In an odd instance of disconnect, back in November when his being appointed to the position of Secretary of Education was under consideration, Ben Carson, who had run for president, a position that is in charge of all the federal agencies, turned down the appointment saying through a spokesperson,
“Dr. Carson … has never run a federal agency. The last thing he would want to do was take a position that could cripple the presidency.”
But in spite of that bit of honesty, Ben Carson was officially nominated to be the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
As Donald Trump explained,
“Ben Carson has a brilliant mind and is passionate about strengthening communities and families within those communities. We have talked at length about my urban renewal agenda and our message of economic revival, very much including our inner cities.”
Carson has no experience in housing policy and has never worked for the federal government, but he lived in public housing as a kid, so he knows all about what the agency does.
I guess.
He will be playing a key role in creating and ushering through policies that could affect the housing market well beyond the next four years.
Millions of Americans depend on HUD, ranging from the poorest Americans seeking subsidized housing to first-time buyers shopping for mortgages, and who knows better about that than a kid in public housing who went on to be a brain surgeon and at 33 became the head of his department at Johns Hopkins, and was good at his job there from 1984 until he retired in 2013 without having anything to do with housing and what HUD deals with.
“Ben shares my optimism about the future of our country and is part of ensuring that this is a presidency representing all Americans,” Trump said in a statement, although Carson famously objected to marriage equality because Gay people are the same as pedophiles.
Oh, he did make a weak apology for doing that but then, when speaking about Transgender people having equal rights he said,
It is the buy levitra no prescription most powerful remedy produced by a famous company called as ‘cipla’. There is no reason why men with ED should feel ashamed cialis overnight continue reading for more info or embarrassed. There are many medications and recreational drugs which can affect your levitra samples free http://downtownsault.org/ladiesnightout/ performance in the bedroom and your relationship. It is also correct to say that being regularly relaxed is important in life and should ensure that people have used for years and years! See, you levitra online sales could purchase chemical drugs and libido pills for men, are they are a waste of money. “I think everybody has equal rights, but I’m not sure that anybody should have extra rights – extra rights when it comes to redefining everything for everybody else and imposing your view on everybody else.”
Because, obviously, equality, if you are not like him, means it is something special.
His immediate predecessors had housing and urban renewal experience. Julián Castro, is a former San Antonio mayor who helped revitalize the Texas city’s downtown, and Shaun Donovan was in the position from 2009 to 2014 and had been the commissioner of the Federal Housing Administration and the New York City’s Department of Housing Preservation and Development.
But Carson has a conservative and religious viewpoint, so as he said on his Facebook page,
“After serious discussions with the Trump transition team, I feel that I can make a significant contribution particularly to making our inner cities great for everyone. We have much work to do in strengthening every aspect of our nation and ensuring that both our physical infrastructure and our spiritual infrastructure is [sic] solid”,
because besides being in charge of housing, he is our spiritual leader.
While running for president, Carson said that he would eliminate home mortgage interest deductions, reduce and eliminate various federal programs he deemed “wasteful, inefficient, or unnecessary”, and privatize Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, both of which insure mortgages, and thereby limiting the number of mortgages available and the lowest rates borrowers can get.
Carson also opposes the Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing Act, which requires certain communities that receive HUD grants to assess and address problems with residents of all races, nationalities, disabilities, and income levels to ensure they receive equal access to housing.
His appointment could also affect taxpayer-supported subsidized housing that helps homeless, low-income, and senior Americans.
But as the HUD Secretary, he can help Trump in a positive way.
It’s one thing to just kick all the Muslims out. It’s another thing to kick them out making sure they are not left homeless.
To that end, he could work with Egypt to empty out the grain bins in the pyramids and remodel them into affordable apartments.