FrankRep
01-24-2011, 01:36 PM
http://www.thenewamerican.com/images/stories2011/12aJanuary/homeless.001.jpg
According to a report released on January 12 by the National Alliance to End Homelessness, from 2008 to 2009 the homeless population increased by 3 percent, or by about 20,000 people. by Brian Koenig
The Cure for Homelessness in America (http://www.thenewamerican.com/index.php/usnews/politics/6014-the-cure-for-homelessness-in-america)
Brian Koenig | The New American (http://www.thenewamerican.com/)
24 January 2011
According to a report released on January 12 by the National Alliance to End Homelessness, from 2008 to 2009 the homeless population increased by three percent, or by about 20,000 people. Almost three-quarters of households with income below the poverty line shelled out over 50 percent of their monthly household income on rent (http://(http//www.prweb.com/releases/prweb2011/stateofhomelessness/prweb8059374.htm)).
To some, these statistics are startling, but they are also quite predictable, considering that unemployment is up near 10 percent and the housing market continues to flounder.
“These findings project what depressed wages, stagnant unemployment, unrelenting housing cost burden, and the lagging pace of economic recovery really means: increases in homelessness and heightened risk of homelessness for Americans,” said Nan Roman, president of the National Alliance to End Homelessness. “As the new Congress and the Administration work to revitalize the American economy, we ask that they include homelessness interventions in the recovery strategy — clearly, as these data show, they are an urgent part of the solution.”
The National Alliance to End Homelessness is a federation of over 10,000 private and public organizations that are dedicated to a common cause, ending homelessness. Over the past decade the alliance has expanded its organization capacity to promoting state and federal government policies, with a dynamic push to increase spending and enact new government programs.
The alliance’s mission is to “provide data and research to policymakers and elected officials in order to inform policy debates and educate the public and opinion leaders nationwide … today, with the help of federal leadership and local activism, the Alliance aims (http://www.endhomelessness.org/section/aboutus) to continue on its journey to end homelessness once and for all in America.”
This is a very noble cause, but it is also a utopian ideal that will never come to fruition. The belief that “elected officials” will rid the poverty-stricken streets of Detroit is a fantasy; “local activism” — churches, businesses, individual contributions — is the more suitable alternative. Local communities breed a more favorable result than politicians cycling the trivial pursuit to humanitarian fame. But even with that said, “ending homelessness once and for all” is beyond impractical.
Homelessness is indeed a problem, but unfortunately it is also an opportunity for humanitarian organizations, such as the alliance, to funnel millions of dollars in taxpayer-subsidized funding into a dying system — a temporary fix.
The link between homelessness and foreclosure rates is profound. A report by the National Coalition for the Homeless displayed a 32-percent hike in foreclosure rates (http://www.nationalhomeless.org/factsheets/why.html) between April 2008 and April 2009, around the same time period of the alliance’s study. Naturally, rising foreclosure rates will increase homelessness. The two items are inseparable.
If we establish that the three-percent increase in homelessness is a direct result of the economy, as the studies present, we can also establish that escalating welfare spending will have no positive long-term effect. Unless, of course, the recession is permanent, which would defy American history and the fundamentals of economic succession. Moreover, taking money from productive society will prolong and exacerbate unemployment, especially as this is spending that, if executed, would become cemented into the federal deficit, burdening taxpayers for years to come. Ever heard of the Great Society?
The money spent on welfare and new government programs should instead go to the economy, and the best way to boost the economy is to leave the money in the economy, meaning less government regulation and lower income and corporate tax rates. Political and governmental dissolution will ramp up hiring, decrease the risk of inflation, and plant the seeds for private-sector growth.
In the end, there is no “ending homelessness,” but there is an opportunity to rehabilitate the economy, which in turn will bring willing Americans back off the streets. Increased government spending and expanded government programs are not the right avenues for decreasing homelessness; economic recovery is. The alliance’s analysis answers itself.
In the renowned phrase coined by Bill Clinton’s 1992 presidential campaign, it’s not government vivacity, “it’s the economy, stupid.”
SOURCE:
http://www.thenewamerican.com/index.php/usnews/politics/6014-the-cure-for-homelessness-in-america
According to a report released on January 12 by the National Alliance to End Homelessness, from 2008 to 2009 the homeless population increased by 3 percent, or by about 20,000 people. by Brian Koenig
The Cure for Homelessness in America (http://www.thenewamerican.com/index.php/usnews/politics/6014-the-cure-for-homelessness-in-america)
Brian Koenig | The New American (http://www.thenewamerican.com/)
24 January 2011
According to a report released on January 12 by the National Alliance to End Homelessness, from 2008 to 2009 the homeless population increased by three percent, or by about 20,000 people. Almost three-quarters of households with income below the poverty line shelled out over 50 percent of their monthly household income on rent (http://(http//www.prweb.com/releases/prweb2011/stateofhomelessness/prweb8059374.htm)).
To some, these statistics are startling, but they are also quite predictable, considering that unemployment is up near 10 percent and the housing market continues to flounder.
“These findings project what depressed wages, stagnant unemployment, unrelenting housing cost burden, and the lagging pace of economic recovery really means: increases in homelessness and heightened risk of homelessness for Americans,” said Nan Roman, president of the National Alliance to End Homelessness. “As the new Congress and the Administration work to revitalize the American economy, we ask that they include homelessness interventions in the recovery strategy — clearly, as these data show, they are an urgent part of the solution.”
The National Alliance to End Homelessness is a federation of over 10,000 private and public organizations that are dedicated to a common cause, ending homelessness. Over the past decade the alliance has expanded its organization capacity to promoting state and federal government policies, with a dynamic push to increase spending and enact new government programs.
The alliance’s mission is to “provide data and research to policymakers and elected officials in order to inform policy debates and educate the public and opinion leaders nationwide … today, with the help of federal leadership and local activism, the Alliance aims (http://www.endhomelessness.org/section/aboutus) to continue on its journey to end homelessness once and for all in America.”
This is a very noble cause, but it is also a utopian ideal that will never come to fruition. The belief that “elected officials” will rid the poverty-stricken streets of Detroit is a fantasy; “local activism” — churches, businesses, individual contributions — is the more suitable alternative. Local communities breed a more favorable result than politicians cycling the trivial pursuit to humanitarian fame. But even with that said, “ending homelessness once and for all” is beyond impractical.
Homelessness is indeed a problem, but unfortunately it is also an opportunity for humanitarian organizations, such as the alliance, to funnel millions of dollars in taxpayer-subsidized funding into a dying system — a temporary fix.
The link between homelessness and foreclosure rates is profound. A report by the National Coalition for the Homeless displayed a 32-percent hike in foreclosure rates (http://www.nationalhomeless.org/factsheets/why.html) between April 2008 and April 2009, around the same time period of the alliance’s study. Naturally, rising foreclosure rates will increase homelessness. The two items are inseparable.
If we establish that the three-percent increase in homelessness is a direct result of the economy, as the studies present, we can also establish that escalating welfare spending will have no positive long-term effect. Unless, of course, the recession is permanent, which would defy American history and the fundamentals of economic succession. Moreover, taking money from productive society will prolong and exacerbate unemployment, especially as this is spending that, if executed, would become cemented into the federal deficit, burdening taxpayers for years to come. Ever heard of the Great Society?
The money spent on welfare and new government programs should instead go to the economy, and the best way to boost the economy is to leave the money in the economy, meaning less government regulation and lower income and corporate tax rates. Political and governmental dissolution will ramp up hiring, decrease the risk of inflation, and plant the seeds for private-sector growth.
In the end, there is no “ending homelessness,” but there is an opportunity to rehabilitate the economy, which in turn will bring willing Americans back off the streets. Increased government spending and expanded government programs are not the right avenues for decreasing homelessness; economic recovery is. The alliance’s analysis answers itself.
In the renowned phrase coined by Bill Clinton’s 1992 presidential campaign, it’s not government vivacity, “it’s the economy, stupid.”
SOURCE:
http://www.thenewamerican.com/index.php/usnews/politics/6014-the-cure-for-homelessness-in-america