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January 27, 2005

Capuano outlines prospects for programs under Bush

Yawu Miller

The news coming from 8th Congressional District Representative Michael Capuano hasn’t been rosy for the last four years.

As a Democrat working in a Republican-dominated Congress during a Republican presidency, Capuano’s battles are less about winning and more about cutting losses.

“The victories I measure are very small victories,” he said. “I can’t change the housing policies of the George Bush administration. I can lessen the negative impacts, but that’s all.”

The 30 or so community residents who turned out for a meeting at the New Boston Pilot Middle School brought with them questions about affordable housing, mass transit and voter rights issues.

Capuano answered their questions in his characteristic unvarnished manner, giving no promises of sure success.

“It’s a matter of priorities,” he told the gathering, responding to a question about stalled MBTA plans for improvements along the Fairmount commuter rail line. “Priorities tend to be selected with a political tinge. When more people vote, their interests become more of a priority.”

Perched on the proscenium in a 200-seat auditorium, the congressman told the audience he supports wholeheartedly their efforts to add stops to the Fairmont line in Dorchester and Mattapan. Currently the line, which begins in Roslindale, has just one stop in Mattapan and one stop in Upham’s Corner.

“I think the Fairmount line stops are very possible, because they’re relatively cheap,” he said. “I also think that if I can get one commuter rail stop on any line, it will prove a point.”

A longtime proponent of mass transit, Capuano wants to see the commuter rail lines that tear through communities like his native Somerville open more stops in those communities. While some in the auditorium argued that the MBTA has shown blatant disregard for communities of color and the inner city, Capuano argued that the agency has shown disregard for its ridership in general.

“They treat other neighborhoods just as bad,” he said. “If you don’t believe me, come with me to an MBTA meeting in another neighborhood.”

As intractable as the state’s public transit authority may be, it has nothing on the Bush administration when it comes to social programs. To illustrate the administration’s attitude toward public housing, Capuano recalled HUD Director Alphonse Jackson’s remark about poverty being a state of mind.

“I think that tells me more about this administration’s attitude toward public housing than anything,” he said. “They don’t believe in it.”

Because the federal government is no longer funding affordable housing projects, cities like Boston are unable to produce enough affordable units to meet the growing demand. Capuano cautioned the audience against expecting more funding from the Bush administration.

“If there’s no money, you can advocate all you want,” he said. “You’re not going to get it.”

On the state level, Capuano was critical of the Romney administration after an audience member complained of cuts for an anti-domestic violence program.

“This is what the fight is all about,” Capuano commented. “People like you and me think it’s okay for the state to be involved in issues like domestic violence. We think it’s not one person’s problem — it’s society’s problem. Mitt Romney believes in the same things that George Bush believes in — that the government has no role in our lives.

“George Bush believes we should fund the army and the navy and if there’s anything left over, we should give it back. Until America decides we like these programs, it’s going to continue.”

Capuano described how the New Deal programs that helped previous generations obtain mortgages, college loans and health care have all been cut under successive Republican administrations.

The Republican belief in limited government has taken hold, according to Capuano, even in Massachusetts, where a majority of voters selected Romney over Democratic rival Shannon O’Brien.

“My fight with my neighbors in Massachusetts — not just in New Hampshire and Iowa — is to prove that government does have a role,” he said.

 

 

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