Public Comment

Any effort the cities and the state can play to provide the homeless and those who are likely to become homeless with affordable housing should be made. But only the federal government has the resources to make a major dent on the problem. Unfortunately the federal government has been making things worse, particularly by giving up on public housing and reducing the availability of Section 8, in which tenants pay to a willing landlord 30 percent of their income, and the government subsidizes the rest. But unless we can turn things around, I don't see an easy way out for the overwhelming majority of the homeless and near homeless. It could be done but would require a massive anti-poverty movement that doesn't suffer from being addicted with too much politeness.