““They’re seeking to blame and penalize and marginalize the victims rather than take the steps they haven’t found the political will to take,” said Eric Tars, the senior policy director at the National Homelessness Law Center.”
What will they do with them? Jail them? Take them to a firing squad? Where will they go? I’ve been temporarily homeless before, and at the time, I had a couch I could surf, but now? I have lost all those people due to various pandemic-related reasons, and I’m living on borrowed time here. I could very easily become homeless again because I’m partially disabled but don’t qualify for government assistance (FPL is $17,000 for a single person…you don’t qualify for food stamps or Medicaid if you make more than that), then what? I’m punished because of who I am? My inability to work more? My bad luck of having no friends or family?
I’m a voting Democrat, and I like to believe that the people who have always voted Democrat, not side switchers, would never want this to happen. But man, I’m so sick of having my faith in humanity tested, every day. Stop punishing people for being born or forced into poverty. The CEO of Intuit, for example, a major corporation in California, could probably feed and house all of the nation’s poor and still net a cool quarter bill.
The author cites very few leaders. The article is really written in a sensational way.
Anyway, for the few people actually mentioned: how about fix the actual problem? We know of programs that have evidence they work. Stop pussy footing around and implement them.
My only liberal dream is a world without conservatives. The world may not be anywhere close to perfect, but it’s made significantly worse by conservatives.
The stupidest part is that both Republicans (in Utah at least) and Democrats have seen, first hand, that Housing First initiatives are actually less expensive for the government than just ignoring, then displacing inconvenient homeless populations.
Research in Seattle, Washington, found that providing housing and support services for homeless alcoholics costs taxpayers less than leaving them on the street, where taxpayer money goes towards police and emergency health care.
Both morality and fiscal responsibility agree on certain issues, and this is one of them.
I’m not saying that housing first is the ultimate best remedy, because I don’t know all of the alternatives. Just that clearing homeless camps is proven to be expensive and ineffective.