Here we go again. This month President Obama, through the Department of Housing and Urban Development, will enact the “Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing Act”, a mandate that will force communities and developers to mix section 8 welfare housing into more affluent neighborhoods.
“HUD is working with communities across the country to fulfill the promise of equal opportunity for all,” a HUD spokeswoman said. “The proposed policy seeks to break down barriers to access to opportunity in communities supported by HUD funds.” — the Hill 6/11/15
“The Fair Housing Act has two goals: to end housing discrimination and to promote diverse, inclusive communities. The second goal is referred to as Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing (AFFH), and it embodies our strongly-held American values of fair access and equal opportunity.” — National Fair Housing Alliance
There are so many things wrong with these statements that I don’t even know where to start.
“Equal opportunity for all” is a noble goal – and it’s what made our country great. All Americans should have the opportunity to work hard, earn, save, and succeed, and I believe that for the most part we still do. But equal opportunity is not what this ruling is about. Remember Joe the Plumber? President Obama told him we need to “spread the wealth around.”
People who live in nice, expensive homes did not get there by accident. They weren’t just lucky. And it’s not “white privilege”, because there are plenty of minorities barbecuing in those big back yards and inviting their white neighbors over.
No, this is just one more blatant overreach by a President who believes in equal outcomes, but not equal effort. He thinks in the interest of “fairness” it is not enough to take money from earners by force and give it to non-earners – now he wants to make them live together.
Yes, there is discrimination in housing. People who study, work hard, make good decisions and save their money are able to buy nice homes and raise their families in clean, safe neighborhoods with nice streets and good schools. Slackers and fools are neither entitled nor welcome there.
Economic discrimination has been in place since the dawn of civilization. It’s normal. It works. It encourages people to be smart and industrious. Is it fair? Yes! Allowing people to earn property, keep it, and use it as they wish is the epitome of fairness!
Fortunately most people are blessed with a sense of charity, and will voluntarily help care for those who are unable to support themselves due to physical or mental disability or disaster. And taxpayers know that public services for all are necessary. But there is nothing charitable or voluntary about the government forcing one to open his home, his neighborhood, or for that matter his nation’s borders to another only to “spread the wealth around.”
Senator Mike Lee (R-UT) has proposed an amendment that would defund Obama’s executive action, but on different grounds. He says implementation of the HUD rule is taking planning and zoning authority out of the hands of local officials, and he’s right. But his amendment won’t pass (has Congress defunded anything lately?) The federal government has had great success in recent years at pushing “social enlightenment” out to the communities through the promise of grants for “free money” that will be withheld if the local authorities don’t follow their mandates.
How sad is it that city “A” takes grants that are paid for by the citizens of city “B”, and vice versa, and both cities think the money is free?
Citizens will have to get involved in local government, educate local leaders to the dangers of taking grants with strings attached, and elect congressmen and executives who honor the fourth amendment. We need to get the federal government back in its box and out of our back yards!
Hey, you, get off of my cloud!
Hey, you, get off of my cloud!
Hey, you, get off of my cloud!
Don’t hang around ’cause two’s a crowd
On my cloud, baby!
The Rolling Stones – Get Off of My Cloud
Hard to believe this music is fifty years old. It still rocks!
The Sunday news show pundits all shook their heads about the difficult choice voters face in the upcoming election. They said most voters don’t really like either of the two presidential nominees. How on earth will voters decide?
Every day, day after day, the anti-Trump insider Republicans wail and moan, louder and longer. It’s beginning to sound like a teenage summer chainsaw movie. Or a difficult childbirth.
I’m a rock guitar player. I grew up riffing to “
At breakfast this morning my daughter was relating a conversation she had with a neighbor-friend who is a third-grade teacher at a predominantly Hispanic public elementary school. They were discussing the problems caused by the extensive federally-required testing of third graders – the loss of instruction time, the stress for students and teachers, the declining scores. Then the teacher made a startling observation.
The US Constitution lists many of the rights we citizens enjoy: the right to assemble, to speak freely, to bear arms. The most important right of all is overlooked by most Americans. You never see it mentioned on a protest sign, or by a political candidate. It doesn’t have its own enumerated amendment in the Bill of Rights. It is the right of individuals to own property and use it for their benefit.
Our country was built on business. Free market, survival-of-the-fittest, improve-or-die business. The United States of America has always been the land of opportunity – a place where success is not only possible, but fully expected by those who follow the timeless and dependable business formula: work hard, be fair and honest, embrace change, meet the customer’s needs, strive for continual improvement. Roll up your sleeves, git ‘er done. Take care of business.
Liberals fervently believe in protecting women and women’s rights. They claim that anybody who is not a liberal Democrat must hate women. Meanwhile, they insist on accepting hundreds of thousands of Muslim immigrants, most of whom require that their women are not allowed to show their faces in public and must be totally subservient to their husbands. So which is it, liberals? Are you for women, or for Muslims?
Paul Ryan attended the University of Miami (Ohio) where he got a degree in economics and political science and worked for John Boehner’s congressional campaign. After graduation he immediately moved to Washington, DC and became enmeshed in the Republican machinery. But for a short stint selling hot dogs, Ryan has never held a non-government job. In 1998 he ran for Wisconsin’s first district congressional seat, and won. Since then he, like most incumbents, has been repeatedly re-elected, and in October of last year he replaced his old friend Boehner as Speaker of the House, causing a uproar among grassroots conservatives. He promised to bring “regular order” back to Congress, whereby the budget would be broken into spending bills which would by voted upon individually. Instead, he 
I voted for Ted Cruz in the South Carolina primary. Last night, after getting Trump-thumped (again) in Indiana, Cruz pulled out of the presidential race.
