Kemp on Bush's homesteading proposal - the black community is assuming the overwhelming burden of Katrina

oh, but jack... if this country "profoundly cares," why offer a program that can help only if you can secure a mortgage or nail down jimmy carter and habitat for humanity...? and, if you can't manage one of those two things, gosh, what a shame...

[T]he most innovative proposal would give away federal land through a lottery to low-income evacuees who pledge to build homes on the property, according to policy experts on both sides of the ideological spectrum. This "urban homesteading initiative" harkens back to the settling of the West in the 19th century.

[...]

The homesteading proposal was pushed hard by Jack Kemp, a former secretary of housing and standard bearer for conservative anti-poverty activists.

"We have to send a message to the black community that this country profoundly cares about them assuming the overwhelming the burden of this disaster of Biblical proportions," Kemp said.

Under the plan, those chosen from a lottery would receive federal land in exchange for their work and their ability to build, either by securing a mortgage or getting the backing of a nonprofit organization such as Habitat for Humanity.

Bruce Katz, a housing official in the Clinton administration, said Bush's proposal raises more questions than it answers: Even if impoverished evacuees can secure the financial assistance to build on donated land, how will they maintain the properties? Won't the homesteading plan re-create the racial and economic segregation that Katrina so vividly exposed?

"The president called this the largest reconstruction program in the history of the world, but when it comes to housing, the support is almost nonexistent," Katz said. "He's just handing out land."

Olsen said he is concerned that a lottery for the homesteads would effectively concentrate assistance among a random few who will have the least means to improve the property. It would be better to sell the land to the highest bidder, then use the proceeds to help the poor more uniformly, he said.

the status quo is, don't mess with the rich and don't go altering the economic balance (read: don't mess with the rich)... as with everything else that's dribbled from the lips of this president, the words sound nice until you start taking a harder look and find out there's no THERE there...

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