© AP Photo/ David Zalubowski
Earlier on Monday, Trump officially named Carson as his nominee for HUD Secretary.
"Hundreds of thousands of veterans live in HUD-assisted housing," the release stated on Monday. "To make their wellbeing subject to the gross unpreparedness of Ben Carson is a complete insult."
The release noted that Carson's own spokesman admitted he does not have the necessary skills to run a government agency.
Veterans who need HUD will be hurt by the appointment, the release added, so the US Senate needs to reject Carson's nomination and force Trump to choose a serious candidate.
Initially, Carson ran against Trump for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination, but supported Trump after dropping out of the race.
VoteVets is the largest progressive veterans group in the United States with more than 450,000 supporters.
Reader Comments
[Link]
June 1, 2009
The $65 billion Department of Housing and Urban Development has been plagued by mismanagement and scandal in recent decades. Numerous HUD secretaries have used their power to enrich themselves or to confer special benefits on people with political and financial connections. This essay looks at HUD mismanagement during the tenures of four HUD secretaries under three recent presidents:
•Samuel Pierce, 1981-1989, Ronald Reagan's only HUD secretary
•Henry Cisneros, 1993-1997, Bill Clinton's first HUD secretary
•Andrew Cuomo, 1997-2001, Bill Clinton's second HUD secretary
•Alphonso Jackson, 2003-2009, George W. Bush's second HUD secretary
HUD's history of scandal and corruption fits this pattern. While government officials and advocates for housing subsidies usually paint a romanticized portrait of HUD's programs, the truth is that federal housing intervention has often done far more damage than good. The housing and financial meltdowns of recent years can be partly traced to the distortions injected into markets by federal housing regulations and subsidies through HUD and other agencies. We have learned that when the government intervenes in the housing industry, politically driven decisions lead to corruption and economic distortion, not efficient public policies. The federal government should begin withdrawing from housing markets, including dismantling the Department of Housing and Urban Development
The whole article is interesting (linked above) and makes me wonder just who is behind this organization VetsVote
As Ruth pointed out
Then people had better hope that his staff are up to supporting him as a figure head.