As the "legacy" of Barack Obama continues to be written in the remaining months of his term, America has been purposefully "transformed" by an aggressive political ideology, one proven to be contradictory to the intrinsically American ideals of property rights and individual liberty. These freedoms are being further attacked with the announcement of a newly declared regulation by the U.S. Housing and Urban Development Agency (HUD).
Last week, Obama issued an Orwellian proposal that gained minor attention from the press but was mostly allowed to go without scrutiny. This lack of analysis is particularly outrageous here, considering how Obama's newest scheme captures in its purest essence the desire of ruling Leftists to dominate and control every aspect of individual American existence.
Robin SmithAccording to a June 11 piece in TheHill.com, "A HUD rule due out this month is aimed at ending decades of deep-rooted segregation around the country." The plan of President Obama and HUD Secretary Julian Castro is simple: Cities can either build "affordable housing" in wealthy areas and established neighborhoods, or sticky fingers in D.C. keep their grant money.
What's at stake here?
First, the obsession of the current federal government with regulating any and everything in our lives - our neighborhoods, types of foods we are permitted to choose, the minimal insurance plan, Internet speed and so on - is the antithesis of freedom. And now housing grants are being turned into a system that resembles the Medicaid program and Obamacare. Cities will be forced to burden existing neighborhoods with providing minimal housing for predetermined numbers of people in income brackets that qualify them for government housing vouchers, or else Washington holds these cities' tax dollars hostage.
Second, Obama's plan negates years of saving and planning by families committing to the greatest investment most will ever make - the purchase of a home. The federal government, through a Leftist edict, can insert "affordable housing" into any neighborhood, possibly even yours. These new living spaces will have an impact on each and every parcel of property in an area. Harvard's Joint Center for Housing Studies cautiously stated of HUD-placed low-income housing: "Although subsidized rental housing developments may have less positive impacts on communities than their market-rate counterparts, the likely spillover effect isn't clear and is likely to depend on the housing and the circumstances."
And, finally, just exactly what is "affordable housing?"
According to HUD's website, those "families who pay more than 30 percent of their income for housing are considered cost burdened," and are the target market for housing to meet their budgets. Let's see, since there are "free" Obama cellphones and Obamacare, and since Obama Internet is just around the corner, why not Obama neighborhoods?
Do you like socialism? Let's see which of Obama's Democrats in the southeastern corner of Tennessee volunteers their own neighborhood for the first Obamahood.
Take to heart two sage statements that are anathema to the socialist left:
"Democracy and socialism have nothing in common but one word, equality. But notice the difference: While democracy seeks equality in liberty, socialism seeks equality in restraint and servitude." - Alexis de Tocqueville
"Life, liberty, and property do not exist because men have made laws. On the contrary, it was the fact that life, liberty, and property existed beforehand that caused men to make laws in the first place." Frederic Bastiat
Robin Smith, a former chairwoman of the Tennessee Republican Party, owns Rivers Edge Alliance.