Congratulations, Ronald Reagan. Congratulations, George Bush Jr. Congratulations, the whole world is witnessing this.
Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed, to me:
I lift my lamp beside the golden door.
Updated: Thank you to everyone who supported this diary. I really appreciate it. It breaks my heart that I have to do the damned reporting for myself, aren't there professional journalist who get paid millions of dollars to do this? We should have daily diaries on this subject, in order to give a voice to the voiceless, as we'll as to help our own cause. Everyone does better when everyone does better.
I went out last night and didn't see this on the front page. Figures, the one time I wasn't wandering around here somewhere. Thank you guys, I really appreciate it.
From March 15, 2009
"A couple years ago, we used to say that you're two paychecks away from being homeless. Well, it's getting closer."
More from California
CJ: "Wow, it so scary to see how quickly someone can go form owning a home to being homeless. It's just . . .
Male Reporter: "Someone once said that there is an enormous num, an enormous percentage of people who in this country who were two pay checks away from being homeless and, and this economic downturn is really starting to prove this."
They quote this from a recent MetLife study to highlight the problem:"Without a steady paycheck, 50% of Americans say they could not meet their financial obligations for more than a month - and, of that, a disturbing 28% couldn't support themselves for more than two weeks of unemployment."
consumerist.com
The myth of the middle class being so much better off than the working poor only took about 6 months to blow away. The fact is, if you consider yourself middle class you have way more in common with the guy below you than you do with the CEO of Bear Stearns. If you work for Bear Stearns and earn $1,000,000 a year you still have more in common with the middle class guy and the other guys below him than you do with the CEO of Bear Stearns.
Canada is facing the same disaster, the same tragedy.
This is from Mayor's Grove, Beacon Hill Park, Victoria, BC. The video was shot in Oct 2008.
This broke my heart. I want to email this video to everyone I know.
Watching policemen kicking homeless people out of their tent shelters in the name of protecting endangered species is a frigging disgrace. There is no other word but shame.
In Seattle, WA, back in Feb 2008:
In Reno, NV, back in Oct 2008:
Do we really have to wait any longer to start calling this a depression?
Of course, CNN has a different view on things, but that did not stop them from at least shedding a tear. How genuine that tear is would be another debate.
From as recent as March 9, 2009. The title of the video should provide some insight on the mindset of the misinformed.
From Ontario, Canada, on December 26, 2007
This problem has always been there. It is our job to not shun the poor, the homeless, the sick and the old. I know such spending may seem frivolous to some. To me, it is essential.
From Huntington, WV, back in February 2008
From Chattanooga, TN back in Oct 2007
"It's about the trail of tears."
From Clevland, OH, back in June 2007
"Anybody who lives up under a bridge, and comes down here and sets up a tent . . . ain't got nowhere to go, bro. It's a simple as that. It's common sense."
This is what we should reserve our outrage for. This is a nation tragedy. This is the Bush Jr legacy, right under our noses, right before our eyes.
"It's a health hazard and it could be a safety hazard too."
Because we all know how concerned most folks are about the health of our nation's homeless.
Everybody does not need to feel good about themselves. They need good jobs with livable wages.
From Lakewood, NJ as recently as March 7th, 2009
This is the fight we face. We should work to rebuild the safety net in this nation, for all citizens, not just the few, but the many. We need jobs, with good pay. We need homes we can afford and one day own. They need to be able to save up for these rainy days by working good jobs with security and benefits, and not have to depend on credit, and the debt that inevitably follows. They need health care. They need educations so their children can have a better life than they do. They need secure retirements. They need some one to fight for them. Half the job is being able to pull your self up by the boot-straps. The other half is having the opportunity to do so. For forty years and longer that opportunity has gotten smaller and smaller, and available to less and less of us.
If you want to sum up the difference between the Democrats and the Republicans for an undecided voter, tell them that Republicans help take people out of their homes and out of good jobs and put them in tent cities, and Democrats want to take people out of tent cities and put them in good jobs and affordable homes.
Whenever the next Santelli, Glen Back wanna-be astro-turfer gets up in your face, ask them what their plan is for the tent cities. Ask them how they got there, and ask them whose fault it is. This is as much a fault of the individual as it is the fault of our society itself. If you don't mind succeeding in this society you have no right to complain about doing your part to maintain it. As the old saying goes, if you are not part of the solution, you are part of the problem.
The left has always been part of the solution on poverty and homelessness. There is nothing wrong with reminding people of that.
Count your blessings today, be grateful for what you have, for so many others have so much less. Do what you can to help, if you can give food to your local food bank, or donate to your local charity or homeless shelter, every little bit helps.
Bail Out The People! a grassroots movement
Call them Bushville's
Call them Reagantown's
But tell someone about them!