Republican PET NEGRO Alphonso Jackson Under Fire after saying Don't Badmouth Bush If You Want A Government Contract

Bush Critics Need Not Apply:
The U.S. federal government spends roughly $315 billion annually on contracted goods and services, making it "the largest consumer of goods and services in the world." Shielded from accountability by a secretive executive branch and a drought of congressional oversight, the cash-flush federal contracting process has become a prime source of government corruption. Most notably in Iraq and in the Katrina-ravaged Gulf Coast, the last several years have seen an explosion in contract fraud, waste, abuse, and cronyism. Now Housing and Urban Development Secretary Alphonso Jackson is facing calls to resign after he admitted during a recent speech that he once canceled a government contract with a business because the CEO was critical of President Bush. Improper and potentially illegal contracting practices have apparently become so commonplace that top White House officials share stories about them openly.

PARTISAN PROCUREMENT: According to the Dallas Business Journal, Jackson closed an Apr. 28 speech "with a cautionary tale, relaying a conversation he had with a prospective advertising contractor." The contractor had "made a heck of a proposal...so we selected him," Jackson told a group of real estate officials. "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.'" Jackson continued, "He didn't get the contract. 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." Jackson's conduct appears to be in violation of federal law. The Federal Acquisition Regulations (48 CFR 3.101-1) state that government business "shall be conducted in a manner above reproach and, except as authorized by statute or regulation, with complete impartiality and with preferential treatment for none." Jackson has admitted that this particular contract was not awarded with "impartiality." The business that would have been awarded the contract was excluded because of the contractor's political views. Also, the Competition in Contracting Act (41 U.S.C. 253(b)(1)) details the six circumstances in which a particular contractor can be excluded. Needless to say, political views are not on the list.

The housing secretary's defense is that he lied Last night, Jackson's spokeswoman Dustee Tucker responded to the report by claiming the secretary's story was actually "hypothetical," pure fiction. "He was merely trying to explain to the audience how people in D.C., will say critical things about the secretary, will unfairly characterize the president and then turn around and ask you for money," Tucker said. "He did not actually meet with someone and turn down a contract. He's not part of the contracting process." In other words, the claim is that Jackson fabricated a long and detailed exchange about a CEO who doesn't actually exist and a process he isn't actually involved with. That excuse isn't just difficult to swallow -- it also contradicts Tucker's first comments to journalists early yesterday, in which she "spoke as if the contractor existed, saying he had approached Mr. Jackson 'trashing, in a very aggressive way' him and the president." It appears now that Jackson is changing his story as criticism builds. (Reps. Henry Waxman (D-CA) and Barney Frank (D-MA) sent a letter yesterday saying Jackson's remarks were "improper and most likely illegal," and Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) called for Jackson's resignation.) Moreover, bidding for a government contract isn't asking for money, as Tucker claimed. It's not Alphonso Jackson's money to give away to his buddies. It is the taxpayers' money. It should go to whoever can do the best job, regardless of their political views. [MORE] and [MORE]

Uncle Tom Puppetician. Jackson, a former president of the Austin-based American Electric Power Co., is another in a long line of Bush cronies. Then-Governor Bush first appointed Jackson to the Texas Southern University Board of Regents. He joined HUD in 2001 as deputy secretary and got the top job months after the San Francisco Chronicle reported that Jackson had fired a HUD whistleblower, Richard Mallory, who had gone public with his accusations of "a 'coverup' of fiscal improprieties that was allegedly engineered by a powerful Republican official in Washington, D.C." Jackson is also a Bush "pioneer" who raised over $100,000 for President Bush's election in 2000. That year, according to Public Citizen, "The Republican Party named Jackson as assistant secretary of the 2000 Republican National Convention, so this African-American could help it project an image of diversity."[MORE]