Bring US homeless in from the cold

Source: The Guardian (UK)

"Last week's United Nations' findings on America's homeless crisis couldn't have been more timely or more depressing. Three years into the post-housing bubble era, special rapporteur Raquel Rolnik detailed a growing crisis in which the poorest of the poor are, literally, left out in the cold while hundreds of billions of dollars are being pumped into propping up the broader pillars of the economy.

The combination of 16 million workers unemployed with an unprecedented housing market meltdown and collapse in state and local finances has magnified the misery of homelessness in the world's richest country."

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Read more: http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/2009/nov/16/homeless-crisis-america

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Turn to the link for the full story. It's not seeking to condemn, but to inform and put the plight of the ever-growing number of the homeless, front and centre.

....this is totally unacceptable....more 'same' we don't need to believe in....

....the big bank casinos and the wall street thieves created flaky loans, sold insurance on those loans, crashed the loans then collected the insurance and sent the bill to the homeless and US taxpayer....

....did these thieves pay a price? no, the homeless and we suffer while these criminals continue to receive taxpayer bailouts and bonus'....which one you capitalism apologists would like to defend or explain the justice in all this?

I wonder how mnay of them have families that could take them in and get them help?

:eyes:

allow it.

If WE were sufficiently outraged, it would end.

Houses that have sat empty for more than six months should be given to low income housing...perhaps bought by the government for low income housing....
This bull crap of using homes to make profits is also just wrong.
I believe housing should be a basic right..along with food, water, air and health care and some dang jobs!!!
People that own more than two homes are just selfish and are the problem with housing today.
How can we, as a society, condone one family having many homes..which they cannot possibly live in all at once...and also think it is alright for hard working americans to live out in the cold and the rain and in the streets is just plain crazy.
Winter is upon us...these poor people..it breaks my heart. These are our fellow Americans for heaven's sake.

remember property rights are a big part of freedom...

those possessing far, far more than they need to lead a very comfortable life; an all-purpose mantra, hollering, 'What's mine's mine! Go die somewhere.'

There is a world of difference between 'freedom' and 'licence': the difference between good and evil.

rotted or been stripped when I have seen many homeless that could have been living in some of these homes.

This has been going on throughout the bush admin and no one talked about it until now because I guess it now affects the REAL AMERICANS..

Please, lets put politics aside. This has been going on no matter which administration has been in charge. There are many reasons for homelessness and a host of strategies that can be used to help alleviate the problem. Homelessness will never be completely eliminated, but we should all sure as heck try to minimize it

shouldnt we be getting something for our money instead of just the shaft?
Why should the banks get to keep the homes? They forclosed on them and threw americans into the streets..and the taxpayers paid the price.
They should belong to us..legally and we should be able to put the poor into them if we want to.

We could build whole neighborhoods for the homeless. Have them strictly supervised and policed and we could concentrate social services like mad to guide and help them get on their feet. There are towns in America that are dyiing. Maybe have celebrities donate some of their homes since the majority of them live in trailers while filming and they have more than enough money to help out. Why not have celebrities support at least one family or two? They could cover family expenses, basics, and then set up the kids in a good daycare and help the parents find jobs, learn new skills, and take the burden off of the government/taxpayers?

If I had their kind of money, I'd support young adults struggling to get on their feet and find their own place in this world. Tom Cruise has a fortune of one hundred million or more, some celebrities have up to a billion. Surely they can do something with their money beyond raising a million dollars for a pet cause. Most of them could simply write a fat check. THey ask for our money all the time, why not make them pay up?

This crisis deserves Obama's attention

That sub-heading says it all!

Thanks for sharing. K&R

As a new form of community service, why not have errent celebrities pay for the expenses of struggling families? Provide funding for a good daycare, provide basic school supplies for children, and also help pay for the parents to get new skills. Since our judicial system is too gutless to actually send the scum to jail, make them perhaps pay off the student loans of a university student who just graduated. Or pay for the lunch money, school supplies of a child who comes from a poor family. Or pay for a student's tuition and monitor their progress. Like a scholarship program, only the government isn't paying for it. It will ease the burdens, help more students get through, and give families the leg up that they need. Plus increasing class mobility.

Oprah has more than enough, she brags about it enough. She has up to a billion, she could easily pay off the tuition of a hundred university students. Or set someone up in an apartment and then monitor the progress of a young adult. With all her vaunted connections, she could easily help people find employment. She doesn't have problems asking her fans to donate to her causes, why not take out her fat wallet and pay out? Or Julia Roberts, Tom Cruise, Spielberg, etc. Or perhaps some of those filthy rich Wall Street tycoons. The minute class mobility ends, revolution begins.

Try going to school hungry and dressed in rags and dirty from no way to take a bath and see how well that works.
They will be abused by the other children for the crime of being poor.
Shame on us for letting this get worse.
Shame on us for not taking stronger action.
Shame on the banks for letting homes sit empty.
Shame on Congress for helping the banks and not the people.
Shame on the Corporations for sending these kid's parents' jobs overseas..
damn it..this is soo wrong.

The rest of the world watches in bemusement as the "jackboots" of the Haves continue to trample the mass of the people with concerted brio.

I often use the word, 'surreal', to describe the socio-economic injustice inflicted by the neo-liberal rich in the US on their compatriots, but surely its egregiousness is so marked, that it is the only way to describe it without explicit reference to depravity.