Obama Admin on verge of giant sell-out to Conservatives

Obama Administration on the Verge of Giant Sell-Out to Conservatives -- How to Stop Them

by George Lakoff / Alternet

The Obama Administration’s move to the right is about to give conservatives a victory they could not have anticipated, even under Bush. HUD, under Obama, submitted legislation called PETRA to Congress that would result in the privatization of all public housing in America.

The new owners would charge ten percent above market rates to impoverished tenants, money that would be mostly paid by the US government (you and me, the taxpayers). To maintain the property, the new owners would take out a mortgage for building repair and maintenance (like a home equity loan), with no cap on interest rates.

With rents set above market rates, the mortgage risk would be attractive to banks. Either they make a huge profit on the mortgages paid for by the government. Or if the government lowers what it will pay for rents, the property goes into foreclosure. The banks get it and can sell it off to developers.

---snip---

And a precedent is set. The government can privatize any public property: Schools, libraries, national parks, federal buildings — just as has begun to happen in California, where the right-wing governor has started to auction off state property and has even suggested selling off the Supreme Court building.

The rich will get richer, the poor and public get poorer. And the very idea of the public good withers.

---snip---

Link: http://www.alternet.org/news/146961/obama_administration_on_the_verge_of_giant_sell-out_to_conservatives_--_how_to_stop_them/

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More Change We Can Believe In. :eyes:

It makes me angry and sad.

It also makes my support less enthusiastic.

Was he always this far to the right, and we voters were deluded into thinking he would work in America's best interests?

No one is calling for the privatization of public housing. NO ONE. Why is he pushing this.

I am embarrassed to acknowledge that I did not look further for the complete facts.

The only argument is about what will be the result of the move. The fact is, public housing will now be financed by private means. So, the banks now get a piece of the pie through interest rates charged on mortgages and paid by the feds (that would be us). In many ways, this is similar to Bush's move to finance student loans through private banks instead of through the Fed cash (which Obama recently reversed in one move that I applauded) What will be the outcome of this change, however? Obama's admin seeks to calm the fears, but . . . well, we saw what happened with the student loans. Why would anyone think this would go any differently?

There has been since at least the 80s. This is nothing new. It's no different than getting food stamps for food. Except once someone has been certified for a section 8 voucher, they can move into another qualified housing unit without going on another waiting list or otherwise being re-certified.

If you want to live in an inner city housing project, go for it. Most people would choose a house or townhouse apartment in a neighborhood setting.

threads already where they've all started out that Obama's selling off public housing with no factual basis. It's gotten old. Way too many so ready to see a headline and bemoan with no clue what the background of it is or why these changes are needed to improve some really bad situations. Ah well, DU is what it is somedays.

the spins make me dizzy...

give pols and their aides jobs as lobbyists, CEO's, and board members.

A well run public program can't beat that--they don't have the extra money to bribe politicians.

bingo.

in karate, when opponent pushes, you pull; when he pulls, you push! see? Who loses battle is guy who always ending up on floor, smelling so awful even his kids despise him. The world is cursed by a rightwing xxx agenda that has been winning every battle since WW2, when they blamed 'iron curtain' and 'cold war' on brutally devastated USSR- which desperately needed the 'marshal plan' money, but ....and the Soviet (Workers) Union was then murdered in broad daylight. Hell, even the Russians gave up on the idea of revolution by time reagan called USSR the 'evil empire' and ...hahaha! Mygod. The only way to beat the rightwing xxx is to LET THEM WIN! They lose by winning, win by losing. They need to lose. Just like in '08, the rightwing needed Obama to win so bushinc could get away, over horizon. Maybe they caused the blowout in Gulf- they were certainly gonna do SOMETHING! So lettem have it all. Fukkit.
> the news media is mr pig's main asset...

before they post this BS.

Endless flying off the handle at some half-truth or misinterpretation.

proclaiming ignorant misinformation. And you know something? I am just as ignorant for reading and responding to it.

As far as I can tell, there are few if any Democratic constituencies or interest groups that they won't sell out for some perceived expediency.

is not a Rightwing inventions. Folks everywhere do it.

The issue of low income housing is of special interest to me, because my husband was born and raised in a public housing project in West Oakland, a place where his mother only moved out of a few years before she passed away at age 96. Back in the 80s, around the time that Reagan became President, these housing complexes became very dangerous, and I wouldn't wish anyone being raised in the evironment that it promoted. Section 8, in where the government pays large subsidies to private landlords directly, IMO, is very much more preferable to publicly owned housing complex, and provides much needed options for those who otherwise wouldn't have any choices in where they live. Any innovation in allowing low income housing to be integrated into various neighbhoods is preferable to housing them as a whole in complexes. Believe you me!

As for those who don't bother to gain much information prior to striking out against this administration and making one line comments affirming their worse fears and suspicions on this and other issues, I have a theory-
I think during the very intense 2000 and 2008 elections and all in between,
folks read so much until they got exhausted of doing it,
especially because most of it was always bad news, and the worse fears were usually realized....
and so as a result, some altogether stopped reading....
due to their eyes glazing over; from information overload!

So now, many just go for the headlines and see how other posters they know respond and follow that line.

I know this, because I also read less than I used to on the Internet....also due to overload....
but what I still do is read what I can before I comment on a proposed policy.

I also note who the author is, their area of expertise, and what exactly is being said...
whether it is a speculative article (IF, then), a declarative Op-Ed, or a straight up
investigative piece.

Then I google to see what other articles come up in reference to the topic, what the existing policy is and the history of it, and any counterpoints that will help provide me with additional context.

Perhaps that is why I don't comment on everything posted.....cause in order to be intelligent in my comments, I have to do the homework. Of course, that's because I don't want to make a statement that will end up being wrong and reactionary. Too much of that in our politics as it is, and some of these things are important and impact lives, and if we don't bother doing the homework, who will?

another tragic thing about the spill is that many other horrible things might fly under the radar...K&R

On edit, the only thing left to privatize is the air...