Alfonso Jackson is now under investigation.

But I was drawn mostly to this remark in his speech, as reported by Jenny Mandel.

Based on his Dallas remarks, Jackson appeared well aware of the potential for individual gain from successful federal contracting. "Whether it's HUD or another agency, the opportunities are there," he was reported to have told the audience. "The most amazing thing I've ever seen is the amount of contracts we hand out every day. Just one contract can make you wealthy."

WTF?  Do they have to be this obvious?

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These online chats from the Washington Post are quite revealing because you get to read the reporters' straight biases and don't have to guess by reading between the lines of their articles. From Babington's chat today, we have another bias towards ignorance:

Rockville, Md.: "A majority seemed to think it was fine when the government was running a surplus in the last years of the Clinton administration, and fine when the deficit rose sharply under the current president."

And all the pundits who were against the deficit started telling us (in 98 or so) how bad it would be to pay off the debit. So most of us said, "if every option is bad, why should I be concerned?"

Charles Babington: Even in the most robust days of the Clinton administration, we came nowhere close to paying off the entire debt. I think you are overstating the influence of "all the pundits" who said it would be bad to pay off the debt, which is basically a fantasy.

A fantasy?  Um, let's go back to none other than Alan Greenspan, who warned of just such a 'fantasy':

The most recent projections, granted their tentativeness, nonetheless make clear that the highly desirable goal of paying off the federal debt is in reach before the end of the decade....

But continuing to run surpluses beyond the point at which we reach zero or near-zero federal debt brings to center stage the critical longer-term fiscal policy issue of whether the federal government should accumulate large quantities of private (more technically nonfederal) assets. At zero debt, the continuing unified budget surpluses currently projected imply a major accumulation of private assets by the federal government. This development should factor materially into the policies you and the Administration choose to pursue.

Babington and the Washington press corps still cannot come to grips with Bush administration lies from five years ago.  This is why the fourth estate is in such trouble.  They have no memory for facts and operate from the gut.  No wonder they don't like Stephen Colbert.

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This is insane.  Charles Babington of the Post is blaming the contractor for Alfonso Jackson's behavior?

Pittsford, N.Y.: The left-wing of the blogosphere is expressing outrage over the news that HUD Secretary Alphonso Jackson won't give contracts to those who say they oppose the president. Aren't they being a bit naive? Hasn't politics always worked that way (at least since Andrew Jackson instituted the "spoils system)? I'm a bit surprised that anyone could be that Pollyannaish about the ways of the world and Washington. What do you think about this?

Charles Babington: I think people operating in Washington generally are more discreet. You'd think that someone who just landed a big federal contract would keep to himself the thought that, By the way, I hate your president.... And you'd think an administration official might handle it by saying, You should have enough discretion and courtesy to utter such thoughts somewhere other than my office.

Now I guesss we know why the Post doesn't think this story is very important.  Oh they all did it, you know, like Andrew Jackson did.  He was a Democrat, so this is totally bipartisan.  And come on the contractor should have just shut up, never mind that we don't know if Jackson was pushing for campaign contributions or any other political favors.  This is just how politics is done, dear, and those rabble rousers keep insisting on legal behavior from their electeds don't know how Washington works.

Oh and the spokesperson for HUD keeps changing her story and is now on leave?  

Nothing to see here, move along...

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Now Shirlington Limo's involved in the scandal, as David Donnelly and Ken Silverstein report.  Louise Slaughter wants a release of all records of HUD's contracts with the company.  In reading Ken's piece, I notice that the limo company does business under a different name with the New Jersey Casino Control Commission, which regulates Atlantic City's casino business.  I have no idea if this is meaningful, but it's weird.  And CREW is now calling for an investigation into Alfonso Jackson's remarks about politically oriented government contracting.

This is getting very very interesting.

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I like it when Senator Frank Lautenberg gets aggressive.

Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) called on President Bush to ask for the immediate resignation of the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Alphonso Jackson if a report about government contracts being awarded based on the contractor's opinion of President Bush are accurate.

That sounds suspiciously like oversight.

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