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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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