Saturday, October 22, 2011

Can an Ulster County PAC Counteract Banking Pressure Favoring Public Housing

I sent the following message to a number of activists in Ulster County.  The push for public housing is likely linked to banking interests.  

Dear Friends:

I have been thinking about contributing to State Senator Bonacic’s Democratic opponent in the next election.  However, a political action committee (PAC) that would oppose candidates, Democratic and Republican, who implement, side with, fail to revoke, propose or support public housing and the kind of plan that the Olive Democrats have proposed (see attached), might be a better way to go.  I would be interested in discussing this idea with the local tea parties and other activists.  We are up against significant financial interests, specifically large regional and money center banks, who benefit from the comprehensive plans and RUPCO-style developments.   I draw this conclusion after an in-depth interview today with two RUPCO representatives.

I have been thinking about your excellent work respecting State Senator Bonacic and his involvement with the Regan developers and the comprehensive plan trend. I was similarly concerned about the heavy GOP presence at the LEED ceremony last summer on behalf of a corrupt Kingston developer who has been heavily involved with public contracts in Kingston.  Both Democratic and Republican parties are tainted, and a freedom-oriented movement needs to think about financially supporting opposition candidates, whether Democratic or Republican.

RUPCO told me today that Key Bank lent the $15 million for the Woodstock housing project and that on top of the low risk return the bank gets a tax credit under New York State law; RUPCO says that large, not local, banks tend to be the ones involved in financing the housing projects on which it works—the reason for the comprehensive plan push regionally may be related to this.  The contractors tend to be local, RUPCO said.  

Support for Olive style comprehensive plans and public housing trend has been bipartisan because of the money flows.  The banks and developers are fertile sources of political donations.  It is evident that significant financial interests are pushing for the plans and for increased public housing construction despite, or perhaps because of, the failure of the banking system and the housing bubble the banking system created and was bailed out of during the last decade. 

A PAC targeted at both Republicans and Democrats who support public housing and/or the kind of comprehensive plan that Olive has adopted may be necessary to combat the money flow into the coffers of the two parties.   Would your organization be interested in supporting this idea?  Would the other Tea Parties?  I believe that by working together we can identify candidates, Democratic and Republican, who ought to be defeated and then focus contributions intelligently.

Sincerely,


Mitchell Langbert

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