Posted on 02/09/2013 8:45:47 PM PST by Tolerance Sucks Rocks
(CNSNews.com) - Under the broad banner of "health," the federal government not only is telling Americans what to eat, it's also telling us to make our homes safer.
This week, the Obama administration released a "bold new vision for addressing the nation's health and economic burdens caused by preventable hazards associated with the home."
The project has a name: "Advancing Healthy Housing: A Strategy for Action."
"People in the United States spend about 70% of their time in a home," the announcement said.
"Currently, millions of U.S. homes have moderate to severe physical housing problems, including dilapidated structure; roofing problems; heating, plumbing, and electrical deficiencies; water leaks and intrusion; pests; damaged paint; and high radon gas levels. These conditions are associated with a wide range of health issues, including unintentional injuries, respiratory illnesses like asthma and radon-induced lung cancer, lead poisoning, result in lost school days for children, as well as lost productivity in the labor force."
According to the Obama administration, the health and economic burdens from preventable hazards associated with both subsidized and privately owned homes cost billions of dollars.
The new strategy "unifies" federal efforts to advance healthy housing -- "demonstrating the connection between housing conditions and residents’ health."
The federal partners pushing healthy housing include the White House Council on Environmental Quality, Environmental Protection Agency, Department of Housing and Urban Development, the Surgeon General, and Energy Department.
HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan says the federal government must do "everything we can to ensure that individuals and families have a healthy place to call home." He said the strategy "will help the federal government unify action (on) controlling and preventing major housing-related exposures and hazards."
EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson said the government now has a "specific plan for action to address radon and other preventable hazards found in homes across the country." The strategy, she added, "is a critical step" toward ensuring that "Americans in all communities have healthy places to live, work and play."
The healthy homes strategy sets five goals for reducing the number of substandard homes:
-- Establish healthy homes recommendations (homes should be dry, clean, pest-free, safe, contaminant-free, well-ventilated, and well-maintained and thermally controlled);
-- Encourage adoption of healthy homes recommendations (federal, state and local regulations);
-- Create and support training and workforce development to address health hazards in housing (train people for new jobs in green energy and construction);
-- Educate the public about healthy homes (advertising campaigns telling Americans how their homes ought to be)
-- Support research that advances healthy housing in a cost-effective manner (taxpayer-funded grants to study the problem).
A 2013 report from the "Federal Healthy Homes Work Group" notes that "susceptible and vulnerable populations, such as children, the poor, minorities, individuals with behavioral health issues, and people with chronic medical conditions, may be disproportionately impacted by inadequate housing."
The report also says many home-based hazards are preventable -- "and opportunities exist for intervention programs that would not only reduce health impacts on
occupants, but the economic burden as well, resulting in a positive return on investment."
now they might mandate we spend $20,000 a year on housing too?
An entity as stone dumb as the federal government is now going to tell us what our houses should be like?
I’m pretty sure the Constitution didn’t give them that power. I didn’t see a mention of Congress (the alleged lawmaking body) being involved, either.
Nanny State PING!
“and opportunities exist for intervention programs that would not only reduce health impacts on
occupants, but the economic burden as well, resulting in a positive return on investment.
“intervention, investment”
Obama has a whole different meaning to those two words...
What’s the R number and the S number for this legislation? I mean, every law that passes, goes thru the house and senate, has an assigned number...
just curious, mind you...
Sounds like a good reason for the govt to condem our homes then force us to live in govt provided housing.
Agenda 21...move everyone into central areas...easier to control.
Stupid voters buy this crap. Obama cares for them. That’s all that counts.
They do such a good job on the public tenements that they run, they want to tell the rest of the landlords how to do theirs.
Looking forward to the fine print.
Examples:
Every home must have a foot bath and prayer rug.
Every home must have a barn/stable for camels.
Translation: hold on to your wallets.
“(homes should be dry, clean, pest-free, safe, contaminant-free, well-ventilated, and well-maintained and thermally controlled);”
Safe?How on earth do you define safe? Many neighborhoods would make a mansion “unsafe”.
Four more years of this?
.
Another effing redundant government program. How many things must this..ponce..come up with!? We all know that it’s just meant to sap the economy, drain America dry until it collapses from blood loss.
Congress? We don’ need no steenking Congress!
There’s that word, “intervention” it means a Federal
Inspector to examine your house/apartment perhaps.
Government is your friend and benefactor, repeat./s
Everything, I mean everything, ties into “health.”
Now that Bambicare is the law of the land it’s too late for Katie to bar the door.
Just get ready....
That religion of yours is unhealthy.
Your family is unhealthy.
Your business is unhealthy.
“Safe” means gun-free.
So... who’s gonna pay for all this silly cr*p...?
Once uppn a time, Americans largely lived in log cabins and didn’t whine to a vast federal machinery for approval of their homes.
This Obama character will do ANYTHING to distract the American people from the fact that the economy is broken and he can’t fix it with all his commie horse sh*t.
What this means, to get fed tax $$ for your house, you will have to allow a federal inspector into your home, who will look for guns first (and ask), and drugs second. Third, they'll certainly have a checklist and put all your information into a database, the better to track you with.
Finally, this should really be unconstitutional as it can not possibly be construed, even remotely, under the commerce clause (inter-state stuff), and would certainly interfere in the 10th Amendment states rights protection (not that there is a federal judge worth his salt that would block the feds from doing this). Of course, the feds just might use this to press the states on the obamacare Exchanges ($$ for this can be used for that kind of thing).
Just another power grab by the power-grabbers (Dems).
Hey, a trillion dollars here, a trillion dollars there...pretty soon you’re talking about real money.
What the hell...it’s only money.
Thanks for the ping!
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