Los Angeles declares a public emergency, puts $100 million into helping homeless

[webfact]

Los Angeles Puts $100 Million Into Helping Homeless
By JENNIFER MEDINA
The New York Times

LOS ANGELES — Flooded with homeless encampments from its freeway underpasses to the chic sidewalks of Venice Beach, municipal officials here declared a public emergency on Tuesday, making Los Angeles the first city in the nation to take such a drastic step in response to its mounting problem with street dwellers.

The move stems partly from compassion, and in no small part from the rising tide of complaints about the homeless and the public nuisance they create. National experts on homelessness say Los Angeles has had a severe and persistent problem with people living on the streets rather than in shelters — the official estimate is 26,000.

The mayor and City Council have pledged a sizable and coordinated response, proposing Tuesday to spend at least $100 million in the next year on housing and other services.

Full story: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/23/us/los-angeles-plans-100-million-effort-to-end-homelessness.html

-- The New York TImes 2015-09-23

[Bulldozer Dawn]

culling?

[NeverSure]

Much of what Kalifornia does is screw up. LA has the best weather and some of the best "entitlements" in the country. It is a magnet for the shiftless.

Now they are going to set themselves up to attract even more of that type.

If you water and fertilize it, it will grow.

[Usernames]

So, it's starting to look a lot like Mexico City, or, even worse, Rio. Wonder why???

[bangkapi]

Sad.

A result of government social engineering policies.

[bangkapi]

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2015-09-22/new-york-city-workers-full-time-jobs-are-living-homeless-shelters

[Muzarella]

Reality News from the Land of Opportunity, and the richest country in the world...the US.

[Thaidream]

I used to live near Los Angeles. The homeless situation is one of the worst things I have ever seen and I have been to some of the poorest countries in the World. How can a country that tries to brand itself as the World's greatest continue to spend trillions on defense and its military while its citizens have no place to sleep and have to beg for food?

[MaxYakov]

I used to live near Los Angeles. The homeless situation is one of the worst things I have ever seen and I have been to some of the poorest countries in the World. How can a country that tries to brand itself as the World's greatest continue to spend trillions on defense and its military while its citizens have no place to sleep and have to beg for food?

Taxation and debt.

[Johpa]

It is not just Los Angeles. The same situation exits in all the major cities along the west coast, including the boom town of Seattle. And it is not just a matter of shiftless people, a minority within the homeless community. The multinational heads of the multinational corporations extol the shift of jobs and the distribution of poverty across the planet. The US government allows for the existence of a third world healthcare system to be dominate within the US, a system that does not care for the poor or the mentally ill. And meanwhile technology eliminates jobs, perhaps eliminates even more jobs than does trade agreements such as NAFTA which are designed to distribute poverty more evenly across the globe. Wait a mere ten years when drivers are replaced by robotic vehicles and all those shiftless taxi drivers and shiftless truck drivers working their 12 hour days find themselves unemployed and homeless. The surplus of labor is great for the corporations keeping wages down in their neo-Feudal landscape. But in the US it is indeed a conundrum as what do you do with all the surplus labor that is no longer needed. And of course there is no move to truly grow the US economy unless you want to believe the ridiculous myth that lowering taxes on the wealthy will grow the economy. So the powers that be move forward in creating a society of gross inequality and then ask the dumb ass, and diminishing, middle class to pick up the tab to move the homeless out of sight.

[Doc46]

I used to live near Los Angeles. The homeless situation is one of the worst things I have ever seen and I have been to some of the poorest countries in the World. How can a country that tries to brand itself as the World's greatest continue to spend trillions on defense and its military while its citizens have no place to sleep and have to beg for food?

Well well well,,If some got of their ass ,,cleaned themselves and got a job (a lot off them don't want to work) than they could make some money and find a place to live, Maybe not a castle but a home.

[ozyjon]

[chilli42]

Well that certainly is shutting the gate after the horse has left the barn

[wabothai]

I used to live near Los Angeles. The homeless situation is one of the worst things I have ever seen and I have been to some of the poorest countries in the World. How can a country that tries to brand itself as the World's greatest continue to spend trillions on defense and its military while its citizens have no place to sleep and have to beg for food?

Ask Never Sure.

[Harsh Jones]

Much of what Kalifornia does is screw up. LA has the best weather and some of the best "entitlements" in the country. It is a magnet for the shiftless.

Now they are going to set themselves up to attract even more of that type.

If you water and fertilize it, it will grow.

If the economy wasn't completely in the gutter, there would not be as big of problem

[spiritrace]

This is just a small picture of things to come in the future.

[NeverSure]

I used to live near Los Angeles. The homeless situation is one of the worst things I have ever seen and I have been to some of the poorest countries in the World. How can a country that tries to brand itself as the World's greatest continue to spend trillions on defense and its military while its citizens have no place to sleep and have to beg for food?

Ask Never Sure.

I'll tell you. The unemployment rate in LA county is only 7.1%. LINK

That's full employment considering that 7.1% of people either don't want to work or are unemployable. Look at the dude above with the sign and the long beard. He's living his own style of life but no one would hire him looking like that. He doesn't want a job.

There are tons of people who, even if you gave them a job wouldn't stick with it.

There is no sense in bashing the US or the system when 93% of the people are working. This "homeless" idea is a lifestyle choice for most. LA is a favorite spot due to the benefits available and to the year around nice weather.

A tiny portion of the world's population is lucky enough to live somewhere like LA where there is wealth and opportunity. A tiny portion of those people refuse to take advantage of it.

Hispanics flood across the border to take the jobs lazy Americans won't do and they aren't unemployed. They appreciate the opportunities and give it all up just to get there. That lazy American can go hungry until he decides to work for all I care.

Cheers.

[connda]

$100 million should be sufficient venture capital to start a privatized Soylent Green factory. That should take care of the homeless problem plus provide a way to feed the influx of illegal aliens.

Of course again, once the state runs out of water, the homeless will be the least of their worries.

Edited September 23, 2015 by connda

[connda]

I used to live near Los Angeles. The homeless situation is one of the worst things I have ever seen and I have been to some of the poorest countries in the World. How can a country that tries to brand itself as the World's greatest continue to spend trillions on defense and its military while its citizens have no place to sleep and have to beg for food?

For the same reason that it can't take care of it's disabled veterans in their pathetic VA Hospital Administration.

Well, that, and then shipping the majority of middle class and blue collar jobs overseas thus creating over 100 million people without jobs. The "real" unemployment rate in the US is 23%.

Edited September 23, 2015 by connda

[connda]

I used to live near Los Angeles. The homeless situation is one of the worst things I have ever seen and I have been to some of the poorest countries in the World. How can a country that tries to brand itself as the World's greatest continue to spend trillions on defense and its military while its citizens have no place to sleep and have to beg for food?

Ask Never Sure.

I'll tell you. The unemployment rate in LA county is only 7.1%. LINK

That's full employment considering that 7.1% of people either don't want to work or are unemployable. Look at the dude above with the sign and the long beard. He's living his own style of life but no one would hire him looking like that. He doesn't want a job.

There are tons of people who, even if you gave them a job wouldn't stick with it.

There is no sense in bashing the US or the system when 93% of the people are working. This "homeless" idea is a lifestyle choice for most. LA is a favorite spot due to the benefits available and to the year around nice weather.

A tiny portion of the world's population is lucky enough to live somewhere like LA where there is wealth and opportunity. A tiny portion of those people refuse to take advantage of it.

Hispanics flood across the border to take the jobs lazy Americans won't do and they aren't unemployed. They appreciate the opportunities and give it all up just to get there. That lazy American can go hungry until he decides to work for all I care.

Cheers.

I didn't know that George 'Dubya' Bush was a Thai Visa contributor! Wow. We're honored.

And regarding those Mexican migrants. I've seen them and have lived among them. 20 or more people living in one cracker-box house because together that's all the money that their $5.50/hour jobs can afford them after they pool all their money together. In LA county a one bed room apartment is a few buck shy of $2000/month. Those sub-10 dollar an hour jobs don't cover even a small rental.

That's why their is homelessness.

Edited September 23, 2015 by connda

[BKKdreaming]

many of the homeless are mentally ill , but Ronnie Reagan closed all the Mental Hospitals to save money and let the "local" government take care of it......with no extra $$$$

before if you were a "bum" you were taken to the city limits and told not to come back....ohh the good old days !

[blazes]

Vote for Trump and soon thousands of jobs will be created as he builds his wall between Uncle Sam and Pepe.

I see the guy (Walker?) who proposed a wall between US and Canada (5,000) miles has called it quits. Perhaps the dumbest of all those Republican dumbos.

[Scott]

many of the homeless are mentally ill , but Ronnie Raygun closed all the Mental Hospitals to save money and let the "local" government take care of it......with no extra $$$$

before if you were a "bum" you were taken to the city limits and told not to come back....ohh the good old days !

The problem of homelessness is greatly exacerbated by the mentally ill. Quite a number of years ago, there was a move to de-institutionalize the mental hospitals as well as facilities for the mentally retarded (sorry for the non-PC term). In some areas group homes were set up for those that were learning impaired, but the mentally ill could not be forced to stay in facilities unless they were a danger to themselves or others. The problem was further compounded by local gov'ts in states further east which would give homeless people a bus ticket to places like LA and San Francisco.

Many of the mentally ill, when they are released from a mental facility quickly go off their medication and they are not well suited to living with others.

It requires a court order to keep them in a facility. The police also have a difficult time getting them to go to homeless shelters. Even when there is an emergency, such as extreme weather, many will not leave their 'home' on the streets and they cannot be forced to unless there is an emergency declaration.

The situation is very sad, but it is true that a large number live on the streets because they don't wish to be in a shelter.

[Harsh Jones]

I used to live near Los Angeles. The homeless situation is one of the worst things I have ever seen and I have been to some of the poorest countries in the World. How can a country that tries to brand itself as the World's greatest continue to spend trillions on defense and its military while its citizens have no place to sleep and have to beg for food?

Ask Never Sure.

I'll tell you. The unemployment rate in LA county is only 7.1%. LINK

That's full employment considering that 7.1% of people either don't want to work or are unemployable. Look at the dude above with the sign and the long beard. He's living his own style of life but no one would hire him looking like that. He doesn't want a job.

There are tons of people who, even if you gave them a job wouldn't stick with it.

There is no sense in bashing the US or the system when 93% of the people are working. This "homeless" idea is a lifestyle choice for most. LA is a favorite spot due to the benefits available and to the year around nice weather.

A tiny portion of the world's population is lucky enough to live somewhere like LA where there is wealth and opportunity. A tiny portion of those people refuse to take advantage of it.

Hispanics flood across the border to take the jobs lazy Americans won't do and they aren't unemployed. They appreciate the opportunities and give it all up just to get there. That lazy American can go hungry until he decides to work for all I care.

Cheers.

When you get a mix of European and South American socialism and a Japanese style bail out stagflating national economy, you get California and cities like LA.

When you have this, you have more homeless.

Cost of Living: 17.9% above nat'l avg. http://www.forbes.com/places/ca/los-angeles/

[Harsh Jones]

many of the homeless are mentally ill , but Ronnie Raygun closed all the Mental Hospitals to save money and let the "local" government take care of it......with no extra $$$$

before if you were a "bum" you were taken to the city limits and told not to come back....ohh the good old days !

The problem of homelessness is greatly exacerbated by the mentally ill. Quite a number of years ago, there was a move to de-institutionalize the mental hospitals as well as facilities for the mentally retarded (sorry for the non-PC term). In some areas group homes were set up for those that were learning impaired, but the mentally ill could not be forced to stay in facilities unless they were a danger to themselves or others. The problem was further compounded by local gov'ts in states further east which would give homeless people a bus ticket to places like LA and San Francisco.

Many of the mentally ill, when they are released from a mental facility quickly go off their medication and they are not well suited to living with others.

It requires a court order to keep them in a facility. The police also have a difficult time getting them to go to homeless shelters. Even when there is an emergency, such as extreme weather, many will not leave their 'home' on the streets and they cannot be forced to unless there is an emergency declaration.

The situation is very sad, but it is true that a large number live on the streets because they don't wish to be in a shelter.

Very true. For some reason the same thing happened in Canada at the same time. The mentally ill were cut loose on the grounds of rights and freedoms. Now they sit there in the rain, sleeping on the streets with their rights. Vancouver has a worse problem with homeless then any city in California. Partly because of mentally ill migrants from the cold provinces.

[BKKdreaming]

you cannot drink , smoke or do drugs in a shelter , and you have to follow rules,

so they prefer the streets ,

also many on medication do not like the side effects , and the side effects are worse if you drink or do drugs......

[Johpa]

A tiny portion of the world's population is lucky enough to live somewhere like LA where there is wealth and opportunity. A tiny portion of those people refuse to take advantage of it.

Hispanics flood across the border to take the jobs lazy Americans won't do and they aren't unemployed. They appreciate the opportunities and give it all up just to get there. That lazy American can go hungry until he decides to work for all I care.

There are indeed some cultural issues going on here. Most people born in the US are incapable of living in third world conditions with several unrelated adults sharing a single bedroom or a family of six sharing a one-bedroom apartment. And having not been brought up in a farming environment, most Americans can't compete with either the illegal immigrants nor the legal immigrants (settled refugees) when it comes to physically demanding minimum wage jobs or even physically demanding above minimum wage jobs. Some opt for homelessness as not only are they unable to accept living in a crowded apartment but they really can't find any fellow brethren to do the same. I work with the local Burmese refugee community in my region of the US and I certainly could never find 10 other peers who I could live with in a small apartment as do many of the refugee families I visit. But it must make life easy to be both never sure and to never care.

[boike]

Aah, the right wingers are out in full force condemning these people of which a majority have fought your wars. And oh, it's Obama's fault.

Sent from my S4 LTE

[ableguy]

I used to live near Los Angeles. The homeless situation is one of the worst things I have ever seen and I have been to some of the poorest countries in the World. How can a country that tries to brand itself as the World's greatest continue to spend trillions on defense and its military while its citizens have no place to sleep and have to beg for food?

For the same reason that it can't take care of it's disabled veterans in their pathetic VA Hospital Administration.

Well, that, and then shipping the majority of middle class and blue collar jobs overseas thus creating over 100 million people without jobs. The "real" unemployment rate in the US is 23%.

Utter rubbish.