Trump says our homeless problems are disgraceful

He went to California to take a gander at the thousands of people who are living on the streets. Did he have any compassion for them and how so many fellow Americans are living? Nope. His main concern was the rich people who have to walk through poop and those disgusting people who have nowhere to live. So will he work with Gavin Newsom and other mayors to find a way to get people some help? Nope again. His idea is to put people in government buildings which I'm sure a lot of his friends own which will just transfer more wealth to them. The private prison industry is making huge profits from Trump's immigration laws that keep people locked up instead of letting them go live with their families.

What are some of his other ideas? Cut the amount of money going to HUD! HUD housing is already very underfunded and people have to wait years until affordable housing becomes available. The housing for many people on section 8 is in many areas unlivable. Rats, mold, broken pipes, leaking roofs and many other severe problems are where many people are having to live in. After the housing crisis Obama made many homes and apartment buildings available to his friends at BlackStone just to get less foreclosed homes off the market. BlackStone bought and bought them up for pennies on the dollar and then they became absent slumlords. Cities have regulations on their books, but they don't follow through in making sure that they are up to compliance. Trump's father used to get fined for allowing people to live in unlivable housing, but those days are long gone. Trump's son in law Jared Kusher is one of the biggest slumlords in many cities.

Trump Orders Crackdown On California Homelessness

President Trump has ordered White House officials to crack down on homelessness in California according to an anonymously-sourced Tuesday report in the Washington Post.

#1 on the list appears to be Los Angeles's infamous "skid row," where vagrants will be moved into government-backed facilities. Trump is said to be actively involved in the effort, which is currently under discussion by the Department of Housing and Urban Development, the Domestic Policy Council, and the Department of Health and Human Services.

One official cited the need to take action due to the "rampant diseases" and sewage problems (a.k.a. so much feces that San Franciscso pays 'poop patrollers' $185,000 per year to keep up with their shitty situation).

Among the ideas under consideration is razing existing tent camps for the homeless, creating new temporary facilities, or refurbishing existing government facilities, two officials said. The officials spoke on the condition of anonymity because the planning hasn’t been publicly revealed. The changes would give the federal government a larger role in supervising housing and health care for residents.

The changes would give the federal government a larger role in supervising housing and health care for residents.

This sounds good doesn't it? So what is his plan?

According to White House spokesman Judd Deere, Trump signed a June executive order governing the regulation of affordable housing, while his administration has been drawing up plans to deal with homelessness across the country.

Trump’s executive order created a new White House council on eliminating “regulatory barriers” increasing the cost of building new housing, a move aimed at expanding the housing supply and driving down prices.

There it is. Those damn pesky regulations are getting in the way of companies building new homes to house the homeless.

But what are some of the other things the federal government can do to help the homeless? I'm glad you asked...

Trump Balks At California Governor's Request For Homeless Aid

Newsom and 13 mayors of the state's largest cities wrote to Trump this week in search of more federal funds to expand state-wide programs such as housing vouchers.

"We can all agree that homelessness is a national crisis decades in the making that demands action at every level of government – local, state, and federal. In California, state and local governments have ramped up action to lift families out of poverty by investing in behavioral health, affordable housing, and other homeless programs," wrote the mayors. "In contrast, your Administration has proposed significant cuts to public housing and programs like the Community Development Block Grant."

Request denied

"Federal taxpayers are clearly doing their part to help solve the crisis," wrote Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson in a Wednesday reply to Newsom, written at the request of President Trump. "California cannot spend its way out of this problem using federal funds."

Trump, meanwhile, directed his administration last week to explore ways to combat the homelessness crisis in California. Ideas include relocating vagrants from Los Angeles's notorious skid row to vacant federal properties.

Nearly 500,000 California households already receive some kind of federal housing assistance, Carson said in his letter, dated Wednesday, and subsidies per tenant are 38% higher than the national average. He said that Los Angeles alone -- where many freeway overpasses and public parks have become encampments -- is home to 19% of the nation’s entire homeless population

"We cannot ruin our cities. And you have people that work in those cities.

The homeless crisis has exploded the last 3 years, but this problem doesn't just lie at Trump's feet. This has been a problem that has just gotten worse since even before Reagan closed the hospitals that housed people with mental illness and dumped them on the streets and every administration since has gut every damn social program since. But we always have more than enough money for our bloated military budgets don't we? Socialism is bad unless you're a company on the government's teat!

This is just one city in California. Just one!

Raise your hand in the comments if you watched this video. Bear witness to where thousands of people are living.

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but Gavin Newsome hasn't been a mayor for over a decade. He is the governor of California right now, as odd as it sounds.
Other Gavin factoids: He began his political career as a flunkie of Diane Feinstein and Willie Brown, but grew out of it without committing any known atrocities. He ran for mayor of SF on a blatant anti homeless platform that can be best described as "screw the homeless but say it's for their own good so that the latte liberals won't feel dirty about it", but once in office did nothing of the sort. He was the first elected official to endorse Barack Obama, beating Kamala Harris by about a half hour. His original plan was to be governor of CA for about 1 term then run for the Presidency in 2016, but Jerry Brown entered the race and he went from something like 90% in the polls to like 5% instantly and dropped out the next day to run for an uncontested lieutenant governor slot. Eight years later he found out that no one was running for governor.
He's gone from an establishment tool to a lightweight prettyboy trying to ride coattails (first Obama then Jerry Brown) to an all but admitted Berniecrat/faux progressive who's trying to remove the faux without offending anyone in the power structure.
Prediction: He will be a governor dedicated to legitimizing establishment policies - gun control whether they like it or not, pro immigrant without being demonstrably anti worker, etc whenever possible. He will run for president in 2024 as a sort of Liz Warren. (progressive but not dangerous) He has the instincts to make it work, but not necessarily the courage. (he's no Tulsi)

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On to Biden since 1973

snoopydawg's picture

@doh1304

- Trump Balks At California Governor's Request For Homeless Aid

- Newsom and 13 mayors

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@snoopydawg

will he work with Gavin Newsom and other mayors

minor point, as doh104 said.
watched the video.
thx for posting.

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@snoopydawg

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On to Biden since 1973

@doh1304

there are two relevant phrases in the post-

"Newsom and other mayors" implies Newsom is a mayor.
This is incorrect and came from Snoopy.

"Newsom and 13 mayors" came from a linked article.
It suggests to me that Newsom is not a mayor, though I guess it would be logically ok even if he were. Just would not say it that way, imo.

obvious I have too much time on my hands.

btw - think the correct line is "get my hair massaged" as a comment has it.
this might refer to straightening natural hair. Certainly "get my hair aside" is not right.
great fun.

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snoopydawg's picture

@irishking

and therefore didn't write that sentence.

Trump Balks At California Governor's Request For Homeless Aid

The Trump administration has rejected a request by California Governor Gavin Newsom for more money to combat the state's growing homelessness crisis, according to Bloomberg.

Newsom and 13 mayors of the state's largest cities wrote to Trump this week in search of more federal funds to expand state-wide programs such as housing vouchers.

Geezus I can't believe this is what you are focusing on. Did you read it at its source? This is why I put links to the articles in my essays and why I usually suggest people read them at the source. I can't put everything in because of fair use so quite a lot of important information gets left out. If people just read the excerpt then they are not getting the whole picture.

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@snoopydawg

He went to California to take a gander at the thousands of people who are living on the streets. Did he have any compassion for them and how so many fellow Americans are living? Nope. His main concern was the rich people who have to walk through poop and those disgusting people who have nowhere to live,So will he work with Gavin Newsom and other mayors to find a way to get people some help? Nope again. His idea is to put people in government buildings which I'm sure a lot of his friends own which will just transfer more wealth to them. The private prison industry is making huge profits from Trump's immigration laws that keep people locked up instead of letting them go live with their families.

This is the first paragraph of your post which I take to be in your words. The sentence implying Newsom is a mayor is in bold. The problem is the word "other". I hope this clears things up.

I hope you noted that I repeat doh's "this is a minor point" and in my second reply(directed to doh)joke about "too much time on my hands."

I watched the entire video and thank you again for posting it.
Hope you will enjoy "Don't start Me Talking". Fun tune. My humor again.

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mhagle's picture

Grim.

I don't drive around Dallas Fort Worth that much but have not seen tent cities. It did break my heart to see a bunch of folks hanging out/living under an overpass in Fort Worth this summer.

Terrible suggestions by DT of course. No compassion from him or Ben.

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Marilyn

"Make dirt, not war." eyo

snoopydawg's picture

@mhagle

I was stunned the first time I did because it just kept going. In just one city. In one of 50 states.

Julian Castro was Obama's HUD director and he did some horrible things, but maybe not on par with what Carson is doing. Obama cut $8 billion from just food stamps alone. I haven't found what he cut from HUD.

I got a section 8 voucher a few years ago and the top rent for me was $500. I only found two places that met that and there is no way in hell I would live there. And from what I have seen in other states they were rather nice. But cities will not make slumlords fix their properties. Hmmm might be too many under the table payments. Or something. Letting people live like animals has gone on to long in the Greatest Country On Earth.

Bad

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I have seen variations of the video of the same area of Orange County. The homelessness problem at least for me is overwhelming in understanding its root causes. All at once it is a mental health problem, a law enforcement/criminal problem, an addiction problem, a problem of stable families and jobs, a real estate growth and availability problem, and a problem of physical disability. How they should work together eludes me.

Politically, it is one of those situations where people will end up voting for demagogues who will advocate harsh, reactionary, and brutal methods to make the problem go away, if the problem is not mitigated or solved.

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snoopydawg's picture

@MrWebster

All at once it is a mental health problem, a law enforcement/criminal problem, an addiction problem, a problem of stable families and jobs, a real estate growth and availability problem, and a problem of physical disability.

I would think that it is lack of jobs that pay a living wage and because so many families are struggling to pay for their ridiculously high health insurance and lack of affordable housing and long waiting list because of lack of funds for HUD housing which each administration has cut billions from. IIRC Clinton took $19 million from HUD and other programs and then gave $17 million for prisons, police and the other things that were in the crime bill that our friendly Uncle Joe wrote.

How is it legal for cops to go into homeless camps and throw people's meager possessions into dump trucks? Why isn't that stealing? Oh yeah, those poor people were trespassing or something. Gee way to kick people in the teeth when they are down.

I can't find what the real estate developers want to do, but I think they want to build in sensitive areas or places where they can't. This is why I think Trump is stepping in. Either give them what they want or put people into private homeless camps. Who will be next then?

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They boldly and correctly identify a major problem, and then immediately announce plans to make it worse.

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@gjohnsit

They boldly and correctly identify a major problem, and then immediately announce plans to make it worse.

Yup

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@leveymg It is the corporate entity that makes it possible. It is the corporate entity that allows the owners of businesses to escape personal responsibility. Escaping personal responsibility is the primary reason for incorporation. It allows a business owner to make greater personal profits and avoid personal losses and put those losses on others or society as a whole.

Mussolini's definition of fascism was the merger of corporations and the state. His term for it was estato corporativo.

How do you have modern capitalism without corporations? Sometimes I wonder how a capitalistic society would actually work without them. It is hard to envision something you have never seen or experienced.

Most people don't know the history of corporations in the US. Whose tea was it that went into the Boston Harbor? The tea from the East India Tea Company. Our founding fathers disliked them so much that we scarcely had any and when they first started issuing corporate charters they were only good for 20 years. The state legislature where the charter was issued could take away the charter or refuse to renew the charter, if the legislature thought the corporation had not done enough good for the people. Over time, the corporations' influence bought off legislatures and the slippery slope led us to where we are now.

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@davidgmillsatty It started with the idea that we all write off our personal liberties to employers and the State as a condition of being allowed to survive. The fact that the State can enforce all contracts, private and public, by force is the root of this evil. The corporation came later, I think.

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snoopydawg's picture

@leveymg

How depressing that I see that happening in the future? And why not? Some refugees have been put in cages almost like that.

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@snoopydawg

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Granma's picture

Of the housing situation in this country. It does not include the many thousands of people living with family. I know of several just on my street. Nor does it include people living in cars, campers, small motor homes, etc. I met and spoke with a couple living in a very old, very beat up SUV. The man has a brain tumor, has health insurance but is homeless.

I also personally knew people who could no longer afford rent. One couple sold their mobile home and bought a very small motor home to live in. Both had serious health issues. Another man, a senior bought a van to live in. I lost those friends, have not heard from them since they hit the road.

It is stunning how often medical issues have caused people to lose their homes, either because they could no longer work or medication costs ate their income.

It is personal for me not a political issue. I hate the word homeless. These are People!! It breaks my heart and makes me angry

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snoopydawg's picture

@Granma

How many people are living in trailers and motor homes where they might be more fortunate than people living in vans and tents. People living in motor homes are finding it difficult to find places that allow them that they can afford. How many area in big cities have places like that? Walmart lets people stay there overnight, but then they have to move on. How many empty malls have huge parking lots where people could stay instead of on the streets? I'm sure our government could come up with money to deal with it if they thought it was important. Look at how fast they are moving on vapes that have killed less than 30 people? More people die from lack of health insurance but I don't see them addressing this.

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Its very close to where I grew up, right by Angel Stadium I noticed. Too bad people will not make the connection that individuals like Trump have helped in a huge way to make this happen, after all, that family made its fortune on creating slums but hey, let's not talk about that.

My stepmom is a Trump voter and goes with her church group to feed the homeless. Of course she cannot and will not admit that the very things she's voted FOR her entire life are responsible in a very big way for creating said homeless population. She lives in a house she inherited from her parents, not a big or fancy house but it is rent free so while she is not wealthy by any means she'll not face losing HER home. She's in Long Beach, not far from Orange County and there was recently a failed attempt to institute rent control in Long Beach, which I know she voted against because that's what she is, but she'll not make that logical connection and she'll go on along her merry way, telling herself how virtuous she and her nice church friends are. Then she'll go home, turn on the Faux Noise, and let her hate flag fly. I imagine she thinks Trump has a great idea and will nod along accordingly, after all, America is a "decent, God fearing country" and would NEVER willingly allow people to become homeless, "those people" just want to be... I gave up slamming my head into that wall a long time ago but every once in a while I subject myself to it again, knowing I will never get through to her.

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Only a fool lets someone else tell him who his enemy is. Assata Shakur

snoopydawg's picture

@lizzyh7

she voted against because that's what she is, but she'll not make that logical connection and she'll go on along her merry way, telling herself how virtuous she and her nice church friends are.

This is happening in many cities including SF. Not only voting for something that can keep the problem from getting worse, but doing everything they can to keep homeless shelters from being built. Lots of rich people in SF are doing just that as are people in SLC,UT. SL has been putting people in houses cuz that is much cheaper than dealing with them on the streets. There they get connected to people that can help them get a job or other resources to make them a part of society again. Lots of places are looking at what they did.

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@lizzyh7 How much of this do you suppose is the result of the notion or concept of "cities." Were humans really supposed to be crammed like sardines in a tin can? The whole idea of cities has always seemed unworkable to me. And yet cities everywhere are getting bigger and bigger. The smaller the space we are packed in the less likely we will be able to meet our own basic needs and become more and more reliant on someone else. You can't grow your own food, and you can't have your own access to water unless you pay for it. And of course, as the world population rises, the problem just gets bigger globally.

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was cut from the Food Stamp program by Obama, and Clinton took $19 million from HUD and gave it to Uncle Joe's prison program. Tell me again why I should vote for a Democrat. I watched the video. Thanks. I wish someone would do a documentary on this. This is not the American Dream. We can and need to do better.

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has a song about "they don't chose to live that way" that seems appropriate.

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