HUD secretary on a mission to improve department

Let's talk about the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

With the national headlines focused elsewhere, new HUD administrator Dr. Ben Carson is quietly transforming the massive bureaucracy in a way that has liberals in a tizzy.

HUD was one of a number of Johnson-era federal programs designed to provide taxpayer-funding housing for the poor. Every county in Missouri has a HUD-funded program.

The problem is not with the local administrators who run the programs. The problem is the abysmal lack of accountability at the federal level.

And it's no small problem.

The financial records of HUD are in such bad shape that government officials have said there is no way to accurately track HUD's spending for over a decade. There is a general agreement that fraud and abuse are simply part of the HUD culture given the billions of dollars doled out annually.

The Trump administration has proposed $4 billion in cuts to HUD grants as a starting point to gain control of spending. And liberal heads are spinning.

For the first time in over a decade, Dr. Carson hired a full-time financial officer to gain control of the finances. That alone makes you wonder why there has not been someone in that position since the beginning of the Obama era.

It's somewhat ironic that one of HUD's first substantial failures took place in Missouri.

Pruitt-Igoe housing complex in St. Louis was to be a model for public housing. But in 1972, the massive complex was leveled after it fell into disrepair and became a haven for criminal activity.

Local housing agencies for the most part are dedicated public servants who work tirelessly to accommodate the housing needs of the poor. However even in Southeast Missouri, some housing agencies have been found guilty of financial fraud.

The problem lies squarely with the swamp in Washington which lacks any accountability.

Dr. Carson additionally infuriated the deep state liberals when he proposed changes to HUD's mission statement.

In the past, the HUD mission statement spoke of "free from discrimination." The new proposed statement instead puts the emphasis on "self-sufficiency" as a way to help Americans move up the economic ladder to success.

The new mission statement reads, "HUD's mission is to ensure Americans have access to fair, affordable housing and opportunities to achieve self-sufficiency, thereby strengthening our communities and nation."

The Obama administration used HUD to push social engineering by mandating additional public housing should explore locations in affluent neighborhoods and attempting to remove criminal background checks from a requirement for public housing assistance.

But there's a new sheriff in town and hopefully taxpayers can soon rest assured that their tax dollars are going to deserving individuals and the fraud and abuse are issues from the past.

Dr. Carson has come under a massive attack because of the proposed changes. Fair housing groups and the progressive media have made Carson a target.

The criticism from the left is a clear indication that Carson has HUD on the right track after a decade of Obama-era abuses.

Michael Jensen is the publisher of the Standard Democrat in Sikeston, Missouri.