I have written several times about the Obama administration’s proposed rule on Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing (AFFH), an attempt to dictate how we shall live. In essence, President Obama seeks to use the power of the national government to create communities of a certain kind, each having what the federal government deems an appropriate mix of economic, racial, and ethnic diversity.
Tonight, the House of Representatives will attempt to derail this train. The Gosar amendment would block any funding for the Department of Housing and Urban Development to enforce AFFH.
The vote is scheduled for around 10:00 p.m. Please contact your representative and urge a “yes” vote.
As Stanley Kurtz says:
The AFFH rule represents a stunning repudiation of America’s system of local self-government. This is as radical—and as politically explosive—a change as anything President Obama has attempted. That’s exactly why he never talks about it, and why he’s delayed it past every election, setting deadline after failed deadline for the final rule’s release. . . .Republican representatives in particular need to understand that once the final AFFH rule is promulgated, this issue is going to be widely discussed and debated. Constituents will hold them responsible for failing to stop AFFH when they had a chance. . . .Contrary to its title, AFFH isn’t about blocking housing discrimination. That is already illegal, and former HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan acknowledged that AFFH is not about stopping housing discrimination, but instead about changing the way Americans live. AFFH will force every municipality that takes federal housing money to take a detailed survey of where its citizens live, by income, race, ethnicity, etc. If the mixture is not to the federal government’s liking, changes would have to be made at local expense. In effect, this would strip local governments of their zoning power.
If a Republican Congress won’t block a federal power grab as egregious and consequential as this one, there’s little point in having a Republican Congress.
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