Jackson Will Resign

by hilzoy

Via TPM, the WSJ:

"Housing and Urban Development Secretary Alphonso Jackson is expected to announce his resignation Monday, according to people familiar with the matter, a decision that will deal a blow to the Bush administration's efforts to tackle the housing and mortgage mess.

The exact reasons for Mr. Jackson's decision couldn't be learned. The secretary has been beset recently by allegations of cronyism and favoritism. Earlier this month, two Democratic senators, Patty Murray of Washington and Christopher Dodd of Connecticut, sent a letter to President Bush urging him to request Mr. Jackson's resignation, arguing that the distraction has made him ineffective.

Mr. Jackson has consistently denied wrongdoing."

This is excellent news. (For background, see here.) On the other hand, much as it delights me to see Jackson leave office, it's a pretty bad time not to have a Secretary of Housing and Urban Development:

"The news is a setback for the Bush administration and its efforts to combat the housing and mortgage mess. HUD, usually out of the spotlight, has been at the heart of the administration's attempts to ease problems for homeowners. Although Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson has taken the lead on many initiatives, Mr. Jackson has been a partner on many, including programs such as Hope Now, an administration-backed industry plan to loosen the terms on hundreds of thousands of subprime mortgages.

HUD also runs the Federal Housing Administration."

Take-home lesson: don't appoint dreadful people in the first place. Then they won't have to resign at the worst possible moment.

Comments

[hilzoy]

btw: I'm off for about three weeks tomorrow, and I'm not sure whether I'll have either time or internet while I'm gone. Have fun!

[felix culpa]

We will await your return with longing hearts.
Unless we all perish in a worldwide cataclysm first; but we (I’m sure I speak for all of us) are hoping not.
Have a wonderful time.

[Slartibartfast]

"couldn't be learned"

A comeback is being made in the use of the passive voice, possibly.

[Jake]

This is sort of par for the course for the Bush admin, no? Incompetent dude gets job until a crisis comes that reveals just how painfully incompetent/corrupted he was.

[Curt Adams]

There comes a point where it's better to have nobody, and I think Alphonso Jackson is to that point. This is an opportunity for the Bush administration to take action on the housing crisis by appointing a decent HUD secretary although I don't see them taking it.

[superdestroyer]

Now it will be about a year before a new secretary is appointed. I guess the underling will do http://www.hud.gov/about/secretary/bernardibio.cfm

[Paul C]

"couldn't be learned" means that the reasons might be embarrassing to a "war" President and would embolden the enemy. "Enemy" means al Kaida in Iran.

[Paul C]

"couldn't be learned" means that the reasons might be embarrassing to a "war" President and would embolden the enemy. "Enemy" means al Kaida in Iran.

[Glidwrith]

"couldn't be learned" - hah; what about the recent evidence (released e-mails) that his underlings pulled HUD funding from New York (right city?) because they wouldn't turn land over to a private developer crony?

[rea]

How can you leave for 3 weeks when there is somebody on the internet being wrong?

[PhoenixRising]

Take-home lesson: don't appoint dreadful people in the first place. Then they won't have to resign at the worst possible moment.

Must respectfully disagree, while seconding Rea's comment. It's always a good time for the emptiness at the top of HUD to be revealed more fully.

Alphonso Jackson resigning is like a shortstop you moved up from AAA ball who's been batting .179 in the majors blowing out his knee: While there is never a great time for incompetence to be replaced by a hole in the lineup, there's never a 'worst' time for it either.

Now we know that we need a manager at HUD, and if the guy batting .179 wasn't the bottom of the barrel, no need to keep digging--let's try competence, or nobody. Whichever.

[Warren Terra]

I think rea wins the thread.

Have a good trip, and either a restful vacation, or a productive work-related journey, or whatever combination of the two is appropriate.

[Free Lunch]

The exact reasons for Mr. Jackson's decision couldn't be learned.

Aside from the not-my-fault passive, the formula tends to be one that tells us that he was fired, but not publicly. "Oh, dear, no, we don't want you to go" sotto voce "but if you aren't out of town by midnight, you'll regret it."

The Bush Administration doesn't care if you are incompetent, but they do care if your incompetence is embarrassing to them. Jackson is.

[MARK MYWORDS]

ALLEGED CORRUPTION....
lets keep our facts straight....

without any proof he could end up spending 5 years in Gitmo

[Lindsay K]

Somehow, I suspect the lesson Bush will be taking home will be more along the lines of, "Democrats are doodyheads."

[Free Lunch]

Lindsay, even a wrong lesson taken away would be an improvement over the past seven years.

[rea]

http://xkcd.com/386/

In case anyone didn't get the reference in my remark above . . .

[hilzoy]

Thanks, all. It's another trip to Pakistan, where I will teach part of an intensive bioethics course. (Trying to help people who are creating a master's program in bioethics there.) I write from scenic Frankfurt airport, where I have to spend an ungodly amount of time. Eventually, Karachi.

[Darth Wader]

Frankfurt Airport: There's a supermarket about one level below the train platform in case you get hungry.