Thread: Obama administration using housing department to compel diversity in neighborhoods

Obama administration using housing department to compel diversity in neighborhoods

By Doug McKelway
Published August 08, 2013
FoxNews.com

]In a move some claim is tantamount to social engineering, the Department of Housing and Urban Development is imposing a new rule that would allow the feds to track diversity in America’s neighborhoods and then push policies to change those it deems discriminatory.

The policy is called, "Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing." It will require HUD to gather data on segregation and discrimination in every single neighborhood and try to remedy it.

HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan unveiled the federal rule at the NAACP convention in July.

"Unfortunately, in too many of our hardest hit communities, no matter how hard a child or her parents work, the life chances of that child, even her lifespan, is determined by the zip code she grows up in. This is simply wrong,” he said.

Data from this discrimination database would be used with zoning laws, housing finance policy, infrastructure planning and transportation to alleviate alleged discrimination and segregation.

Specifics of the proposed rule are lacking. Now published in the Federal Register and undergoing a 60-day comment period, the rule, "does not prescribe or enforce specific” policies.

But one critic says it smacks of utopian idealism.

"This is just the latest of a series of attempts by HUD to social engineer the American people," said Ed Pinto, of the American Enterprise Institute. "It started with public housing and urban renewal, which failed spectacularly back in the 50's and 60's. They tried it again in the 90's when they wanted to transform house finance, do away with down payments, and the result was millions of foreclosures and financial collapse.”

Some fear the rule will open the floodgates to lawsuits by HUD -- a weapon the department has already used in places like Westchester County, N.Y., where mayors and attorneys representing several towns, like Cortlandt, are writing HUD to protest burdensome fair housing mandates that go far beyond those agreed to in a 2009 settlement with HUD.

One letter written by Cortlandt town attorney Thomas Wood expresses a common dilemma.

"Cordlandt is mostly residential and has only a few vacant parcels that could be developed for commercial use," he writes. "In order to stabilize the tax base amongst the most affordable in Westchester County, the Town Board needs to encourage the development of commercial property for commercial use."

Rob Astorino, the Westchester County Executive recently said, "What they are trying to do is to say discrimination and zoning is the same thing. They are not. Discrimination won't be tolerated. I won't tolerate it. Zoning though, protects what can and can't be built in a neighborhood."

Also troublesome to critics is that the HUD secretary, in announcing this proposed rule, blamed poverty on zip codes – rather than other socio-economic factors that studies have shown contribute to poverty.



Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013...#ixzz2bNjIYGmY

New American Nightmare Coming to a Neighborhood Near You!

August 11, 2013 at 5:00 am / by Lisa Marie Allen
About Lisa Marie AllenCalifornia PolitiChick Lisa Marie Allen is a Registered Nurse, a computer graphics specialist, a wife, mother and a dog rescuer. Lisa has lived all across the U.S.A.




The Obama administration is now using HUD to “diversify” neighborhoods. This means more of your taxes will be going to make sure your neighborhood is diverse enough for you to live in. The policy, called Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing, also means HUD will need to gather data on segregation and discrimination in every single neighborhood in order to “remedy” it.

My problem with this: how is HUD really going to keep track of every single neighborhood in all 50 States? When the government comes up with these social engineering experiments to ‘spread the wealth’ and ‘level the playing field’ they never factor into their equation that more money and more social programs does not mean more common sense, and more class, or basic daily living skills. They hand folks the keys but don’t ever factor in the ability to care for themselves and succeed in their new homes.

Recently my husband and I went on a Real Estate appraisal in a neighborhood of what should have been $300,000.00 homes. From the outside, the 10-year old foreclosed house we looked at appeared decent enough. However upon entering, it was obvious they had not only destroyed the inside but had also allowed their dogs to have free reign, with excrement all over the place. The appliances were gone (including the water heater) and the back yard was trashed as well. Whoever lived there had no respect for themselves or their property.

They had the American Dream and they killed it—and now the neighborhood has a new hovel.

Some of the folks who received ACORN loans were able to get better rates and terms courtesy of the government. Those of us with social security numbers were not able to get these special 1% loans—and because this was a “special program”, you were not even required to be a citizen. Then, because the neighborhood is ‘diversified’ and socially engineered, the government sits back and feels it has done its job.

Unfortunately, many of the people who were suddenly able to become homeowners began tearing down neighborhoods, one home at a time, from the inside out. The Government would rather blame zip codes and lack of diversity rather than lazy slobs who happen to be the people forced into becoming your new neighbor.

If they want to really help HUD people, they might want to look into having “cleaning and maintaining” classes for the new diverse neighbors. And let’s throw in some “manners and class” lessons while we’re at it…

One interesting question to ask is how will HUD determine whether or not your neighborhood is “diverse enough”? Will they insist on a certain percentage of Gay, Black, Hispanic, Asian and Caucasian people in order to meet the diverse standards set by HUD? Forcing neighborhoods to diversify will also eradicate ethnic enclaves like Chinatown. Does the government suddenly have a problem with Chinatown being Chinese? And what about American Indian reservations? They are not diverse at all–are they going to be forced into following HUD’s new policies?

According to Ed Pinto of the American Enterprise Institute, “It started with public housing and urban renewal, which failed spectacularly back in the 50′s and 60′s. They tried it again in the 90′s when they wanted to transform house finance, do away with down payments, and the result was millions of foreclosures and financial collapse.”
In other words, this has been done many times for many years and the end results are always the same: FAILURE.
http://politichicks.tv/column/new-am...hood-near-you/

Originally Posted by Newmexican

According to Ed Pinto of the American Enterprise Institute, “It started with public housing and urban renewal, which failed spectacularly back in the 50′s and 60′s. They tried it again in the 90′s when they wanted to transform house finance, do away with down payments, and the result was millions of foreclosures and financial collapse.” In other words, this has been done many times for many years and the end results are always the same: FAILURE.

I do believe that 'Bama & Co. have raised cynicism to a new level. But the only thing which can derail this new variant of a quota system is to vote those folks out of office.

They really are drunk with power. 'Bama wants a quota system for housing, but he completely ignores the only policy which can sustain equal housing long term: jobs for the Americans who now have neither money nor work experience. In Decemper, 2009, the Congressional Black Caucus wrote a letter to 'Bama which called for redirecting surplus T.A.R.P funds into creating what might be called Neighborhood-based jobs.- installing weather stripping, for example. IMO this was brilliant idea. It would have been relatively inexpensive to implement and would have enabled the poorest Americans to build a realistic resume while developing work discipline. So far as I know, 'Bama has never even acknowledged having received that letter. But he wants to impose a quota scheme for prospective neighbors. His cynacism and hostility toward ordinary Americans are a source of continual astonishment.
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