The City of Cambridge, MA has published their Fiscal Year 2011 One-Year Action Plan , which lists 64 different government programs that "the City of Cambridge anticipates utilizing with HUD appropriated funds" to address "the housing crisis."

Multiply the 15 state resources by 50 states (750) and the 15 local resources by the 273 municipalities with more than 100,000 residents (4095). That's a lot of SEIU assistant administrators and diversity coordinators.

HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan boasts that "the proposed 2010 budget exercises strong fiscal discipline, consolidating or eliminating 27 programs and activities," a claim belied by the fact that HUD's budget rose 10.8% in 2010, from $41.8 billion to $46.3 billion.

One can argue that government should get out of the housing industry altogether. See, for example, Howard Husock's book, America's Trillion Dollar Mistake: The Failure of American Housing Policy. But if the government is going to supply "affordable" housing, why do we need to address the problem in 64 different ways?

FEDERAL RESOURCES (34)

AmeriCorps
Cambridge Health Alliance
Cambridge-Somerville Healthy Homes
Community Development Block Grant Program
Conventional Public Housing Operating Subsidy
Emergency Shelter Grant - HUD
Fair Housing Initiatives
Family/Youth Services Bureau
Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Funds
Federal Mental Health and Substance Abuse Block Grant
Federal PACE Grants
HOME Entitlement Grant
HOME Match Contribution
HOPE Programs (HOPE I, HOPE IV, HOPE VI)
Leadsafe Cambridge Program
Low-income Housing Tax Credits
McKinney-Vento Supported Housing Program (SHP)
McKinney-Vento Shelter Plus Care (S+C)
Moderate Rehabilitation Single Room Occupancy Program
Non-Public Housing Development
Public Housing Capital Funds
Public Housing Capital Grant
Public Housing Development
Safe Havens for Homeless Individuals
Section 108 Loan Grantee Program Funds
Housing Choice Voucher Program (Local Leased Housing Program)
Shelter Plus Care Program
Supportive Housing for Persons with Disabilities (Section 811)
Supportive Housing Program
Program Income
Workforce Investment Act
YouthBuild
Interest Reduction Payment (IRP)
Condo Acquisition Program

STATE RESOURCES (15)

Cambridge Housing Assistance Program
Capital Improvement and Preservation Fund (CIPF)
Commercial Area Transit Node Housing Program (CATNHP)
Community Based Housing (CBH)
Community Preservation Act: State & Locally Raised Funds
Housing Innovation Fund (HIF)
Housing Stabilization Funds
Massachusetts Affordable Housing Trust Fund (AHTF)
Mass Housing Get the Lead Out Program
Menotomy Weatherization Program
State-Assisted Public Housing
State's Department of Public Health
State Emergency Assistance
State HOME Allocations
TOD Infrastructure and Housing Support Program (TOD Bond Program)

LOCAL RESOURCES (15)

Affordable Rental and Homeownership Services
Cambridge Affordable Housing Trust
Cambridge Fund for Housing the Homeless
Cambridge Historic Commission
Cambridge Housing Assistance Program
Cambridge Multi-Service Center
Cambridge Neighborhood Apartment Housing Services (CNAHS)
Expiring Use ~ Low-Income Housing Preservation Program
Harvard Loan 20/20/2000 Initiative
Incentive Zoning Program
Inclusionary Zoning Program
State Low Income Housing Tax Credits
Massachusetts Rental Voucher Program (MRVP)
Massachusetts Historic Rehabilitation Tax Credit
Community Economic Development Assistance Corporation (CEDAC)