Doonesbury by Garry Trudeau for August 14, 2015

To be fair, it isn’t the White House’s responsibility and Rick should know that.

it is YOUR responsibility if it is not HER responsibility

Homelessness has been a problem in human society since humans appeared on the scene, as has mental illness.

The US has needed a national policy on this issue for a long time. A REAL policy, not a bunch of talk.

So I don’t expect to see one anytime soon….

of course the national policy could be to consider it a matter for states

(it would still be a national policy) we also need a mmational policy on homelessnes in Iran, Ukraine, Sudan, Nigeria,…

why not look for your self? no let’s complain it’s all someone elses job

This was during the Reagan administration. Everything was the White House’s fault then.

Today, not so much.

If she’s dead, it’s not like she will stop voting or anything…

Its thirty years later and a totally different administration, yet things have not changed – only worsened.

Also, one can hear it echoing from Genesis, “Am I my brother’s keeper?”

Say Rick, why don’t you go look for her yourself? Just because she didn’t show at the meeting place doesn’t mean you can’t search for her.

Rick typical bleeding heart, cares immensely about the homeless, as long as it doesn’t inconvenience him and he can get the tax payers to pay for it.

This is a strip that benefits from a knowledge of history. Reagan slashed the budget of the Department of Housing and Urban Development down to almost nothing, as well as slashing budgets or eliminating many other programs designed to assist the poor. He did the same thing with programs assisting the mentally ill, which in many cases resulted in deinstitutionalization, and all of this led to an explosion of homelessness. Yes, of course, a certain amount of homelessness had always existed, but when you read the base numbers for the 1980s, they are pretty sobering – these were numbers unseen since the Depression. This was why Rick was doing a story on the homeless population – they had burgeoned in a way that was startling and demanded attention, but because the most wealthy and powerful were benefiting from the new tax codes that were pushing some people into the streets, it was easier for most to just shrug and say, “Yeah, too bad about that. You should work harder and don’t do drugs, k?”

You are your brother’s keeper if you want to keep your brother.

@eugene57@Olongapojoe“grow up and grow a heart.”.How is he immature and heartless if he doesn’t want to burden everybody else with an unending problem?.While giving every needy person a million dollars — for example — would be nice, making others provide the million dollars each would be a heavy burden on them..Further, if you KNEW the recipient would use the imaginary million to buy drugs, liquor, cigarettes, prostitutes’ attentions and ministrations, carbonated beverages, non-vegan meals, wouldn’t it seem cruel to give them such means to harm themselves?

Again, she’s on a bench outside of the WH. That was area was crawling with police in ‘84’ and it’s worse now. I find it hard to believe a police officer did not spot her. It is the kind of detail that makes the panel unrealistic.

In the U.S., homelessness is considered a local issue. The most common policy is to make the lives of the homeless more miserable than it already is by arresting them or driving them to them to the outskirts of town and making it somebody else’s problem.As I posted earlier this week, the cost of apartments in PUBLIC HOUSING in places like New York and San Francisco exceed the cost of private, free-market costs in most of America.Also, if the issue of mental illness and substance abuse is not addressed, then homelessness will remain a problem.I have seen alcoholic homeless in postcard picturesque towns in Germany and in well to do college towns in U.S.

I remember a large uptick in homelessness during the Regan administration, but I can’t remember if it was due to a Regan policy or because of a Supreme Court ruling that held that we could no longer institutionalize the mentally ill against their will if they weren’t an imminent threat to themselves or others. Trudeau referenced the deinstitutionalization with the Elmo character show a few days back.

@@BobBlumenfeld @kaecispop""Am I my brother’s keeper?” doesn’t apply here. In the Bible, Cain was weakly trying to hide the fact of having just killed his brother, not really about looking after him.".Yep.It is interesting how many people think that question includes its correct answer.People who don’t know what it’s about use it to place burdens on others, effectively trying to establish a religion and theocracy at the same time..Still, even if we don’t really keep our brethren locked in a cage, it is probably best not to murder them out of jealousy — or for any other reason. It makes family reunions awkward.

Apparently there is a current law suit going on in Boise. The city criminalized sleeping in public. The Federal government is supporting the other side, trying to get the law thrown out. 2 reasons: It is cheaper to provide a place to sleep than it is to put people in prison for not having a place to sleep. and everyone has to sleep, you cannot forbid someone from sleeping in public if they don’t have a private place to sleep.

This may be a big deal, once it goes through all the court appeals!

Doesn’t exactly apply to Alice buried under the snow, but it might, finally, after 30+ years, give her a place inside to sleep. (spoiler……..

……….as I remember, this has something of a happy ending for Alice)

That would be a no.

@Tomielm/

“You were making a certain amount of sense until that sentence. Really, Dude, do you HEAR yourself?”.It depends on whether the voices in my head count as “myself” or not.{They’re very noisy.).Who in 1915 could buy antibiotics at any price?Nobody, not even the richest man in the world, not even the most powerful ruler.Simple infections would kill them.PUBLIX gives many of them away.

.Vaccinations against fatal diseases weren’t available at any price.The children of the rich and powerful died from measles!Vaccinations today? Free.Paupers not only don’t die, they don’t even get sick..Asthma treatments.Cancer cures.Blood pressure medicines..Even our rags are of better quality.911 serviceLifeFlightCleaner, safer foods.Often cleaner air and water than 1915.For the pay from two or three hours of work today, anybody can buy a device which will let him communicate all around the world by just getting near a WiFi hotspot.The richest and most powerful couldn’t do it for any price in 1915 because it didn’t exist..Sure, some of them had servants and slaves (some still do, for that matter), but they weren’t better off for it..If that’s your thing, you will disagree. By my priorities I know over half the people I know would be dead by now if they were millionaires in 1915..Live is better than dead.

A really good book on homelessness is “Tell Them Who I Am” by Liebow who did a study of homeless women, living among them as much as he could and interviewing them.

@argythree@Illegal Seagull“Congress runs DC, whatever anyone tells you. And DC has no voting representation in Congress and can’t vote for President.”..Uh, er, actually, it does Per The 23rd AmendmentSection 1. The District constituting the seat of Government of the United States shall appoint in such manner as the Congress may direct:A number of electors of President and Vice President equal to the whole number of Senators and Representatives in Congress to which the District would be entitled if it were a State, but in no event more than the least populous State; they shall be in addition to those appointed by the States, but they shall be considered, for the purposes of the election of President and Vice President, to be electors appointed by a State; and they shall meet in the District and perform such duties as provided by the twelfth article of amendment.Section 2. The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.

(musical notes…) “Trailers for sale or rentRooms to let…fifty cents.No phone, no pool, no petsI ain’t got no cigarettesAh, but..two hours of pushin’ broomBuys an eight by twelve four-bit room”

(from King of the Road – Roger Miller)

“The poorest in America are better off than the richest were a hundred years ago, but resentment continues to grow against the top 1% because they have even more than THAT.”This may be the silliest thing you have ever said. The richest people in America in 1915 were not homeless people sleeping on park benches.

“Sure, some of them had servants and slaves (some still do, for that matter), but they weren’t better off for it.”They were certainly better off than their servants or slaves then and now. The 1 % still feel that the poor are the undeserving.