Subject: Politics
First it was the Office of Urban Policy. Then, at the time of its launch in 2009, it quietly turned into the Office of Urban Affairs: a small, but interesting name change. Its director, Adolfo Carrion, the former Bronx borough…
Brad Lander, a not-for-profit director, affordable housing builder, city planner, and community organizer told the Brownstoner about why he chose to run for New York City Council. “I’ve worked with hundreds of residents, activists, and advocates with tremendous commitment, street…
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It’s labor-day weekend so let’s think about unions, Republicans and politics. Unions are a potent reality check as well as a counterforce to the power of big business. Most union members don’t fall for free market propaganda and the myths…
We mourn the passing of Sen. Edward Kennedy today not only for his definitive role in a significant slice of Americana, but also for his role a true progressive leader. He was flawed, for sure, but his conviction for causes…
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In the Spring 2009 issue of Shelterforce, now available to view online at www.shelterforce.org, Nandinee K. Kutty, an author and economist who works in housing and urban policy worries that despite the Homeowner Affordability and Stability Plan and Making Home…
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Jack Kemp will be remembered for his many roles in public life—as the quarterback for the Buffalo Bills, as U.S. Congressman (from Buffalo, NY), the HUD Secretary (under President George H. Bush), the Vice Presidential Candidate (running with Bob Dole…
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While Senate Democrats and Republicans were looking to compromise on what is now a trimmed-down, $780 billion stimulus package, it looks like some key progressive measures have been, well, compromised. $2.25 billion in Neighborhood Stabilization Program funds—money that would have…
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It took me a couple of days after the extraordinary evening of President-elect Obama’s victory on November 4 for the impact to really sink in. The election was an unprecedented opportunity on so many levels, and made me realize that…
At the risk of sounding clich, hope was in the air as thick as the smell of grilling bacon and the steam from oatmeal and grits in a small diner on Chicago’s west side crowded with customers watching the inauguration…
So much of this country’s history has been watched on television—lunar landing, Beatles on Sullivan, Dwight Clark’s “The Catch” from Joe Montana in the 1982 NFC Championship Game (had to throw that in)—that I didn’t feel bad in the least…
As Obama prepared his economic recovery plan, he read Jonathan Alter’s The Defining Moment, (Simon and Shuster, 2006) about FDRs rise to the presidency and his first 100 days. Although Alters engrossing and readable book was not intended to give…
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Obama’s election. For those under 30, it was a landslide. Despite the news that Obama is considering the neoliberal Larry Summers for Treasury Secretary and former Senator Sam Nunn is aiding the transition process at the Pentagon, I am overjoyed…
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We anticipated this, but it’s becoming increasingly clear that an Obama administration will contain a Department of Urban Policy. According to a Washington Post blog, plans are in the works to establish an urban policy department “in order to better…
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Election Day’s over, we’ve already blown past “Yes We Can!” to “Yes We Did!” Now we’re on to watching President-elect Barack Obama’s transition team and his potential appointees. But can we please indulge one last fond backward glance to his…
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Barack Obama is going to need all his organizing skills to be an effective leader. As I write in an article in the Huffington Post, Shifting Gears: Transforming Obama’s Campaign Into a Movement for Change, to achieve a progressive agenda,…
It was as if all of Chicago had one big ear-splitting grin Tuesday night. Even hours before polls had closed, people went about their business—including voting in record numbers—as if walking on air, thrilled at the prospect of real change,…
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My first email of the first day after the election of Barack Obama as president came from Serbia. Its sender is a longtime colleague, a Serbian journalist I met right before the U.S. air war in her country in 1999.…
On the campaign trail, Barack Obama was asked a question about his increasing taxes for those making more than a quarter million a year. In his impromptu exchange with the now famous “Joe the Plumber,” Obama used the phrase: “when…
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When I was a newspaper reporter in New Jersey, one of my beats was Princeton University, and I’m always reminded of what is always referred to as the school’s “unofficial motto”: “In the Nation’s Service and in the Service of…
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John McCain’s newly unveiled idea—a buyout of “bad mortgages” to the tune of $300 million—left a lot of viewers bemused about his ideological shape-shifting, and many on the right positively fuming at what they perceived to be the GOP candidate’s…
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National Housing Institute
