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Justin Lane / EPA
A woman walks past a man sleeping on a street in New York in November 2009.
A report released Wednesday says the number of homeless people in America fell slightly between 2009 and 2011 despite a teetering economy, but homeless advocates say the numbers don’t tell the full story.
The report, “State of Homeless in America 2012,” was issued by the National Alliance to End Homelessness, a nationwide federation of public, private and nonprofit organizations. It examined homelessness between 2009 and 2011, a period when the U.S. economy was dragging itself out of its worst recession since World War II.
Despite the dire economy, homelessness decreased 1 percent, or by about 7,000 people, during the period – a development the report’s authors said was most likely due to a significant investment of federal money to prevent homelessness and quickly rehouse people who did become homeless.
The report says an estimated 643,067 people experienced homelessness in the U.S. on a given night in 2011 – down from 636,017 in 2009.
This translates into a rate of 21 homeless people per 10,000 people.
The largest decrease was among homeless war veterans. Their numbers went from 75,609 in 2009 to 67,495 in 2011, a reduction of 11 percent.
Why did the number of homeless drop even while the economy was in the doldrums?
The report cites the Homelessness Prevention and Rapid Re-Housing Program, or HPRP, a federal program established with $1.5 billion in funding from the stimulus package passed by Congress in 2009 at the urging of President Barack Obama. In 2010, its first year of operation, the program helped nearly 700,000 at-risk and homeless people, the report said.
Despite the slight dip in homelessness, there is much reason for concern and indicators suggest that homelessness may affect more Americans in the coming years. Among the findings is a 13 percent increase in “doubled up” households from 2009 to 2011 and a 22 percent increase in families below the poverty line paying 50 percent or more of their monthly income on housing.
The effects of the poor economy on homelessness are expected to escalate over the next few years, the report says. The money provided by HPRP has run out in many communities and the program is slated to sunset entirely this fall. And the fight in Congress over debt and deficit cuts means fewer dollars will be available to help the homeless.
“In the year since the data in this report was collected (January 2011), there have already been reports that the number of homeless people is increasing,” the authors said. “So while holding the line on homelessness between 2009 and 2011 was a major accomplishment of federal investment and local innovation, the failure to sustain this early recipe for success threatens to undermine progress now and in the future.”
Homelessness Research Institute
The data show that nearly half (24) the states and the District of Columbia had increases in homelessness. State changes range from a 33 percent decrease in Rhode Island to a 102 percent increase in Wyoming.
Truth in numbers?
Neil Donovan, executive director of the National Coalition for the Homeless, a Washington-based nonprofit advocacy group, says the decline in the raw numbers of homeless is likely based on poor data from the federal government.
“I think in fact the numbers of homeless individuals and families have gone up. It’s similar to the job market -- when numbers go up and down it doesn’t always tell you the full picture but it tells you how many people are still willing to participate in activities that result in them being counted as homeless,” he told msnbc.com.
The coalition is among several advocacy groups that contend the U.S. Census Bureau routinely undercounts homeless people.
Donovan cites homeless schoolchildren as another example of faulty government counting. School systems nationwide are required to report the number of students experiencing homelessness. Last year, they reported a total of 770,000. But by federal government standards only 110,000 of those children would be considered homeless, due to factors such as the discounting of students living in hotels or doubled up, Donovan said.
Donovan says it’s likely that the number of homeless is actually getting worse.
“We have many more homeless families than we did before. When you’re an individual and you’re homeless, your homelessness can be very, very difficult. When you’re a family and you’re homeless, it can be impossible,” Donovan said. “When a person’s homelessness is impossible, it’s imperative for us to come to their rescue because responsibility is no longer a part of the conversation.”
Sharon Thomas, spokeswoman for Seattle’s Union Gospel Mission, agreed the numbers don't tell the full story. She says the Seattle-King County area has added several thousand new housing units for homeless people in the past few years. Yet, the number of homeless hasn’t decreased in the same proportion.
“It looks like the numbers are going down, but there seems to be more people who are on the edge,” she said.
She notes the Union Gospel Mission is now serving an average of 1,500 meals a day – up from 1,200 not long ago.
“There a lot of good people and organizations that care about homeless people but there’s a lot of people out there who are hurting. We can always do more.”
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Leave a Comment:
Can you say BS! The number has tripled in my community and 2009-2011 saw the most people thrown out of their homes. Obviously someone is playing with the numbers in this study and I'm guessing it is attempting to imply that Obama has reduced the number of homeless when facts point to just the opposite. One more Pro-Obama media planted article by his promoters in the media - shameful.
What? The number of homeless has nothing to do with Obama. It has to do with banks continuing to throw millions of people out of their homes until they were caught robo-signing documents. And the moratorium about the robo-signing is the ONLY reason that the number of homeless has declined.
.
Well that and the murders.
Yeah dan there was no homelesessness when bush and the fascists ran congress eh? Obama didn't cause the recession, goobers like bush and newtered caused it with their trickle down my pant legs to you maybe economic theory...
Obama is helping change our nation into a 3rd world economy, which is what the Reps wanted anyway. The two parties bicker and clash, but they BOTH want the middle class eliminated.
Lets not forget who got us in this mess in the first place!!?? Does George W Bush ring a bell!! Obama has been cleaning up his mess for three straight years!!! That is a fact!! All of you Republican'ts can say what you want about him he has done a better job than the last five Republican't Presidents.
Republican'ts are just mad that he didn't start any huge conflicts based on false information!!! I hope the government finds a way to tax the rich at a rate of 50% or so!! There are not hiring and they have done nothing for our country but bring it down with their lies!!!
DAN G Yes this is a BS title for this story.. It is sad that the propaganda mill even has the nerve to attempt a scam like this.. We are on the verge of a global depression that is the result of greed and corruption perpetuated by big corporate and big money.. Instead of being good stewards of the economy they have milked every scam and loophole to the point of ruin..
How short sighted we are to play the party line harp and blame game.. Blame Obama no blame Bush, it makes me want to puke.. The corporations and big money have controlled our government with lobbyists and back door bribes for ever..
homeless numbers decreasing- sure--just like the number of unemployed is decreasing. public school in pennsylvania closing (in poor neighborhood) -no tax revenue to support it. now the homeless children can't even go to school to get off the streets. the school will receive 1.5 million from state as a temporary fix but they need 24 million to stay open. i think congress should consider a law allowing states to secede from the union. maybe the states who decide to cecede would chose to spend tax dollars on health care and education instead of wars. the federal government is out of control and needs to pay attention to the needs of the people. i doubt any of our federal reps have even met a homeless person. the states that are seeing a decrease are sending their homeless to warmer climates. our numbers in san diego are increasing. if i were homeless i would not live in the snow belt.
Obama-care is his sell out to corporate medicine and insurance companies.. Heaven forbid you say you don't like his policies you will be branded as a racist.. Just the same old same old.. Unions have destroyed the post office and many other state and local economies.. If you can't pay those taxes they just take your home so the union rank can have their benefits..
Twoeagles:Why dont you give up on your tired, worn out ,B.S. rhetoric about this being bush's fault?! obama is in office and he has done NOTHING to make this country any better. He has only made it worse!!obama isn't even doing as good a job as carter, and he was worthless!! Get off your kool-aid wagon, wake up and smell the coffee and toast. There is NOBODY in ANY elected office of the federal government that cares about what is happening to Americans at all. BOTH parties are bringing down this country with their "damn lies".
Here in Miami the Herald has an article today about the homeless epidemic. Weird.
Wow, according to the media this morning, all is rosy....homelessness is down, home builders are optimistic, and the stock market is up. This couldn't have anything to do with the fact that it's reelection time, could it??
Did homelessness rates fall or have people just given up trying to look for homelessness.
And the Lord Barry said let homeless numbers dwindle and they did. We just won't be truthful.
I have to agree this is SO full of Sh_t where the hell do these morons live under a ROCK, Oh right they walk around with their EYES close ................. Oh they maybe right, in Winter they ship them to Hawaii I know I asked a homeless person once how he got to Hawaii and he saaid the his State pays a oneway fair if they don't come back ..............
Rick - Have you seen anything "trickling down" Obama's pant legs?
Please tell me who got us into this mess!!! The financial meltdown started with two wars that weren't paid for!!! By who Bush ( The worst president of our lifetime!!!)!! Why didn't the Bushs' focus on the border if that is such a problem for the rich Republican'ts. I mean that is their cry to rid our entire country of illegals, but it is not like the homeless will actually do any of the jobs that they are doing!! NOW who is drinking the FAUX NEws Kool-Aid!!
Sick and tired of the Republican'ts trying to blame Obama for everything that Bush and His cronies did to our country!!! It is all his fault and now the Republican'ts in office only have had one goal in the last three years and that was to get Obama out of office?? That equal sore losers to me!!!
Just because the numbers tripled in your area doesn't mean they've tripled nationwide. The only ones full of sh_t here are the sheeple on the right who want to spin any good news into bad news. Why? Every bit of good news makes it less likely the GOP will win in 2012, They don't give a damn about the homeless; their only goal is to make Obama a one-term president, and if it takes throwing the homeless under the bus to achieve that goal, they'll do it.I don't know who I'll vote for in 2012, but I do know who I won't vote for, and that's Romney, Newt, Perry, Santorum, or Christie, and if you don't like it, too bad.
If you think that President Obama is causing the economic downturn, you're wrong. Google Foxconn. It's one of the largest employers in China and their employees are forbidden from leaving the buildings, sleeping in 8 person dormitories, forbidden from befriending other employees or seeing their families. $.31/hour is the wage and they are committing mass suicide. The company has put up nets to catch the jumpers. That's what the right wants for this country.
Am I understanding this correctly, we have a census for the homeless? Seriously, how can anyone give us a number that's even close to 50% accurate when debating this issue? Good old studies, they only benefit the group that commissioned the study.
As for the typical political posturing seen in a story like this, get over yourselves. It isn't Bush's fault or Obama's fault. It was a team effort by all the politicians representing our best interests over the last few decades. By our best interests I mean those with money. By representation I mean, fooling us long enough to get our votes. By politician I mean pride-less, greedy corporate puppets.
I don't want a handout. I want a viable explanation of how these representatives gave away the store and now can't get it back. A lot of people aren't homeless by choice. It starts out with no job and trickles down from there. We have "regulated" ourselves into homelessness. Corporations have moved manufacturing out of the U.S. because it is less expensive to manufacture in a country with no regulations. Then we import the unregulated products into the U.S. Unions and regulations killed industry in this country. I was a Teamster so don't argue with me on this one. So you may be homeless but you can breathe cleaner air and drink less harmful water wherever you can find it. Kudos America for creating a safer homeless environment.
The corporate puppet masters of the financial world did all the rest by creating paper wealth signing off on loans that should never have been given and then insuring themselves so when all these loans went into default they suffered minor losses while putting the burden on insurance companies and the smaller lenders. Then there was the bailout which we don't need to get into here.
All of these issues created another set of numbers for Washington to play with during an election year. Welcome to America.
So does this mean that one year from now, after the election, everything will be back to normal?
Who you gonna believe, your math or my eyes? Homelessness is not down if I can still see them. It just ticks me off that the President Obama's liberal media propaghanda machine continues to print news that contradicts my observation and perception of the facts.
Yeah, about those numbers, that's not down, it's up... Just saying.
How exactly do they come up with these numbers? Is it from people using shelters? Or (as I suspect) did they pull a number out of their ummmm, hats?
I love how people argue facts with their opinions as if they are fact. Its OK if you don't like the President or how the country is being run, but to say national facts are wrong based purely on your "community" or a local newspaper (which actually confirms this story if you bother reading the whole article) is ridiculous.
My personal favorite:
Math.
Good catch! The actual report has it correct. MSN mucked it up.
more here: #storylink=misearch#storylink=cpy
homey don't play that game...but homelessy do...
Biteme you can biteme. Obama has done a great job. Stocks are up, economy is getting better, Osama is gone(Obama had to do the job Bushy failed at) we are out of Iraq, WE may be out of Afganistan soon too, we helped democratize a dictatorship in Lybia without a war, we have the groundwork for a great healthcare plan which five presidents failed to get done, and the list goes on and on and on and on and on and on and on. In spite of Boner and his little insignificant stooges things are looking up. Even Wisconsin will have a new Governor soon too when they kick that idiot and flush him back from where he came from.
yuppp... the government now calls most of the homeless... long time campers... to help get better stats...but did you know the number of campers has gone up...
any happy camper could have told you that...christmas is over and the easter bunny is p.o.ed...
Tell that to the homeless.
Actually it should be "Homelessness rises along with risks"...
Just another example of the American media (owned by the 1%) spreading more propaganda in the form of "news"...
Maybe the homeless should "occupy" the foreclosed homes in their area and see if their numbers REALLY went down...
@granny;
"if i were homeless i would not live in the snow belt."
The homeless usually don't have a choice....
The roots of this "Great Recession" started under Republican policy governance, but Democrats are complicit as well. The run away, unregulated, speculation on Wall Street was a major factor, (one which Republicans didn't want to fix, and now they vow to repeal). The shameful homelessness is largely due to the neglect of corporations to keep any sort of loyalty to American workers, and sending middle class jobs overseas for at least 3 decades all in the name of profit.
There has to be a huge change in American attitudes, where the elite class, and regular voters, begin to respect human labor again. Tax policy where multi-millionaires like Mitt Romney pay 15% in taxes because capital gain income is valued more than human labor has to stop before anything will be right in America. America has to lose it's glorification of wealth and priviledge.
It seems we have come full circle from where we were in 1776. We threw out the Royal Aristocracy of England, but now have replaced it with the Aristocracy of hideous low taxed wealth, which uses it's money to corrupt and manipulate poltics for it's own greed. Wake up America !!! History 101 ... class dismissed.
Maybe you've missed the latest from Libya, since, MSNBC isn't going to run it, it does after all, put Obama in a pretty bad light:
http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?aid=28645&context=va
It is with great disappointment that I receive the news from foreign media
publications and Libyan sources that our President now has 12,000 U.S. troops
stationed in Malta and they are about to make their descent into
Libya.
For those of you who have not followed closely the situation
in Libya, the resistance to the rule of the National Transitional Council is
strong. The National Transitional Council (NTC) cast of characters has about as
much support on the ground as did Mahmoud Abbas before the United Nations
request for Palestinian statehood or Afghanistan's regal-looking but politically
impotent Hamid Karzai or for that matter, George W Bush after eight years.
The NTC not only has to contend with a vibrant, well-financed,
grassroots-supported resistance, but the various militias of the NTC are now
also fighting each other. I believe this "sociocide" of Libyan society, as we
previously witnessed in Iraq and Afghanistan before it, is part of a carefully
crafted plan of destabilization that ultimately serves U.S. imperial interests
and those of a Zionist state and its US agents who are bent on Greater Israel's
suzerainty over huge swaths of Arabic-speaking populations. Pakistan is also on
the list for neutering in Muslim and world affairs, saddled with its own
unpopular civilian leadership that finds itself in the hip pocket of the United
States for survival, often getting sat upon by its fiscal guarantor.
Did they count the Occupiers?
That right there accounts for thousands .................. :-)
No of course not . They are trying to avoid them.
"Neil Donovan, executive director of the National Coalition for the Homeless, a Washington-based nonprofit advocacy group, says the decline in the raw numbers of homeless is likely based on poor data from the federal government."
Falsification of data would be a more accurate statement.
American media at work...what do you expect from the 1%????
This is the kind of misleading articles you will see printed by the Left-wing media and MSNBC during the 2012 Presidential campaign. They won't necessarily lie, but they will sure manipulate the facts in support of their "Lean Forward" DNC/Pro-Obama agenda.
all BS the great recession never ended ,people are worse off than ever ,just look around
The lies keep coming and the voters can't wait to push the button for four more years of Socialist advancement.
So have the GOP give me someone I can actually vote for. Please.
There is nothing socialistic going on unless you are talking corporate socialism.
We gave away trillions to wallstreet in tax breaks subsidies and bailouts...
I would rather vote Democrat then have the whole country be come like all those RED states the people live below the poverty level, that's why they prefer them uneducated states look at what States score the lowest on education they will be RED states ............. And I'm not joking ..... Oh these States are also the highest FOODSTAMP STATES also ...
So, Dong Work 4 Yada, if the big boys got the bail outs, (which they did) and the largest number of food stamp recipients in the history of the good ole USA are getting free living, who the hell is paying for all that? i know, the middle class working our asses off, going broke, being taxed to death,
nothing socialistic going on? where the @!$%# you been?
Rick-3608408, You live in one of those under educated food stamp states don't you. I can tell by your lack of education and general ignorance.
START THE SOCIALIST REVOLUTION NOW!!
The Republicans GOT us into this mess!
The Democrats are Republicans in sheep's clothing!!!
THAT will make a good bumper sticker!!
I don't agree with this. First, there are fewer emergency shelters available, because non-profits are going under, so it's not easy to count. Second, HUD does the homeless count in the middle of January, so the unsheltered homeless are finding what shelter they can, and aren't as easy to find. 2010, in our region, we had an ice storm the evening of the count. Counters couldn't get into places because the roads were terrible.
The Homeless numbers aren't going down, there are more homeless people who are not sheltered...that's worse! And btw, it has nothing to do with Obama...this kind of financial crisis (which occurred pre-Obama) does not get fixed in 4 years when it's global.
"And btw, it has nothing to do with Obama...this kind of financial crisis (which occurred pre-Obama) does not get fixed in 4 years when it's global."
The only problem is that most Americans get their "news" from American media, which is owned by the 1%, who are only "protecting their own interests" i.e. spreading lies...
THAT'S why all these people blame Obama instead of George "Dumba$$ Bush!!!
If an investment of $1.5 BILLION to HPRP via the stimulus bill helped reduce homelessness by 7,000 people over a three year period, where is the return on investment? I guess if you're one of the 7,000 it's money well spent. It is truly amazing how this nation can waste such large sums of money on everything from military to social spending. There isn't a politician (DEM or REP) in Washington that could run a lemonade stand let alone a real business.
Bet that barely $150k ever made it to help.. The rest was siphoned off for advertising PR and champagne lunches..
I'm not going back to check the numbers in the article but if 1.5 billion dollars reduced the homeless rate by 7000 over 3 years that would be a little over $71,000.00 per person per year. That's plenty more than what I make in a year and I work a full time job.
1,500,000,000 / 7000 = 214,285/3 = 71,428.
I'm assuming they meant they took 7000 homeless off the street but I'm sure there is some really funky math to go along with this and justify the amount of money spent. With all the non-profits out there doing their best to help they didn't need to pay extravagant administrative costs that would help justify this ratio. If you take the $428 off and round it to an even 71,000 you have just under 3 million dollars that would have paid the administrative costs. So did we just cut them a check or did we work it out some other way?
I'm sure nobody took advantage of money allocated for the homeless.
We don't have lowlife scumbags that would do such a thing. This is America, land of the honest and non-corrupt. The place where we take in everyone with open arms. The place of tolerance. The place with an over populated prison system. The place with dirty politicians on trial for taking kickbacks. The place with the worlds largest money laundering and ponzi schemes and it's called Wall Street. The place where celebrity is where it's at. School teacher, police officer, fire fighter, soldier-------no, it's sports stars, reality shows, regurgitated movies and Charlie Sheen. These are the people that deserve the big money.
Now I have to re-evaluate my life and decide if I want to quit my job and go homeless so I can replace my dull salary with a pretty good raise with my $71,000 yearly benefit for being homeless.
Is it possible to get an itemized statement showing where every penny of our tax dollars are spent? Wouldn't we all like to use this type of math for our own home budgeting? Did all of you recognize the sarcasm in most of this comment.
Have a great day.
While well connected Romeney pays 15% tax on millions of dollars of tax sheltered investments, others are living off half eaten hamburgers.
jw101,
and who's fault might that be???
dano-3878024
With no decent paying jobs left in this country and small businesses closing up because they can't compete with WalMart---who's fault do you think it is?
Please tell me you don't believe a lot of these people are homeless by choice. Yes, some are but there are a lot of families that were beat down by the new world system. American citizens that are living in worse conditions than illegal aliens. Downsizing, corporate buyouts of small companies, manufacturing being moved overseas-----who's fault might that be?
I really want someone to define success for me. A career politician is not a success. A CEO who stepped on all the little people that busted their butt's to get them there is not a success. A corporate giant, like WalMart that closed the doors of what used to be successful small businesses is not a success. CFO's that manipulate the system to create wealth instead of earning it aren't a success.
Look at China, 20 years ago living in a shack was the norm. Now, since all the industry is in their country more people live in the city and have a better quality of life. Not by doing jobs they created, by doing jobs that moved to their country. Their country that has smog so bad you can't see 10 feet in front of you. Beijing is all the rage if you have a container of oxygen with you.
These people that appear to be at fault in your eyes didn't see a cardboard box on the side of the road and thought, I'm going to quit my job and move in there. What a much better life that would be.
Corporate cronies weren't able to bring back slavery here so they moved to countries where it is acceptable. Countries with no regulations. Countries that gave them the world because they understand that more jobs means more income taxes---oh---and less homeless.
As much as iI dislike Romney, I assume he pays taxes. We don't know. He might be like GE and Giethner as far as I konw. End da FED/IRS, Fair Tax/Fair Trade NOW!
As for Obomanites, can any of ya actually believe homelessness is goin DOWN? Do you actually believe unemployment is in da eights? Do you believe inflation is 3%? LOL!
I feel a little positive about the number of commentors that realize that the whole Red/Blue game is just a version of the Good cop/Bad cop game and ALL da puppets are owned by the Tran National BANKSTERS out to create their New World Order. Please Folks, Wake up, don't be sheeple. LOL!
Romney pays 15%
I pay 26%
Who makes more money?
I'll trade ANYONE who say the homeless CHOSE to be that way their home for my cardboard box here in Michigan....
ESPECIALLY now in the wintertime....
I'm only homeless because I can't afford 600+ PER MONTH in rent making only $7.50/hour!!!
I've posted this challenge many times on many websites, haven't gotten any takers yet....
I find this incredibly hard to believe given the state of the economy the past few years. Probably because a record number of homeless people have passed away which would make the number decrease. However, the number passing away would have to exceed the number of people entering the ranks of the homeless.
Hmmmm .... the people who have a vested interest in lower numbers of homeless say there are fewer homeless, and the people who make a living taking care of the homeless say there are more homeless. Go figure.
Did Obama cause the recession - no; however, his lack of leadership and poor policies have prolonged it and the same people who support his policies want to manipulate the facts to cast the blame on others "Leaders don't blame others for their failures." And this article is just another example of manipulation of the facts in order to support the Obama agenda.
His lack of leadership? Or Congress' vendetta to vote down anything he proposes?
can you say BS.
Every time one of you anti obamaites read a story, you think, he or they, or someone, is conspiring to make the pres look good.....
It must be because you really do understand the right wing spin machine like fox, herritage, drudge, etc., etc,. etc,..................... that is what they do
and always invoking the name Soros, while never mentioning the fact that Murdoch is the one running the media.......
I support Obama.. if repuliklans would get out of the way we could get something done that will actually benefit America.
Just more Obama BS. A record number of forclosures and vacant homes, where did those people go?
Why when American gets a taste of good news you rightie crybabies get your panties in a wad? Is there always a black clowd looming over your head. TISSUES?
moveforward...you are a weather racist I see! All black clouds are not bad!
More unreliable government figures and constant biased media spin with propaganda for whatever reasons usually at play. The flouride in the water and flu vaccines are good for you too.
Is that you Sarah?
No Joe but your daddy Barry is calling you about your last hoof in mouth, oops.
Well, it is winter. And it's getting mighty cold outside.
Its sad that the US Government wastes endless billions playing "World Police" in places it has no business while its own sheeple suffer!
www.Total-Security.tk
And the GOP plans are?..... ZIP.... ZERO.... ZILCH..... just more tax cuts to grow the economy.....
Tax cuts for the rich. Just thought I'd clarify that.
Edit:
See that is their plan for attaining smaller government. They cut taxes, people are happy. Then they go: 'Well now we can't afford to continue Government Service X' so they cut it. Round and round we go.
Exactly what Scott Walker did in Wisconsin. Give tax breaks for the rich, cry budget deficit and then cut services.
Are any of us better off than we were 4 years ago? And is the current administration offering anything to encourage confidence in the economy aside from class warfare, escalating debt and more government handouts?
Class inequality is the problem and the GOP just want to widen that gap by pampering the 1%
moveforward2012,
Yes and the Lib's and Dem's just want more handouts, whats the difference?
It's gonna take more like 30 YEARS to correct all the things that Dumba$$ Bush screwed up!!
Class inequality?...so those who work less or not at all should enjoy the same quality of life as those who work? Hmmm?
Hey, the rich deserve the money. Because they're rich...
"He who dies with the most toys wins."
Who really does the work, it sure ain't the guy behind the desk is it ..........
Dead, I think that's called socialism.
The Spender in Chief has dug a financial hole deep enough to reach Bejing and has recommended we all learn Mandarin.
Can you name what he spent money on? This is a test
You failed Tad
What about our tax dollars spent to educate the Chinese prostitutes in China?
The National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism is paying researchers in China $2.6 million to train Chinese prostitutes to drink responsibly on the job. The Wayne State University professor running the study says China has a HIV problem. Apparently the NIH believes this is a U.S. taxpayer responsibility, since it is also funding sex studies in Botswana, Mozambique, South Africa, Tanzania, Ivory Coast, Ghana and Nambia, among others.
What the ???? When Obama said he was going to go through the budget line by line and eliminate waste, did you think that teaching Chinese hookers how to drink responsibly would make the cut??? Sheesh!
dirtyspendingsecrets dot com
That's RIDICULOUS, Found that on a right-wing website? BUSTED
Sorry...I should have gone to a Leftist site to find the truth.
Well, there are currently more English-speaking Chinese that there are US citizens. And yet we still see a strong resistance in the US to learning another language.
It sort of says something about "American exceptionalism" that we expect everyone else to learn our lange, and yet we put little or no importance into learning other languages.
Severed Head in a Jar,
I hear the weather is nice in China right now...
Never mind.
.
Danno- Yeah, you could selfishly see saving 7000 people from homelessness at a cost of 1.5 billion as a poor investment. Or, you could look at it as costing us only one less fighter jet. If you think the fighter jet is a better investment then you need help. Those that are no longer homeless are more likely to find work, pay a landlord, and are less likely to cost us in other ways(hospital visits, welfare hotel, etc). Of course, it also created and saved many decent(not great) paying social work jobs. My USA is a compassionate country where we help each other above all else. Where do you live? Also, enough with the business nonsense. Most people in business can't run a business well. We all have a lot to learn.
If you think 1.5 billion for 7000 people is a good investment you must be on the obama gravy train yourself.
I'll go with the fighter jet...that "protects" EVERYONE, not the select.......few....that have no gumption, desire, or fortitude to even help themselves.
Liek Newt said take a shower, cut your hair, and go get a job....I hear there are 12 Million illegals out there you can compete with thanks to your do nothing liberals wh owant them to stay here.
Oh sorry i forgot....those are the liberals that not only NEED you to be reliant upon them but WANT you to be reliant upon them so they can keep feeding you pieces and scraps for your vote so you will reelect them so they can give you what you need for doing nothing.
Wheres that fighter jet???
What kind of idiot assumes that those who suffer misfortune do so because they deserve it somehow? Many, MANY people work hard, do all that they can to be self-sufficient & handle their responsibilities, & one bad choice, or catastrophic illness, layoff, natural disaster, unexpected SOMETHING wipes out their savings, destroys the community where they live, renders them unable to physically handle working for long periods of time. You dare to judge hundreds of thousands of people based on your smug assumptions of your own superiority?!? You, sir, are an unmitigated ass.
The green jobs program that the Obama administration and progressives claim would bring a vast number of jobs to the U.S. has cost the American taxpayers billions of dollars and at the same time been unable to create viable jobs. Instead the green jobs have been outsourced to China.