If you have a contract with the government and you say you don’t like George Bush you can kiss off — and kiss your contract goodbye.
That’s the thinly veiled message U.S. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Alphonso Jackson apparently tried to send during an April 28 talk in Dallas.
In the past it was always assumed talking out of political school could create some problems. But seldom has it been as bluntly spelled out: if you say you don’t like G-W-B your contract will be G-O-N-E. The Dallas Business Journal:
Jackson, a former president and CEO of the Dallas Housing Authority, was among the featured speakers at a forum sponsored by the Real Estate Executive Council, a national minority real estate consortium.
After discussing the huge strides the agency has made in doing business with minority-owned companies, Jackson closed with a cautionary tale, relaying a conversation he had with a prospective advertising contractor.
“He had made every effort to get a contract with HUD for 10 years,” Jackson said of the prospective contractor. “He made a heck of a proposal and was on the (General Services Administration) list, so we selected him. He came to see me and thank me for selecting him. Then he said something … he said, ‘I have a problem with your president.’
“I said, ‘What do you mean?’ He said, ‘I don’t like President Bush.’ I thought to myself, ‘Brother, you have a disconnect — the president is elected, I was selected. You wouldn’t be getting the contract unless I was sitting here. If you have a problem with the president, don’t tell the secretary.’
“He didn’t get the contract,” Jackson continued. “Why should I reward someone who doesn’t like the president, so they can use funds to try to campaign against the president? Logic says they don’t get the contract. That’s the way I believe.”
Wait a minute: what’s the big deal about this, anyway?
Wasn’t this also the kind of message the GOP has reportedly been giving lobbyists in Washington as well?
At least the government is consistent. But Jackson isn’t receiving hosannas for what seems to be a barely veiled threat:
Cal Jillson, a political science professor at Southern Methodist University, said canceling a government contract due to political views “is not a door you want to open.”
“Whether or not it’s legal, it certainly draws your judgment and the judgment of your office into question,” Jillson said. “It’s just not the tone you want to set.”
What was accomplished by it? For one thing, it gave a lot of ammunition to Democrats. The Raw Story:
Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) called on President Bush to ask for the immediate resignation of the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Alphonso Jackson if a report about government contracts being awarded based on the contractor’s opinion of President Bush are accurate, RAW STORY has learned.
In addition, Reps. Henry Waxman (D-CA) and Barney Frank (D-MA) have also called for a full investigation.
And, indeed, it does remove any semblance of subtlety from the whole process.
UPDATE: More Spin Than A Maytage Department. Despite the quotes you read above, Jackson’s spokesman now says it was merely “anecdotal,” merely happenstance, never serious…of course. Oh. (Could calls for an investigation and widespread publicity have anything to do with this new explanation). Read details HERE including the contradiction.
UPDATE II: Read Ed Morrissey’s post IN FULL here. A small part 4 U:
This is, bluntly, appalling. If Jackson wants to work on the GOP election campaign as a contracts administrator, then he has every right to deny contracts to those who do not support the GOP. However, as Secretary of HUD, Jackson has ceased representing George Bush and the Republicans and now should work on behalf of all Americans. The government serves all of us, regardless of political orientation, and it had better do so fairly and in an even-handed manner.
Joe Gandelman is a former fulltime journalist who freelanced in India, Spain, Bangladesh and Cypress writing for publications such as the Christian Science Monitor and Newsweek. He also did radio reports from Madrid for NPR’s All Things Considered. He has worked on two U.S. newspapers and quit the news biz in 1990 to go into entertainment. He also has written for The Week and several online publications, did a column for Cagle Cartoons Syndicate and has appeared on CNN.