House Votes 345-73 to Help Families Keep Affordable Housing as Middle-Class-Hating Rep. Jeff Flake Sneers, Protests and Votes No

In 1975, right near where I grew up in Brooklyn, responsible developers and a consortium of labor unions built Starrett City, the nation's largest affordable rental housing development, by the waters of Spring Creek.

My friend Randy's Grandma Sarah and Poppy Joe moved there, and it was and still is a great place for diverse working class and middle class folks. The 20,000 people who live in the high-rises there aren't concerned with social engineering so much as they want good schools, a safe place for kids to play, and a clean spot of the city to call their own.

But in the last couple of years, one of the last affordable places for families to live in New York has been threatened by greedy developers who want to throw out the tenants and turn the property into luxury housing for the rich. Residents of Starrett City have been scared they will be thrown out on the street as the complex becomes another place that only the wealthy can afford.

This afternoon, the House of Representatives voted 345-73 to pass H.R. 5937, which will enable Starrett City to remain affordable. The majority of Republican members of Congress, led by the bill's co-sponsor, Rep. Peter King (R-NY) and Majority Leader John Boehner (R-OH), joined all the Democrats in support of affordable housing for middle class and working class families.

Rep. Jeff Flake sneered and voted no.

In his eight years in Congress, Jeff Flake has done everything he could to stop any helping hand for families who aren't the richest of the rich. He would have voted against this bill had the residents of Starrett City lived in his own district.

Not every family can afford to buy their home, as many Arizonans have learned in the past couple of years. As the sponsor of today's bill, Rep. Ed Towns (D-NY) said, "With the weakening economy and rising gas and food costs, it is urgent now more than ever that we fight to preserve affordable housing for tenants.”

Only if we defeat Jeff Flake in November will our representative in Congress be fighting for middle class families, not against us.

Re-elect Jeff Flake? Fuhgeddaboudit.