Corrupted and Debased

Do you know Alphonso Jackson? Do you recall ever seeing or hearing his name? He just happens to be the Secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development, which used to be an important federal agency. Of course, in this administration, once you get beyond State, Defense and Homeland Insecurity, the cabinet secretaries are all nonentities.

In any event, the aforesaid secretary of HUD has been caught making a clearly political--and clearly unlawful--move to deny a contract to a company headed by an individual who is insufficiently reverential about George W. Bush. What's amazing about this story is that Jackson himself brought it up. As the Dallas Business Journal reported:

"After discussing the huge strides the agency has made in doing business with minority-owned companies, Jackson closed with a cautionary tale, relaying a conversation he had with a prospective advertising contractor.
'He had made every effort to get a contract with HUD for 10 years,' Jackson said of the prospective contractor. 'He made a heck of a proposal and was on the (General Services Administration) list, so we selected him. He came to see me and thank me for selecting him. Then he said something ... he said, "I have a problem with your president."

'I said, "What do you mean?" He said, "I don't like President Bush." I thought to myself, "Brother, you have a disconnect -- the president is elected, I was selected. You wouldn't be getting the contract unless I was sitting here. If you have a problem with the president, don't tell the secretary."

'"He didn't get the contract,' Jackson continued. 'Why should I reward someone who doesn't like the president, so they can use funds to try to campaign against the president? Logic says they don't get the contract. That's the way I believe.'"

Well, Mr. Secretary, perhaps the applicant should have got the contract because his company was the best among applicants--as your department decided. HUD is, after all, supposed to be doing the public's business, not the President's. Then, too, there is the little matter of the law. As thinkprogress.com noted, federal regulations--specifically 48 C.F.R. 3.101-1 requires that "Government business shall be conducted in a manner above reproach and, except as authorized by statute or regulation, with complete impartiality."

Unfortunately, apart from the fact that Secretary Jackson is a little more open (or a lot less smart) than most people in positions of power in the present administration, the secretary's anecdote is not all that surprising. It is a sign of just how deeply corrupt and degraded our politics has become that this tale evinces little more than a shake of the head.

Keep your eye on Alphonso Jackson. If he keeps his job for more than a week, you'll know--if you don't already--that reform of our federal system is long, long overdue.