Mitt Targets HUD in Hot Mic Moment

Apr 17, 2012 by TAYLOR MARSH, Guest Voice Columnist

WASHINGTON – Oh, how perfect. April is Fair Housing Month.

“I’m going to take a lot of departments in Washington, and agencies, and combine them. Some eliminate, but I’m probably not going to lay out just exactly which ones are going to go,” Romney said. “Things like Housing and Urban Development, which my dad was head of, that might not be around later. But I’m not going to actually go through these one by one. What I can tell you is, we’ve got far too many bureaucrats. I will send a lot of what happens in Washington back to the states.” – Wall Street Journal

Obviously, team Romney couldn’t care less.

They don’t care that every year HUD gets 10,000 complaints about housing discrimination.

Soldiers without a roof over their heads, it’s not our problem it’s theirs.

Team Romney doesn’t take enforcing anti-discrimination in high poverty neighborhoods seriously.

As for housing discrimination against LGBT individuals and families, it’s a reality Mitt Romney evidently ignores.

For a man who once considered an elevator for his cars, affordable housing doesn’t mean much. Unlike his dad, who worked his way up, Mitt Romney simply can’t relate to the concept of The Fair Housing Act, passed in 1968.

Unlike Bill Clinton, as well as Republican administrations going back to 1965, increasing home ownership of minorities is not his priority.

Unlike Barack Obama, community development doesn’t seem to grab the Mittster either.

Presidents of both political parties have supported HUD and the work the agency does going back decades into the 20th century. Supporting HUD has been a bipartisan event, because it’s about helping people who need it.

The campaign was quick to say these weren’t specific details, because he’s running for President for Pete’s sake!

“Gov. Romney is discussing some of the ideas he has to tackle the big issues facing America. Gov. Romney has also laid out a bold set of policy proposals that will grow our economy, cut spending and get our massive debt under control,” spokesperson Amanda Henneberg said, emphasizing that the proposals were just discussions. – Los Angeles Times

What would closing HUD mean? Maybe a better way to understand this is to focus on the over 24 million people who became homeowners because of HUD and the Federal Housing Administration.

Here are a few links on what HUD does for people, with much of the focus on those who are the most vulnerable in our society. You know, part of the 99% that are rarely counted and many of whom don’t vote, with those above poverty certainly not the wheel house of team Romney.

Avoiding Foreclosure
Buying a Home
Economic Development
Energy
Environment
Fair Lending
 Grants
Home Improvements
Homelessness
Homes for Sale
Housing Discrimination
Housing Research and Data Sets
HUD Homes
Information for Disabled Persons
Information for Senior Citizens
Limited Denials of Participation
Veteran Information

Taylor Marsh is the author of The Hillary Effect, which is available on Amazon and Barnes and Noble, where it was 1 of only 4 books in their NOOK Featured Authors Selection launch. Marsh is a veteran political analyst and commentator. She has written for The Hill, U.S. News & World Report, among others, and has been profiled in the Washington Post, The New Republic, and seen on C-SPAN’s Washington Journal, CNN, MSNBC, Al Jazeera English and Al Jazeera Arabic, as well as on radio across the dial and on satellite, including the BBC. Marsh lives in the Washington, D.C. area. This column is cross posted from her new media blog.

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