: What Really Caused...

Some of the Democratic candidates for president support studying reparations to blacks to compensate for slavery. But in many ways, America has made reparations to blacks. What are race-based preferences if not a form of compensation for historical wrongs? Many cities have "set-aside" programs that award government contracts to minority contractors. President Lyndon Johnson pushed his Great Society programs to "end poverty and racial injustice." But few think of the federal government's housing policy, particularly the Community Reinvestment Act, or the CRA, as a form of reparations. But that is exactly what it was and still is. In many ways,...

HUD ISSUES IMPROVED FAIR HOUSING RULE WASHINGTON - The U.S. Housing and Urban Development (HUD) today published its proposed Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing (AFFH) rule, which offers clearer guidance to states and local governments to help them improve affordable housing choices in their community. Read HUD's proposed rule. "HUD's commitment to Fair Housing remains as steadfast as ever before, and this improved rule reaffirms our mission of giving people more affordable housing options in communities across the country," said Secretary Carson. "By fixing the old Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing rule, localities now have the flexibility to devise housing plans that...

The Trump administration took steps Tuesday to roll back an Obama-era rule intended to ensure that communities confront and address racial segregation in housing, saying local governments have been overburdened by the requirements. The proposed Department of Housing and Urban Development rule would redefine fair housing standards to place more emphasis on improving housing choice rather than reducing discrimination. It would reduce regulatory burdens and eliminate the assessment tool used to map racial segregation under the 2015 Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing rule. According to HUD, simplifying the process for cities to meet fair housing requirements would help them meet their...

Virginia House Del. Ibraheem Samirah introduced a bill that would override local zoning officials to permit multi-family housing in every neighborhood, changing the character of quiet suburbs.Oregon passed a similar bill, following moves by cities such as Minneapolis; Austin, Texas; and Seattle.Proponents say urban lifestyles are better for the environment and that suburbs are bastions of racial segregation. Democrats in Virginia may override local zoning to bring high-density housing, including public housing, to every neighborhood statewide — whether residents want it or not.The measure could quickly transform the suburban lifestyle enjoyed by millions, permitting duplexes to be built on...

How on earth is Maxine Waters able to judge the intelligence of Dr. Ben Carson, a world-renowned surgeon who invented new surgical procedures while a professor at Johns Hopkins Medical School, at the very top of prestige and accomplishment in academic medicine? Yet the arrogant House member from Los Angeles, who somehow, on the basis of a political career, manages to live in a multimillion-dollar house in one of the fanciest neighborhoods in Los Angeles, denigrates the intelligence of one of the greatest medical innovators in the country and world. You can watch for yourself as Waters criticizes the intelligence...

Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson on Monday accused Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., of lacking “basic manners” over a letter she sent to President Trump last month saying his “shamelessness knows no bounds," according to a report. Waters’ Oct. 28 letter demanded answers about the administration’s potential plan to push homeless Californians off the street and out of homeless camps, Politico reported. “Shamelessness," Carson wrote, "is a career politician of 30 years laying blame. Shamelessness is allowing more than 55,000 Americans to live on the very streets they represent,” he said about her district in South Los Angeles County....

Over the weekend, we looked at allegations that HUD had broken the law by not kicking off disaster relief fund disbursement for Puerto Rico in a timely fashion following Hurricane Maria. HUD officials offered some reasons why they didn’t meet the deadline, but none of them seemed to be particularly persuasive under the circumstances.At the time I noted that the press (and their friends, the Democrats) would likely take this opportunity to go after HUD Secretary Ben Carson, who has long been a target to tag some sort of scandal on. As the old saying goes… that didn’t take long....

When tens of thousands of African-Americans held the keys to their first homes in the early 1970s as part of a new federal program that encouraged black homeownership, they thought they were about to fulfill the American dream. Instead they got an American nightmare. The story begins with the urban uprisings of the late 1960s, which were reactions to decades of poverty, racism and a lack of opportunity. According to the Kerner Commission, a major cause was government-sponsored housing segregation that had confined African-Americans to rental housing in urban neighborhoods while subsidizing white flight to the suburbs. Black people, too,...

Written response to CA for their request of Federal monies to shelter homeless.

Now we have some Democrats calling for Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Ben Carson to resign. I know what you’re probably thinking. Anyone who’s been following American politics at all for the last three years knows that Democrats calling for someone in the Trump administration to resign basically means it’s another day ending in a Y. But this dust-up has at least a bit of a twist to it.During a HUD staff meeting in San Francisco, Carson was addressing the staff and dropped a comment regarding transgender individuals. He included the phrase “big hairy men” entering women’s shelters...

Kansas City officials, using a new housing inspection law, have moved residents out of a troubled Northland apartment building where they found roaches, severe plumbing problems and other dangerous health violations, the Health Department announced in a news conference Wednesday. In the building, city officials and elected leaders said they saw caved-in ceilings, mold and damp carpets. During their visit Friday, they walked through human excrement in an apartment where sewage had backed up into the toilet, sinks and bathtub. “Disgusting is the best way I can tell you what I saw,” Councilman Dan Fowler, who represents the area, said...

The television images of homeless adults, tent cities, discarded drug paraphernalia, and filthy conditions in America’s urban landscapes are shocking. The homeless people in these scenes didn’t grow up saying, “I can’t wait to become an addict and live on the street.” Clearly, several things went wrong over the course of their lives. For many living on the streets, the path to homelessness started early, with childhood trauma and adverse experiences. For example, in Santa Clara County, just south of San Francisco, 78 percent of homeless adults grew up in a household with a person with drug or alcohol dependence;...

Housing and Urban Development official Lynne Patton implied Hillary Clinton was involved in Jeffrey Epstein's death by suicide. Patton reacted to the news of Epstein’s death on Instagram, posting a screenshot of an article about Epstein’s suicide with the caption, "Hillary’d!!" "P.S. Let me know when I’m supposed to feel badly about this … #VinceFosterPartTwo," Patton added. Patton’s hashtag refers to Vince Foster, who served as deputy White House counsel under former President Bill Clinton. Foster died by suicide in 1993. The Instagram reaction to Epstein’s suicide from Lynne Patton, Trump-appointed regional director. See caption - pic.twitter.com/4Dtx6LaX4W — Maggie Haberman...

<p>Dr. Ben Carson was thrown out of Sandtown yesterday, ostensibly for failing to get permission from the Morning Star Baptist Church of Christ to hold a press conference on a vacant lot owned by the church. The truth, not revealed elsewhere, is that none of the money announced by the Director will be used for the part of Baltimore that has been featured in reporting and discussions by President Trump.</p>

President Donald Trump and Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-MD) were the focal points of a social media duel, where the president trashed the Maryland Democrat for presiding over a city that’s totally in a state of disrepair. Cummings’ district encompasses a portion of the city, which Trump described as rat-infested, crime-ridden, and not hospitable. Of course, whatever Trump says has to be attacked—even when it’s true. The racism allegation was lobbed again. It fell flat with those with cognitive function…again. Normal people don’t care—and those who are curious will find out that the city is a mess. The residents agreed with Trump’s...

Maryland Democratic Rep. Elijah Cummings declined an offer to tour a Baltimore Housing and Urban Development (HUD) facility with HUD secretary Ben Carson on Wednesday. HUD invited Cummings to tour the facility with Carson on Tuesday, however Cummings rejected the invitation, the Daily Caller has learned. When asked about Cummings’ absence at a press conference, Carson said that he did not know why Cummings did not attend the tour but guessed there may have been a scheduling issue. The Daily Caller reported exclusively on Tuesday that Carson would visit Baltimore in the wake of President Donald Trump’s tweets calling the...

Housing shortages are plunging New York City and Los Angeles into crisis. Affordable rents are scarce. Families are doubling up. Shelters are jam-packed. And over 100,000 people are sleeping sprawled on the streets of these two cities. The waitlist for public housing is over four years long in LA and staggering 10 years in New York. These lists would be even longer if public officials hadn't closed them to any new applicants. Nationwide, an estimated 32,000 public households are being taken up by illegal immigrants. It's a powerful reason why the Trump administration is giving illegals 18 months to get...

Ben Carson has fired back at Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Mich., after the controversial freshman congresswoman criticized him after a hearing Tuesday. Omar knocked the Housing and Urban Development (HUD) secretary over his conduct during an appearance before the House Financial Services Committee. "Not sure he was fully awake, maybe he meant to reclaim his time back to sleep," she quipped. She was playing off of Carson's request for time during a testy exchange with Rep. Ayanna Pressley, D-Mass.