I don't believe anyone on this thread is saying that homelessness does not exist or that we should simply allow the homeless to die in the street. My point was that the recent spate of foreclosures because of the so called subprime market is not forcing people into homelessness. That is absurd on its face. The homeowner had enough money to pay the lower mortgage payment, they may even have enough income to pay a higher mortgage but because of the housing market they cannot be refinanced nor can they pay off the entire first mortgage because the housing market will not allow the house to be sold for the amount of money owed. This leads to foreclosure of that specific house under those specific circumstances. This does not preclude the possibility that the homeowner cannot rent an apartment or house for an affordable rate in the same area they lived. To think otherwise flys in the face of reason.

Can anyone postulate a reasonable explanation that a high energy business executive making well above average income would, because of the loss of his job, become a homeless person eating out of garbage cans in the United States today? That too is an unreasonable scenerio. Perhaps his lifestyle would change drastically but is it reasonable to assume someone, male or female, who has enough intelligence, drive, and experience to be a manager would suddenly become unable to function? No, I don't think that it is. If such a situation does in fact exist there are more factors involved than the mere loss of a job. ( I once met a man who told me he had been forced to living on the streets because after he retired he didn't realize he had to pay income tax on his pension and the IRS took everything he owned and left him with no home, no car, no belongings, and only 10 percent of his pension, but that was our government doing this, not the loss of a job - even if he had a job the IRS would have taken his wages).

I believe the homeless are almost exclusively those with mental or substance abuse issues. I know you left wingers will claim exceptions to this statement and I acknowledge, like the man who was forced on the street by the IRS, there are those who don't fit that catagory. To merely provide them with housing will not change the root cause of their homelessness. Many of the homeless should be institutionalized for thier own benefit. Many will never become productive members of society and probably should be permanantly institutionized.

The poor and the homeless will always be among us, there will always be those who for what ever reason cannot cope in the world. For those we should give assistance but we should understand its not the fault of some malevolent entity that if only we would nationalize the steel industry for example would cease forcing normal people into homelessness.

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Its better to have fussed and crabbed then never to have fussed at all - Lucy