The Truly Invisible Homeless
Some people (1) mistakenly assume that homelessness stems, at base, from an inability to afford housing; yet there are millions of poor Americans who are not homeless and many homeless that are not poor.
The problem is more complicated than affordable housing. There are at least two Federal agencies responsible for the rise of homelessness in our country in the past few decades: The Department of Housing and Urban Development (and the subsequent flood of programs to make housing more affordable) and the Drug Enforcement Administration (and the subsequent flood of inmates into our prison system).
HUD was based upon on good intentions and as always happens with such high moral feelings, those good intentions ended up as asphalt for the road to hell. The Community Development Block Grant program which doles out millions of dollars annually to cities in order to help establish and maintain viable urban communities actually contributes to urban blight.
In my home town for example, the worst and most dangerous places to live are those in which affordable housing was made available. Every few years, such apartment complexes deteriorate and turn to crap whereupon they are demolished and the cycle begins anew. New, truly affordable, decent housing cannot be built by private companies because of two things:
- taxes to pay for public affordable housing makes less capital available to private firms to build homes and so makes home-building too expensive to allow for affordable housing.
- draconian regulations which require builders of multiple dwellings to construct a certain proportion of units for affordable housing renders all the other units more expensive and less affordable to more people. (2)
and
After HUD and its state and municipal equivalents hobbled the private construction of apartment buildings, they then maintained that since the private sector is not supplying enough affordable housing, it's important that the public sector expand even more. Eventually, with even more restrictive and onerous building requirements there one day will be zero private construction of apartments.
We need to eliminate HUD. Only then can there be more than enough affordable housing. We are lucky there is no such thing as the Department of Affordable computing, otherwise computers would cost $50,000 each.
After the DEA put millions in prison, those millions, who used to have jobs, families and homes, ended up with difficulties finding employment, breaking connections to their afamily, and losing their homes - the three essential attributes of the homeless. The DEA has, by making drugs more expensive, made the business of selling drugs so profitable that it encouraged more people to be in that business and consequently helped spread the use and abuse of drugs. And drug abusers are one of the largest of the groups of homeless in our country.
We need to eliminate the DEA.
These are two agencies I would abolish - I just can't remember the name of the third (3).
ENDNOTES
(1):
Helping America's Homeless, Introduction
Given that homelessness stems, at base, from an inability to afford housing, we next consider the structural conditions of the economy, housing markets, labor markets, and related factors that influence people’s ability to afford housing.
(2):
This only requires simple math. If a builder has a 5-apartment complex and needs to earn $7,500 a month then he must charge $1,500 per month per apartment. However, if housing regulations require for one apartment to be low rent, for example, $800 per month, then rent for the other apartments now have to be raised to $1,675. Making apartments affordable for one person makes it less affordable for 4 others.
In addition, affordable housing tenants tend to be high maintenance in terms of crime, noise, sanitation and security and so property owners spend much more to maintain such housing. All these added expenses require the rent for all the others to go up to as much as $1,800 per month. With such high rents and proximity to less desirable people, landlords end up with fewer decent tenants and such properties end up not being profitable at all.
Any smart builder knows that the only way to make money building apartments is to get tax breaks or other considerations. Efforts to make affordable housing only makes all housing less affordable.
(3): In case any of my readers are wondering why I added this note, everyone by now knows about Rick Perry's recent brain freeze, this is for future readers of this article who may not get the reference to the third agency.
Huff Post, Rick Perry Forgets Which Three Agencies He Would Eliminate
Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R) had the most memorable moment of Wednesday night's CNBC debate, even though it was a moment when he couldn't remember what he was talking about.
Perry tried to name the three federal agencies he would like to eliminate if he is elected president, but he was able to name just two: the Commerce and Education Departments.
