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HUD is Trying to Privatize and Mortgage Off All of America's Public Housing
May 21, 2010
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.
Sooner or later, the housing budget
will be cut back and such foreclosures will happen. The structure of
the proposal and the realities of Washington make it a virtual certainty.
The banks and developers make a fortune,
with the taxpayers paying for it. The public loses its public housing
property. The impoverished tenants lose their apartments, or have their
rents go way up if they are forced into the private market. Homelessness
increases. Government gets smaller. The banks and developers win. It
is a Bank Bonanza! The poor and the public lose.
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.
This is central to the conservative
dream, in which there is no public good - only private goods. And
it is a nightmare for democracy.
The irony is that it is happening under
the Obama administration. Barack Obama, running for office, gave perhaps
the best and clearest characterization of what democracy is about. Democracy,
he has said, is based on empathy - on citizens caring about and for
each other. That is why we have principles like freedom and fairness
for everyone. It is why social responsibility is necessary. The monstrous
alternative is having a society where no one cares about or for anyone
else.
HUD, under the Obama administration,
is about to take a giant step toward that monstrous society.
Here is a quote from the PETRA bill.
It's intent is to:
provide the opportunity for public
housing agencies and private owners to convert from current forms of rental assistance
under a variety of programs to long-term, property-based contracts that will enhance
market-based discipline and enable owners to sustain operations and
leverage private financing to address immediate and long-term capital
needs and implement energy-efficiency improvements.
Along the way, tenants' rights will
be trampled, since tenants could not longer seek redress from the government
through their public officials - because the government would no longer
own the buildings.
Stop PETRA. This is urgent. There is
a hearing next Tuesday, May 25, before the House Financial Services
Committee and the Subcommittee on Housing, organized by Rep. Maxine
Waters. Phone: 202-225-2201. Fax: 202-225-7854.
To write to the committee:
https://financialservices.house.gov/contact.html
Write to your Congressperson now.
If you want to sign a petition, go
to:
https://www.gopetition.com/petitions/save-public-housing.html
Here is a letter from the National
Association of HUD Tenants:
https://www.saveourhomes.org/kaymathew/trapositionpaper.pdf
Here is an informational website, with
letters, background information, and alternative proposals:
And do what you can to get the word
out. This requires a national discussion.
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
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George Lakoff
George Lakoff is the author of The Little Blue Book: The Essential Guide to Thinking and Talking Democratic (co-authored with Elizabeth Wehling). His previous books include Moral Politics, Don't Think of an Elephant!, Whose Freedom? and Thinking Points (with the Rockridge Institute staff). He is a retired Richard and Rhoda Goldman Distinguished Professor of Cognitive Science and Linguistics at the University of California at Berkeley, and a founding senior fellow at the Rockridge Institute.
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.
Sooner or later, the housing budget
will be cut back and such foreclosures will happen. The structure of
the proposal and the realities of Washington make it a virtual certainty.
The banks and developers make a fortune,
with the taxpayers paying for it. The public loses its public housing
property. The impoverished tenants lose their apartments, or have their
rents go way up if they are forced into the private market. Homelessness
increases. Government gets smaller. The banks and developers win. It
is a Bank Bonanza! The poor and the public lose.
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.
This is central to the conservative
dream, in which there is no public good - only private goods. And
it is a nightmare for democracy.
The irony is that it is happening under
the Obama administration. Barack Obama, running for office, gave perhaps
the best and clearest characterization of what democracy is about. Democracy,
he has said, is based on empathy - on citizens caring about and for
each other. That is why we have principles like freedom and fairness
for everyone. It is why social responsibility is necessary. The monstrous
alternative is having a society where no one cares about or for anyone
else.
HUD, under the Obama administration,
is about to take a giant step toward that monstrous society.
Here is a quote from the PETRA bill.
It's intent is to:
provide the opportunity for public
housing agencies and private owners to convert from current forms of rental assistance
under a variety of programs to long-term, property-based contracts that will enhance
market-based discipline and enable owners to sustain operations and
leverage private financing to address immediate and long-term capital
needs and implement energy-efficiency improvements.
Along the way, tenants' rights will
be trampled, since tenants could not longer seek redress from the government
through their public officials - because the government would no longer
own the buildings.
Stop PETRA. This is urgent. There is
a hearing next Tuesday, May 25, before the House Financial Services
Committee and the Subcommittee on Housing, organized by Rep. Maxine
Waters. Phone: 202-225-2201. Fax: 202-225-7854.
To write to the committee:
https://financialservices.house.gov/contact.html
Write to your Congressperson now.
If you want to sign a petition, go
to:
https://www.gopetition.com/petitions/save-public-housing.html
Here is a letter from the National
Association of HUD Tenants:
https://www.saveourhomes.org/kaymathew/trapositionpaper.pdf
Here is an informational website, with
letters, background information, and alternative proposals:
And do what you can to get the word
out. This requires a national discussion.
George Lakoff
George Lakoff is the author of The Little Blue Book: The Essential Guide to Thinking and Talking Democratic (co-authored with Elizabeth Wehling). His previous books include Moral Politics, Don't Think of an Elephant!, Whose Freedom? and Thinking Points (with the Rockridge Institute staff). He is a retired Richard and Rhoda Goldman Distinguished Professor of Cognitive Science and Linguistics at the University of California at Berkeley, and a founding senior fellow at the Rockridge Institute.
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.
Sooner or later, the housing budget
will be cut back and such foreclosures will happen. The structure of
the proposal and the realities of Washington make it a virtual certainty.
The banks and developers make a fortune,
with the taxpayers paying for it. The public loses its public housing
property. The impoverished tenants lose their apartments, or have their
rents go way up if they are forced into the private market. Homelessness
increases. Government gets smaller. The banks and developers win. It
is a Bank Bonanza! The poor and the public lose.
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.
This is central to the conservative
dream, in which there is no public good - only private goods. And
it is a nightmare for democracy.
The irony is that it is happening under
the Obama administration. Barack Obama, running for office, gave perhaps
the best and clearest characterization of what democracy is about. Democracy,
he has said, is based on empathy - on citizens caring about and for
each other. That is why we have principles like freedom and fairness
for everyone. It is why social responsibility is necessary. The monstrous
alternative is having a society where no one cares about or for anyone
else.
HUD, under the Obama administration,
is about to take a giant step toward that monstrous society.
Here is a quote from the PETRA bill.
It's intent is to:
provide the opportunity for public
housing agencies and private owners to convert from current forms of rental assistance
under a variety of programs to long-term, property-based contracts that will enhance
market-based discipline and enable owners to sustain operations and
leverage private financing to address immediate and long-term capital
needs and implement energy-efficiency improvements.
Along the way, tenants' rights will
be trampled, since tenants could not longer seek redress from the government
through their public officials - because the government would no longer
own the buildings.
Stop PETRA. This is urgent. There is
a hearing next Tuesday, May 25, before the House Financial Services
Committee and the Subcommittee on Housing, organized by Rep. Maxine
Waters. Phone: 202-225-2201. Fax: 202-225-7854.
To write to the committee:
https://financialservices.house.gov/contact.html
Write to your Congressperson now.
If you want to sign a petition, go
to:
https://www.gopetition.com/petitions/save-public-housing.html
Here is a letter from the National
Association of HUD Tenants:
https://www.saveourhomes.org/kaymathew/trapositionpaper.pdf
Here is an informational website, with
letters, background information, and alternative proposals:
And do what you can to get the word
out. This requires a national discussion.
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