TRUMP FINDS AN UGLY NEW WAY TO CONCERN-TROLL CALIFORNIA
Unsurprisingly, Trump's planned effort to eradicate homelessness is not driven by a desire to help the less fortunate.
BY ALISON DURKEE
SEPTEMBER 11, 2019
President Donald Trump may be preparing to step up and take on the current homelessness crisis in America's citiesbut it won't be because of some pure-hearted motivation to help the poor. The Washington Post reports that the Trump administration is preparing to launch a sweeping effort to address homelessness in California, which is being done at Trump's direction. Like many Americans, the president has taken notice of the homelessness crisis, particularly in cities and states where the liberal policies are combining to dramatically increase poverty and public health risks, White House spokesman Judd Deere said. President Trump has directed his team to go further and develop a range of policy options for consideration to deal with this tragedy.
President Donald Trump may be preparing to step up Per the Post, administration officials discussing the project are considering using the federal government to get homeless people off the streets of Los Angeles and other cities and into new government-backed facilities, though the report notes it is unclear how the administration actually plans to accomplish this and what legal authority they have to do so. If you're not doing anything illegal, authorities can't just pick you up to tell you where to go, Steve Berg, vice president for programs and policy with the National Alliance to End Homelessness, pointed out to USA Today. As part of their efforts, a number of Trump officials went to Los Angeles on Tuesday to survey the city's homelessness crisis, touring Skid Row and learning more about how the city government is taking action. (Theyre just not thoughtfuland, quite frankly, not smart enough to know what were doing, Breelyn Pete, chief of state and federal affairs for L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti, said at an event Monday before the visit.) Trump had previously hinted at possibly taking action against the homelessness crisis in a July interview with Fox News, saying the administration was looking at it very seriously. We may intercede, Trump said. We may do something to get that whole thing cleaned up.
Unsurprisingly, Trump's newfound desire to help eradicate homelessness is likely being done with selfish intentions. With the homeless crisis largely centered in Democrat-run cities and states like California, drawing attention to the issue and publicly taking steps to address it allows Trump to demonize the liberal areas and falsely equate their policies with a spike in homelessness, as Deere's statement suggested. Media Matters notes that the president is likely taking a cue from Fox News with his sudden obsession, given that the network has aired at least 53 segments focused on homelessness in California since May and been quick to point out how much [California's] policies have crippled and made the entire situation worse. In his July interview with Fox News, Trump made it clear that the well-being of the homeless is not his concern so much as how they affect the middle and upper classes, telling host Tucker Carlson, You have people that work in those cities. They work in office buildings, and to get into the building, they have to walk through a scene that nobody would have believed possible three years ago. The president also appeared concerned about the homeless population's affect on the cities' aesthetics, saying, When we have leaders of the world coming in to see the president of the United States, and theyre riding down a highway, they cant be looking at that.and take on the current homelessness crisis in America's citiesbut it won't be because of some pure-hearted motivation to help the poor. The Washington Post reports that the Trump administration is preparing to launch a sweeping effort to address homelessness in California, which is being done at Trump's direction. Like many Americans, the president has taken notice of the homelessness crisis, particularly in cities and states where the liberal policies are combining to dramatically increase poverty and public health risks, White House spokesman Judd Deere said. President Trump has directed his team to go further and develop a range of policy options for consideration to deal with this tragedy.
Republicans' desire to associate homelessness with liberal policy is, of course, fairly ironic, given how the president has exacerbated the crisis through policies of his own. Many of the Trump administration's actions have taken aim at the low-income Americans likely to be forced into homelessness, whether through his changes to food stamps, health care, affordable housing, or a range of other issues. [Trump] could start by ending his plans to cut food stamps, gut health care for low-income people, and scare immigrant families from accessing government services, Nathan Click, a spokesperson for California Governor Gavin Newsom, said in a statement about the Post report.
More:
https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2019/09/trump-homelessness-crisis-california
Bayard
(21,806 posts)He always targets the poor, the sick, the frightened.
I don't understand the legalities of him being able to do this. Oh, wait......we're talking about tRump.
applegrove
(118,022 posts)Newest Reality
(12,712 posts)the careful, vague wording is of concern: new government-backed facilities.
Considering how things have gone so far, that needs some clarification, not to mention many other, legal issues here.
dalton99a
(81,073 posts)rampartc
(5,265 posts)but trump? why do I imagine crowded cages?
intrepidity
(7,241 posts)No doubt whatsoever
intrepidity
(7,241 posts)what legal authority they have to do so. If you're not doing anything illegal, authorities can't just pick you up to tell you where to go,
Problem is, it *is* illegal to sleep on streets, in cars, etc.
So I don't see any obstacle to what they are going to do.
Fucking Asshole Trump.
SharonAnn
(13,767 posts)Moral Compass
(1,498 posts)If theyll treat children the way theyre treating them how do you suppose the homeless would be treated. This is raw fascism. The homeless will be treated as if they have no rights whatsoever.
The private prison industry would explode and a lot of the homeless will die even faster than they do now.
Our country is becoming a capitalistic hell scape where rights only exist if you can afford them.
This is a truly chilling trial balloon. A gestapo would have to be created to perform these acts of barbarity. We are criminalizing poverty and mental illness.
SWBTATTReg
(21,859 posts)billionaires, and others who do not need the money? Maybe, just maybe this will help. Of course they won't really truly understand why this problem exists and thus, will throw the wrong things to supposedly address the problem(s), when in reality, it's a sneak attack by rump and cronies against blue states.