Fire HUD's Alphonso Jackson

A brewing scandal in Washington, D.C. shows just how much the president of the United States and his administration disregard the needs of those living in poverty. The Washington Post reports:

An inspector general's report charges that top U.S. housing official Alphonso Jackson urged staff members to favor friends of President Bush when awarding Department of Housing and Urban Development contracts. But investigators so far have found no direct proof that Jackson's staff obeyed.

His chief of staff told investigators that Jackson, the HUD secretary, "personally intervened with contractors whom he did not like . . . these contractors had Democratic political affiliations," says the report, a copy of which was made available to The Washington Post….

U.S. Senator Frank Lautenberg has called on Jackson to resign.

"The President should not tolerate this type of activity by a member of his Cabinet," Lautenberg said in a statement yesterday. "Given the allegations made by very credible witnesses in the Inspector General's report, the Department of Justice needs to get involved."

We’ve already watched this president preside over year after year of increases in poverty. Now we know his top aide assigned to fight poverty has been trying to use what little money is available to reward Bush cronies for their support.

Jackson shouldn’t be allowed to resign.

He should be fired.