I support affordable housing. I’m letting the dog live here for free.

The Washington Post, as part of its ongoing investigation into the Department of Housing and Urban Development, entitles its current collection of reports “Million-Dollar Wasteland.”  An excerpt:

The federal government’s largest housing construction program for the poor has squandered hundreds of millions of dollars on stalled or abandoned projects and routinely failed to crack down on derelict developers or the local housing agencies that funded them.

Nationwide, nearly 700 projects awarded $400 million have been idling for years, a Washington Post investigation found. Some have languished for a decade or longer even as much of the country struggles with record-high foreclosures and a dramatic loss of affordable housing.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, which oversees the nation’s housing fund, has largely looked the other way: It does not track the pace of construction and often fails to spot defunct deals, instead trusting local agencies to police projects.

The result is a trail of failed developments in every corner of the country. Fields where apartment complexes were promised are empty and neglected. Houses that were supposed to be renovated are boarded up and crumbling, eyesores in decaying neighborhoods.

This is just the tip of the iceberg.  The Post writes about a local disaster:

In late 2007, then-Mayor Adrian Fenty sent a letter to the D.C. Council touting the developer’s experience, construction team and financing. The council swiftly approved the deal, lending $3.5 million in federal funds to help pay for the renovation of 98 units priced for the poor.

But the project died before a shovel ever hit dirt.

Meanwhile, both the Detroit Free Press and Detroit News have run articles on housing-related screwups in the past couple weeks. 

So what does current DC Mayor Vincent Gray do? He unveils a 2012 budget that includes $84 million for “affordable housing” (a $7 million increase from 2011, although still below pre-recession levels).

And what’s the reaction?  This:

Proposed DC Budget Would Gut Affordable Housing Programs

Seems that Mayor Gray has decided that the District of Columbia should get out of the affordable housing business.

Hard to see how else one can interpret the end results of the proposed cuts and related policy changes the DC Fiscal Policy Institute details in its brief on the proposed Fiscal Year 2012 affordable housing budget.

And this:

One area of disproportionate cuts is in affordable housing, where the budget steals money out of the Housing Production Trust Fund (HPTF). This is no transfer payment program. It gives for-profit and non-profit developers loans to assist them in building affordable housing.

The construction financing market is tight, and it's a lot harder to get financing for affordable housing developments even if they're fiscally solid. If a developer can raise most of the money but not all, the HPTF lets them borrow the rest. On average, for each dollar coming from the HPTF, the developer has $3 of funding from other sources, so DC gets a 4:1 benefit for its investment.

And this:

Approximately 150 people filled the marble steps outside the Wilson building Tuesday night in defense of government programs that support affordable housing in the District of Columbia at the “Housing for All” rally sponsored by the Coalition for Nonprofit Housing and Economic Development, the Latino Economic Development Corporation, and Save Our Safety Net.

Holding bed sheets reading “Fund the Fund” and “Where will we sleep?,” housing activists, nonprofits, and DC residents called upon the DC Council to protect low- to moderate-income residents struggling to keep or maintain their affordable housing by restoring funding to key safety net programs. The Mayor’s budget cuts $18 million from the Housing Production Trust Fund, freezes a portion of the Local Rent Supplement Program, and cuts $20 million from homeless services including Housing First.

Yeesh. Tough crowd.  The last one is accompanied by this hilarious picture of some protesters who are definitely in need of some affordable housing.  And yes, Marion Barry was there.

Whatever you think of “affordable housing,” there is some evidence to suggest that maybe the current system isn’t functioning very well, and it might not be a good idea to pump even more money into it.  So while it’s touching that the people most responsible for elimination of affordable housing in DC support affordable housing in DC, I think these people are more in love with the *idea* of affordable housing.  And that’s easier to achieve, because it doesn’t require much more than painting some bed sheets, chanting at a rally, or looking at numbers in a budget and screaming if they go down (or, if they don’t go up as much as you would like).

Things that are absolutely, positively, definitely not at all related in any way, shape, or form

The Washington Post:

NE to receive $800 million in federal rail funds

The Northeast will receive almost $800 million in federal funding to upgrade rail service along the heavily traveled corridor, according to an announcement made Monday by Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood.

The money is a portion of more than $2 billion in awards being distributed across the country.

More than half the money for the Northeast, $450 million, will go to Amtrak to upgrade rail service between New York and Washington. The project will upgrade power systems and other equipment along a busy segment of track between Morrisville, Pa., and New Brunswick, N.J.

David “The Government Says” Shepardson in The Detroit News:

Transportation Department to introduce tougher bus safety measures

Washington — The Transportation Department is unveiling new efforts to improve bus safety and ensure more training for the drivers of commercial vehicles.

The new rules are among several new measures Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood is unveiling today.

…

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration issued a final rule requiring anyone applying for a commercial driver's license to first obtain a commercial driver's learner's permit.

The efforts come amid a series of high-profile bus crashes, including the deaths in March of 15 bus passengers in New York, as they were returning from a Connecticut casino.

Additionally, the government is seeking new authority to pursue enforcement action against unsafe passenger carriers by establishing a federal standard to help determine whether a new carrier is simply a reincarnation of an old, unsafe carrier.

The department also wants to require new bus companies to undergo full safety audits before receiving federal operating authority; revise current law to ensure a driver's CDL can be suspended or revoked for drug- and alcohol-related offenses committed in non-commercial vehicles; and raise the penalty from $2,000 a day to $25,000 for passenger carriers operating without federal authority.

"The public deserves affordable and efficient passenger bus services — but more importantly safe bus services," said FMCSA Administrator Anne S. Ferro. "These measures will help us to better identify and swiftly weed out unsafe and irresponsible operators. Our agency is committed to using every available resource to improve passenger carrier and driver safety."

The new rule for commercial drivers finalized today also requires state licensing agencies to use a commercial driver testing system that meets the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators knowledge and skill standards, and prohibits the use of foreign language interpreters to reduce the potential for testing fraud.

…

The new rule for commercial drivers finalized today also requires state licensing agencies to use a commercial driver testing system that meets the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators knowledge and skill standards, and prohibits the use of foreign language interpreters to reduce the potential for testing fraud.

And don’t miss this awesome concluding ‘graph (which wouldn’t have been included if the government didn’t say it):

Despite high-profile incidents, bus travel remains one of the safest ways to travel. Bus fatalities fell by 19 percent from 2004 to 2009, the government said.

Annnnnnnnd back to DC:

D.C.-To-NYC Buses May Get More Expensive With New Regulations

May 17, 2011 - In D.C.'s Chinatown neighborhood, buses leave to or arrive from New York City at almost any hour. These buses have grown in popularity, thanks in large part to their low prices. But starting this summer, D.C. can charge companies for using curbside space.

…

Starting this summer, the District will have new regulations that allow it to charge bus companies a public space rental fee of $80,000 a year or more.

Pantuso says this fee will be passed along to the riders in the form of higher prices. And he says D.C. is using a booming local industry as an ATM.

You know what they say: If you can’t beat ‘em, tax and regulate the shit out of them, then subsidize their competitors.

Stimulatin’ the reflecting pool

If you live in the United States, you’ve probably seen the signs around various construction progress that say things like “Your Recovery Dollars at Work” or “Putting America Back to Work,” a subtle, “See, we didn’t spend it all on hookers!” from our public servants. 

Anyway, I had some friends in town this weekend, and I came across one of these signs near the Lincoln Memorial, where the reflecting pool is being renovated.  And I gotta hand it to whatever bureaucrat came up with this sign.  They get it:

 

What are two things you shouldn’t put on a sign giving information on a government construction project: 1) The cost.  2) The completion date. 

In reality, the reflecting pool renovation will cost $30 million and is part of a $57-million stimulus-funded effort to renovate 3 national mall sites (along with the Jefferson Memorial and the ever-popular District of Columbia War Memorial).  It is also part of a larger, $750-million award to the National Park Service to complete over 800 projects nationwide, which, PBS hilariously reports, is designed in part to make our national parks “more environmentally friendly.” 

You’ll also be happy to know that while we did visit the Jefferson Memorial, we did not commence dancing on the Jefferson Memorial, since that would be an illegal “demonstration.”  Also illegal:

picketing, speechmaking, marching, holding vigils or religious services and all other like forms of conduct which involve the communication or expression of views or grievances, engaged in by one or more persons, the conduct of which has the effect, intent or propensity to draw a crowd or onlookers.

Damn right we don’t want anybody “speechmaking” in front of crowds on our monuments!

(As a practical matter, this stuff – the National Mall stuff, not the “making our national parks sustainable stuff” – isn’t high on the list of stupid stimulus ideas.  As a big proponent of replacing the always-dead National Mall grass with Austroturf (not FieldTurf…I’m talking straight-up Astrodome style), the Mall is a national beautification embarrassment.  You would notice this more except you can’t really see the grass underneath all the white people playing kickball on it.  And the reflecting pool always looks hot on TV and in photographs, but it’s pretty repulsive in real life.  And it doesn’t even compare to its ugly step-cousin, the Constitution Gardens Pond.  So a water circulation system isn’t the worst idea in the world).

Color me shocked

From the Detroit News:

The Michigan Film Office says a made-for-television movie based on Mitch Albom's "Have a Little Faith" novel has been awarded $2.3 million in tax incentives, the seventh project to be awarded tax credits under the state's new $25 million cap on the film, television and digital media industry.

Also, six of Albom’s last nine columns are about dead people.

Need moar incentives

This is why roulette wheels don’t have green on them…

November 3, 2000:

MEGA Milestone: 100th Tax Credit Offered to Energy Conversion Devices, Inc.

Energy Conversion Devices, Inc. plans to locate its joint venture development and commercialization facility in Rochester Hills rather than in Petersburg,Virginia.  It is estimated that this expansion will create 108 new jobs, 82 directly by the company, for Michigan workers.

“Since MEGA’s creation in 1995, the program has helped create more than 62,000 jobs for Michigan workers and a net positive state impact of more than $2.9 billion,” [former Michigan Governor John] Engler said.  “Offering the 100th MEGA tax credit to an outstanding high-tech company like Energy Conversion Devices further demonstrates the tremendous success of the program”…

A key feature of the MEDC incentives package is a high-tech Michigan Economic Growth Authority (MEGA) tax credit, approved today by the MEGAboard, worth an estimated $1.8 million over the next six years.  MEGA, which is administered by the MEDC, is used to promote high quality economic growth, job creation and retention in Michigan.

In addition, the incentives package includes an abatement of the six-mill State Education Tax for five years with a value estimated at $230,000 and job training assistance valued at $82,000 to train up to 82 new employees at Energy Conversion Devices’ new facility.

March 26, 2006:

United Solar Ovonic Bringing High-Tech Manufacturing Facility, 200 New Jobs to Greenville

LANSING – Governor Jennifer M. Granholm today announced that Auburn Hills-based United Solar Ovonic LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Energy Conversion Devices, Inc. of Rochester Hills, plans to build a new, high-tech Ovonic solar cell manufacturing facility in Greenville.  The Governor, the state, and the Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC) have been actively working with the community to bring new industry to Greenville.

The project will create up to 563 jobs, including 200 directly by the company, within the next five years.  This project paves the way for the potential of five more plants and up to 1,000 additional jobs in Michigan.  MEDC assistance helped convince the company to choose Greenville over a competing site in South Carolina…

The MEDC approved a Single Business Tax credit valued at $5.7 million over 20 years to win the company’s business.  A $5 million federal Community Development Block Grant approved by the MEDC and awarded to the city of Greenville will fund needed infrastructure improvements to support the new plant. The city has proposed a tax abatement valued at approximately $3.6 million over 12 years for the project.  The MEDC and city are expected to support a 15-year, tax-free Renaissance Zone for the site, worth an additional $20.4 million to the company.  With additional funding for training assistance, the state and local incentive package totals approximately $37 million for the 50MW expansion.

State and local governments are also providing United Solar Ovonic with additional incentives to invest up to an additional $600 million for up to five more plants in Greenville and up to 1,000 new jobs.

October 15, 2008:

Energy Conversion Devices To Build Michigan Solar Cell Factory

Energy Conversion Devices, Inc., a leading global manufacturer of thin-film flexible solar laminate products for the building integrated and commercial rooftop markets, today announced Battle Creek, Mich., as the location for its new 120-megawatt (MW) solar cell manufacturing facility…

"The economic incentives offered by State, County and Battle Creek governments, and the support and assistance of the Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC) were key elements in our decision to choose Battle Creek, without which we would not have been able to expand in this community," added Morelli.

The MEDC has offered Michigan Business Tax credits valued at $41.4 million over 20 years to win the company's business. A $12.6 million federal Community Development Block Grant approved by the MEDC and awarded to Calhoun County will fund infrastructure improvements needed to support the new plant.

The MEDC and city have supported a 15-year, tax-free Renaissance Zone and property tax abatements for the site, worth an additional $67 million to the company. With additional funding for training assistance, the state and local incentive package totals approximately $120 million for the Battle Creek expansion.

January 26, 2010:

United Solar Ovonic Awarded $13 Million by DOE, Expects to Create 600 Jobs

Rochester Hills, Mich. — United Solar Ovonic, a subsidiary of Energy Conversion Devices that makes integrated photovoltaic laminates for roofing materials, has received a $13 million grant from the U.S. government to support Ovonic’s plan to upgrade equipment used in its commercial solar deposition process.

United Solar Ovonic plan to invest a total of $42 million in its Auburn Hills 1 facility to upgrade solar deposition equipment.

Upon completion of the upgrades, the company said, its deposition machines will have significantly greater output. The improvements are expected to lower the company’s cost of manufacturing while increasing the efficiency of its solar laminates, and are expected to create approximately 600 jobs in Michigan.

August 11, 2010:

Energy Conversion Devices to Lay Off 140 in Michigan, Shift Some Manufacturing to Mexico

Energy Conversion Devices (ENER), which makes flexible films that converts sunlight into electricity, said Wednesday it will cut 140 jobs from its Michigan operation and move some of the manufacturing to Mexico this fall to cut costs.

October 11, 2010:

Congressional Staffers Gain From Trading in Stocks

WASHINGTON—Chris Miller nearly doubled his $3,500 stock investment in a renewable-energy firm in 2008. It was a perfectly legal bet, but he's no ordinary investor.

Mr. Miller is the top energy-policy adviser to Nevada Democrat and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, who helped pass legislation that wound up benefiting the firm.

Jim Manley, a spokesman for Mr. Reid's office, initially defended Mr. Miller's purchase of shares in the company, Energy Conversion Devices Inc. He said the aide had no influence over tax incentives for renewable-energy firms, and that other factors boosted the stock…

The aides identified by the Journal say they didn't profit by making trades based on any information gathered in the halls of Congress. Even if they had done so, it would be legal, because insider-trading laws don't apply to Congress.

The Detroit News, last Tuesday:

Energy Conversion Devices loses $243M, plans layoffs

Energy Conversion Devices Inc. lost $243.2 million in the January-to-March quarter and is implementing a corporate restructuring that includes cutting 300 workers and naming a new interim president, the company said this morning.

The Auburn Hills-based company, which provides flexible, thin-film solar products and systems to the building and rooftop markets, said in a news release it will cut about 20 percent of its workforce worldwide

Lather.  Rinse.  Repeat.