In case you missed it, the House Financial Services Committee held a hearing late last week with new Housing and Urban Development Secretary Alphonso Jackson.
Section 8 housing subsidies aren’t getting a lot of attention right now, but administration proposals on housing policy are likely to have a serious impact on millions of low-income families who live at or below the poverty level.
The Bush administration, anxious to cut spending to make room for tax cuts for millionaires, has sought to scale back housing aid through Section 8 dramatically. In April, HUD announced the agency would no longer fully subsidize its housing vouchers, which would naturally lead to higher rents for millions of poor families and/or evictions. “Compassionate” conservatism in action.
With this mind, Alphonso Jackson’s comments on the Hill last week were startling, even for this administration.
“We will continue to work hand in hand with the public housing authorities to apply the funding cap in the fairest manner possible,” Jackson said Thursday in his first appearance before the House Financial Services Committee since being confirmed by the Senate in March.
Jackson angered some Democrats on the committee when he said in response to a question: “I do not believe being poor is a condition; it is a state of mind.”
If it weren’t so absurd, it’d almost be funny.