Grim proving ground for Obama’s housing policy - Boston Globe By Binyamin Appelbaum, Globe Staff / June 27, 2008

This article is on the cusp of, if not at the level of award winning journalism. (Thanks to Reverse Spin.) If only the author was from Chicago and could connect more dots. Valerie Jarrett running the Chicago Transit Authority much the same way she ran Grove Parc Plaza, which is into the ground after making a whole lot of government contractors rich. Tony Rezko using his connection to Obama to parlay “success” with Emil Jones Jr. and Rod Blagojevich and now a federal prison cell. The Muntu Dance Theater, Michelle Obama, government grants, and federal lobbyists.

Barack Obama is from Chicago and the story of daily corruption can only be lived since there is just too much of it to be caught by reporters, prosecutors, or the politicians elected that should be policing themselves to begin with. It is just as bad now, if not worse, than when Barack Obama was first elected. He’s done nothing to try to stop it, and has his current success to thank for it in the form of Rezko financing Obama’s way into office.

This story is not a complete picture of Barack Obama’s legacy in Illinois, but it’s almost complete as it relates to how much Obama really cares about housing the poor. Barack Obama cares more about continued campaign contributions from well-known slum lords (Hillary was right) than he does about the living condition of poor people in housing he approved government subsidies for less than a mile from his own home in Chicago. Barack Obama either never visited the “projects” he championed to get more money for, or he did visit them and didn’t care.

The convicted Tony Rezko was a slum lord pocketing government subsidies on the backs of the poor BEFORE he helped launch Barack Obama’s political career with Barack Obama’s first big donation the first time Barack Obama ran for office.

OIL will be quoting the article a lot in the future.

The campaign did not respond to questions about whether Obama was aware of the problems with buildings in his district during his time as a state senator, nor did it comment on the roles played by people connected to the senator.

Change? Sounds suspiciously like the Bush administration when first asked about Valerie Plame.

Do you want Barack Obama to sponsor legislation to dole out untold millions of dollars to private developers without ever holding anyone accountable for making the poor live in wretched conditions while the rich developers pocketed their “profits”, like he has done in Illinois?