Summer Reminders

Washington, DC is going to be mired in presidential politics in 2008. For housing and community development professionals, the most substantive work to come out of DC in 2008 will be a 2009 budget. There is a chance that other initiatives will be passed but during a presidential election year, the budget and attendant appropriations bills are the only legislative measure Congress will pass in 2009 affecting the housing and community development community. Here are few things you can do in 2008 that will help your agency: Financial earmarks. Do you have a new playground you want funded? Are you looking to fund a project for seniors in one of your developments? Talk to your congressional representatives about placing “earmarks” in the next budget. “Earmarks” are...

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Interesting Reads

The Washington Post includes two articles which offer different insights into the current housing situation. This first article "How HUD Mortgage Policy Fed The Crisis" by Carol D. Leonnig, describes how the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) policies contributed to the current crises. The second, "FHA Loans Emerge From the Sidelines" by Dina ElBoghdady , describes how the increase in the Federal Housing Administration’s (FHA) loan limits has benefited homebuye...

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Posted in: crisis,development,fed,fha,hud,loans,mortgage,urban

Hillary Bows Out

Random thoughts on the nomination process which has just ended: Congratulations to Barack Obama. He earned the nomination by working hard, playing by the rules and not letting racism become an obstacle to securing the nomination.Congratulations to Hillary Clinton for an impressive race, not quitting and pushing Obama to the very end.Clinton blew it. The nomination was there for the taking and she simply blew it. She can blame sexism, her staff, the media, whomever she wants to blame but as the head of ticket she needs to take responsibility for this loss. She disrespected the other candidates and expected everyone to genuflect on the carpet of here inevitable coronation as Democratic nominee.We have discovered the Clinton machine...

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