The Real Deal: HUD Sec Mel Martinez' Hotseat (III)

The Piratization Double Standard – Heads We Win, Tails We Win

The double standard that ensures a rich flow of piratization profits is normally hard to explain without a hotseat that provides the wealth of links that simplify the complexity of piratization at places like HUD.

Here are some of the HUD examples for which the Mel Martinez Hotseat provides detail:

HUD has a program called Hope VI in which HUD pays $150-250,000 per unit to build housing owned by private developers in communities where housing could be built or rehabilitated for much less. Why pay $75,000 when you can pay $250,000 right?

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When I once asked the head of Hope VI why not finance 4 or 5 homes for the price of one, she answered, “how would we generate fees for our friends?” One of the most successful developers of Hope VI housing during Mel Martinez tenure was Scott Nordheimer. Nordheimer has a felony record as a result of securities fraud during the Iran Contra period. Under Hope VI, public housing is cleansed of people with felony records. Hence we have a felon real estate developer making windfall profits with above market subsidies on cleansing neighborhoods of felons. A review of the current Administration appointees shows this is an Administration where Iran Contra felons are quite popular. Pirates with felon records can have millions of HUD subsidies and land major political appointments. Non pirate felons are evicted.

The Pearlie Rucker story is another example. While Jeb Bush's kids were living in the governor's mansion (aka public housing), one was violating the laws regarding prescription drugs. Enforcement was essentially token. Meantime, Mel Martinez' HUD and the Department of Justice continued to evict women from public housing whose children were caught outside the home using drugs without their mother's knowledge or consent.

Illuminating these double standards is always useful, as it strikes at the most vulnerable point – the system does not have the legitimacy to warrant financial liquidity. When and if this notion catches on, financial power will shift to the truthtellers.

No Honor Among HUD Thieves

The secret behind the power of illumination is to be found in the old saying “truth comes together and lies fall apart.” Piratization falls apart when pirates start fighting with each other in a manner that would jeopardize their financial liquidity. There are many signals to evidence that teamwork in and around Mel Martinez is fraying.

Last week the White House nomination for Mel Martinez's successor as HUD secretary, Alphonso Jackson, ran into a problem in confirmation hearings. The computer systems that control HUD and its rich pot of data on US land and real estate -- as well as the accounting and payment systems that are so good at “disappearing” money and federal mortgage insurance -- are being hotly contested by the incumbent, Lockheed Martin, and the newly chosen successor, another long time HUD contractor, EDS.

The contract is worth over a billion dollars in payments of $150 Million plus per year to run HUD's information systems. Assuming a 10% profit margin and a 20 times corporate stock multiple, and this contract is worth $300 Million in corporate stock market valuation. Leverage that in a variety of ways, and the potential stock market value is much much higher. So the Lockheed vs EDS contracting fisticuff is a serious pirate fight with the potential to hiccup the global mortgage markets.

The squabble has spilled out of HUD through the General Accounting Office bid protest process and into the Court of Claims. Now it appears to have seeped into Congress.

The President, Acting Secretary Jackson, and EDS are all from Texas. The Senators making noises about giving Jackson trouble on his nomination just happen to be located in Lockheed strongholds Maryland and Colorado. Interesting enough, so is Orlando, Florida where Mel Martinez is based. While Disney is making cartoons to delight consumers, Lockheed is nearby using the same computer techniques to simulate things like jet fighter training.

This is a squabble in which there are no good guys present – just a dogfight by dirty defense contractors for the power conferred by the control of data and money and the profits of piratization that it helps engineer to their investors and network. This includes the strategic position of HUD and its mortgage portfolio in the asset forfeiture game, legislated through the pretext of the War on Drugs.

In the global game of empire, the value of this data should not be underestimated when we assert the right to attack and seize nations that are financing our government and mortgage debt. Investors beware the control of investment and land data by black budget pirates – particularly when they also control the central financial spigot.

The Blame Game

One indication of how leaky things are getting around the spigot are two recent books by former US Secretary of the Treasury.

“In an Uncertain World: Tough Choices from Wall Street to Washington” is a memoir by Robert E. Rubin, Clinton's Second Secretary of the Treasury. Rubin's book is a tour of the official actions and events of his tour of duty. Anyone familiar with “how the money worked" during that period, will find the book is defined by what is not included.

Missing are the covert operations behind the various financial crises described, HUD and mortgage market fraud and bubbles, CIA Inspector General reports admitting Iran Contra narcotics trafficking by the federal government, the criminal harvesting of numerous financial systems around the world, including Russia, and the explosive profits of Rubin's prior colleagues during his stint at Treasury – including a four fold increase in the Harvard Endowment who gorged at both the Russia and HUD troughs.

Rubin's book is an astute exercise in making sure Rubin is not tagged as a pirate in the bankrupting of social security and the federal credit, and Citibank's leadership in worldwide money laundering and financial fraud. Rubin paints a picture of a “good guy” who promotes women, loves children and frets incessantly about the needs of ordinary people. Rubin does not want to be disqualified from serving as Greenspan's successor at the Federal Reserve as a result of his personal 21st century holocaust profits. He wishes to enjoy the social prestige afforded to him in the progressive community combined with the lush profits of piratization.

“The Price of Loyalty: George W. Bush, the White House & the Education of Paul O'Neill” by Ron Suskind, written with extensive interviews with Paul O'Neill, Bush's first Secretary of the Treasury, tells some of what is wrong with the current Administration.

O'Neill made some attempt to disclose real debt and liabilities and to start to address them. However, one is still left with the impression of a financial leader –cognizant of his signature on dollar bills falling in value in the hands of billions of citizens around the globe -- making sure that he does not end up in a global hotseat as a result of the drain in our pockets.

What is perhaps most frightening is that Rubin and O'Neill are expending so much time and energy making sure they are not blamed for the piracy they practiced or legitimized, rather than trying to design, communicate and lead real solutions that minimise harm and heartbreak.

In O'Neill's defense, he refused to go along with the outrageous financial practices of the Bush Administrations, and had the courage to illuminate some of the problems. His efforts underscore the negligence and abrogation of responsibility in Rubin's cosmetics and Mel Martinez's silence.

Rove got O'Neill fired. Rove is trying to promote Mel Martinez to Senator. That probably says one of the most important things we need to know about Mel Martinez. This is a guy who will go with the high paying flow right off the cliff and into the abyss.

We Have the Power

The genius behind the Mel Martinez Hotseat include:

Henri Poole, a member of the Free Software Foundation, founder of Civic Actions (www.civicactions.com) and Civic Actions Wiki (www.civicactions.org) and creator of the Where is the Money Petition?

Court Skinner ( l.skinner@ieee.org), 30 year veteran of the Silicon Valley semiconductor industry who is currently retired, but more active than ever in making sure that the world is still intact for his grandchildren while overseeing the Spanish translation at http://www.whereisthemoney.org/es and keeping the Solari open source hardware up and running.

Scores of Internet media and researchers in North and Latin America, Europe and Asia who have succeeded in using the unanswered questions format to bring accountability through illumination, and who are building market share and aggregating intelligence and credentials in a powerful way.

We are people who are busy paying our rent, raising children and running errands. Yet, we understand the power of what is possible when we build global networks to bring transparency. We seek safety in numbers and responsibility in our day to day actions.

If it would give you energy, we welcome your signing the Where is the Money? Petition and forwarding the Mel Martinez Hotseat link - ( http://www.whereisthemoney.org/hotseat/melmartinez.htm) - to friends, family and associates and anyone interested in the Florida election. If you know anyone in the media who would enjoy using the Hotseat to cover the Florida election, Carribean and Latin American empire building or learn more about how they can use hotseats, do send it on to them.

If you know Mel Martinez, do invite him to answer the questions and to engage in an open discussion during the campaign about who has the $59 billion missing from HUD, why he did not get it back , and what part of global empire for private pirate booty it is now financing.

Relevance - There is no substitute for relevant information that provides value to a reader. Good research and links to background references are essential for launching the effective transparency effort. Relevant questions open up the mind and inspire thought. Our business and government leaders need to be asked the relevant questions so that they can think about the impact of their actions.

Location, Location, Location - Just as it is with real estate in the physical world, location is everything. When a fellow citizen goes about researching a candidate or a company on the Internet, it is important that they have access to a full range of information. When a fellow journalist works on a story, it is important that they quickly obtain access to relevant information and sources for comment.

Become Relevant - Start your own blog or website and create relevant webpages. Link from those pages to other pages that you find relevant. Be sure to use appropriate words in the text for the links. Free website & blog hosts: Geocities , Angelfire , Pitas , BlogSpot , Weblogger

Become Visable - Ask others with similar webpages or blogs to link to your webpages. Most websites have contact information. Send an email to the webmaster or blogger asking them to link to your page. Make comments on news sites that are covering relevant news. Visit Wiki sites and create links to your own site in relevant places on the Wiki. Lists of online news sites: IndyMedia , OnlineNewspapers , PaperBoy , Internet Public Library . Lists of Wiki sites: SwitchWiki , WikiDirectory . What is a Wiki? Wiki.Org

Start a List - Begin accumulating a list of fellow netizens that have similar interests. Send out messages to your list that provide links to your pages. Provide your email address on the messages and offer to add newcomers to your list. Ask readers to forward your message to 10 others who might have an interest in your work.

Metrics - Search for words on the major search engines to see how you are progressing. Learn to use the tracking tools (like "links: YOUR URL")to see who is linking to you, and who is linking to other relevant sites.

For all links for events described in this column, see links at the Mel Martinez Hotseat.

For all inquiries about the Mel Martinez Hotseat, e-mail friends@whereisthemoney.org or leave at the forum link provided at the Hotseat.

Catherine Austin Fitts is the President of Solari, Inc., a founding member of UnAnsweredQuestions.org, whereisthemoney.org? and member of the Advisory Board of Sanders Research Associates. Ms. Fitts is former Assistant Secretary of Housing-Federal Housing Commissioner in Bush I and a former managing director and member of the board of directors of Dillon Read & Co. Inc.

Henri Poole is a software activist and internet campaign strategist. He is the founder of Affero, CivicActions.com and WhereIsTheMoney.org? Henri is a member of the board of the Free Software Foundation.

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