Posted on 07/17/2003 12:20:03 PM PDT by nygop2
The plain facts are shocking. Nine thousand families are currently homeless in New York City, the highest number on record. Indeed, homelessness is rising across the country as jobs vanish, incomes shrink and families are forced onto the streets. Meanwhile, George W. Bush is spending the astounding sum of $4 billion a month in taxpayers’ money to keep 146,000 U.S. troops in Iraq—troops who are being murdered on a daily basis, with over 70 dead American soldiers since the war ended on May 1 and no foreseeable improvement. This confusion of priorities is an embarrassment to this country and Mr. Bush’s Presidency. If Mr. Bush had true courage instead of bravado, he would direct the $4 billion a month to poverty programs throughout America. And he would be looking at a very different legacy. As it is, he’s losing the battle both overseas and here at home.
Many New Yorkers may be stunned to learn that homelessness has again edged its way into crisis mode. As The New York Times recently reported, there are nearly twice as many homeless families and children in the city as there were just five years ago. Altogether, more than 38,000 New Yorkers—including over 16,500 children—are spending this summer sleeping in shelters. On the bright side, the city has taken legal steps to move homeless families into permanent housing more quickly. The Times reports that in the first three weeks of June, 435 families were placed in housing, a 61 percent increase from last year. But bolder steps—and bigger dollars—are urgently needed. More and more, New Yorkers who are actively employed are nevertheless tumbling into homelessness: 20 percent of homeless families currently have a working head of the household, compared with 10 percent in the 1980’s.
In addition to the suffering endured by single adults and families who find themselves without a home, an epidemic of homelessness can have a profound impact on the city’s public image and hence its economic base. Tourists are less likely to visit, and residents more likely to move to the suburbs, when confronted by the sight of people sleeping in the streets and subways. Some of the homeless may resort to criminal activity in an attempt to better their plight. It’s not just a New York problem—cities across the country are becoming collection points for the homeless, yet there is no federal effort to ameliorate this problem.
The Bush administration is clearly failing in its effort to stabilize Iraq, while succeeding in destabilizing the condition of the poor in the United States. How about this: Just the interest on the moneys spent in Iraq over the next four years would provide housing for a million homeless people.
Didn't I *say* yesterday that something about him reminded me of Mark Morford? LOL
Keep up the dramatic electrostatics.
I'm late again for all the fun........
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