HUD Chief on Contractors: No Democrats, Please

HUD Secretary Alphonso Jackson has a rather interesting view of the federal contracting process. Witness his April 28 speech in Dallas to the Real Estate Executive Council, reported on by the Dallas Business Journal. In the address, the HUD chief talked about his dealings with a representative of an advertising contractor seeking to do business with the agency:

"He had made every effort to get a contract with HUD for 10 years," Jackson said of the prospective contractor. "He made a heck of a proposal and was on the [General Services Administration] list, so we selected him. He came to see me and thank me for selecting him. Then he said something ... he said, 'I have a problem with your president.'

"I said, 'What do you mean?' He said, 'I don't like President Bush.' I thought to myself, 'Brother, you have a disconnect -- the president is elected, I was selected. You wouldn't be getting the contract unless I was sitting here. If you have a problem with the president, don't tell the secretary.'

"He didn't get the contract," Jackson continued. "Why should I reward someone who doesn't like the president, so they can use funds to try to campaign against the president? Logic says they don't get the contract. That's the way I believe."

There you have it. If you want to do business with HUD, you might want to burnish your GOP credentials first.

Update: Well, it didn't take long for the congressional reaction to kick in. Sen. Frank Lautenberg wants President Bush to demand Jackson's resignation. Updated update: Jackson's spokeswoman has announced his defense: He said it, but it wasn't true. It couldn't be, because Jackson is "not part of the contracting process."