Houston Tax Payers to pay off debt of credit cards...

**Dredly** · February 25th, 2009, 06:44 PM

for other people? AT LEAST IT GOT CRUSHED!!!

http://blogs.chron.com/houstonpoliti...ty_debt_1.html

Who was to blame for city debt payment idea?

Hundreds of readers wanted to know who thought up the idea to use public funds to help first-time home buyers pay off personal debts (up to $3,000 worth), an idea that incensed readers have called "disgusting," "nuts," "wrong," a "joke" and other epithets not suited for our website.

Here's what we know:

Juan Chavez, a staffer in the Dept. of Housing & Community Affairs, basically thought up the idea, he told me. But White said it was based on a "similar program" at local Amegy Bank, which supposedly involved grants from the federal government. I have yet to track down the existence of this program, but am still reporting.

As far as the city version, Mayor Bill White admitted Wednesday that he knew about the program, but didn't know the details that set so many people off.

"I didn't know it involved a grant, and I thought it was a grant to the bank," White said. "But, I'm not absolving myself of the responsibility," he added.

In Houston's form of government, the mayor controls what gets on the agenda, and council members only have the power to vote "yes" or "no" on the items.

White was also not present at his usual agenda meeting last Friday; he was in D.C. meeting with President Obama and other big-city mayors on the stimulus package. However, I've also learned that even if he had been at the meeting, it was not discussed there, because at that point on Friday the item was not yet on the agenda. It was placed on the agenda later in the day.

There is a bigger picture here: White said he may have pressured housing staffers to find innovative ways to get more people into homes in the city's Houston Hope neighborhoods. (More on those down payment assistance programs here.) The Houston Hope program is one of his pet projects, and good numbers could presumably be a talking point in the Senate race.

"There was impatience expressed by me on what we could do within those areas that had been blighted in order to make those areas more attractive for those people who may want to move there," White said. He also said he has a sense of "urgency" about this particular program and its importance for the city and those neighborhoods' rejuvenation.

Another wrinkle is that the idea did not get vetted by the council's Housing & Community Development Committee, ostensibly chaired by Councilwoman Jolanda Jones. Sometimes the mayor simply bypasses the committee vetting process -- but he said it was "a mistake" that this particular item did not go through her committee.

The administration's unhappiness with Jones and her committee is an open secret at City Hall. But White said Wednesday he would keep Jones as committee chair and still had confidence in her.

According to the council woman that I saw interviewed - the reason for paying off the debt?

TO INCREASE PEOPLES CREDIT SCORES SO THEY COULD GET A MORTGAGE!!!!

What the fuck happened to this country

**imperialism2024** · February 25th, 2009, 07:04 PM

What the fuck? Do they really... I mean, how the fuck can... Er, I mean, I just don't understand... Are they really... Er, um, uh...

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!!! !!!!!!!!!!

*head explodes*

**1861** · February 25th, 2009, 07:24 PM

It's just the signs of our times .

**adymond** · February 26th, 2009, 10:31 AM

Originally Posted by imperialism2024

What the fuck? Do they really... I mean, how the fuck can... Er, I mean, I just don't understand... Are they really... Er, um, uh...

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!!! !!!!!!!!!!

*head explodes*

Trying to understand lunacy is not possible. I keep trying to tell myself that, but I still see my blood pressure raising and raising as I watch the news or hear it on the radio.

FFS I almost wish I could take the other pill and slip back into the Matrix.