Have I ever mentioned how silly and stupid I think politics is?
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Originally Posted by mojiferous
Oh, and it was never a bipartisan effort. The GOP fought long and hard to make sure that the residents of Chicago public housing were made out to the "welfare queens" and violent criminals that should be isolated and avoided. They worked to defund and reduce public housing programs and public assistance programs. They kept the minimum wage low and any help out of reach of most Americans. By the time the low-rise mixed-income projects were being built they had faded as a factor in most urban politics. Suburbs could easily build public housing too! But for the most part they don't because it is not and has never been a bipartisan effort.
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I couldn't care less about political bluster, base-pleasing propaganda and posturing from either the left or the right.
What I care about is what happens after they leave the tee vee cameras and loud speakers behind, go back into the building, close the doors, go into conference rooms and get down to business. Either they accomplish something or they don't. When they accomplishment something significant what is it?
Credit William Claiborne February 6, 2000 per WaPo:
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Housing and Urban Development Secretary Andrew M. Cuomo and Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley today signed an unprecedented $1.5 billion agreement to demolish virtually all of the city's high-rise public housing developments, widely regarded as the nation's worst examples of failed public housing policy.
Calling the agreement "historic" because of the magnitude of Chicago's public housing problems, Cuomo told a news conference the redevelopment plan reflects a "fundamentally different national policy" that HUD hopes will replace 100,000 deteriorating public housing units in cities across the country...
"We are going to take down the failed high-rises and stop putting bandages on bullet wounds," Cuomo said in an interview after the news conference. "We aren't going to invest in high-rises anymore, and we're going to replace those that are there with something that works."
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All the groundwork for this fundamental change in housing approach by HUD was worked out in a lengthy process of negotiating through the 1990's.
BTW, Clinton was still President when the above was signed but it's also important to note this factoid:
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Republicans swept the 1994 elections and won control of both the House and Senate for the first time in 40 years.
Republicans retained their majorities in both chambers though their margin in the House eroded after the 1998 elections. J. Dennis Hastert of Illinois succeeded Georgia's Newt Gingrich as Speaker in the 106th Congress.
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That is literally the definition of bi-partisanship given Congress must pass funding for all government functions.