-Caveat Lector-
In most American cities, a large percentage of the working poor see most
of their income go into the hands of real estate speculator landlords.
In San Francisco, yours truly has to work 40 hours a week at a very
demanding high-stress, "above-average" pay job just to be able --with not one
penny left over--.to pay my RENT, for a modest studio apartment in a bad
neighborhood. (My wife has to do the same so that we can EAT as well.)
So why not eliminate the middleman altogether and send us back to the
plantation, where we slaves are forced to work twelve hours a day, seven days
a week, for Massa Boss, for the "privilege" of room and board?
Hell, that system works just fine in Red China, the envy of all
capitalist eyes ...
NYC Wants Homeless People To Work
By TIMOTHY WILLIAMS
.c The Associated Press
NEW YORK (AP) - Nica Person, a 26-year-old mother of three who lives in a
Bronx homeless shelter, can't believe what she's hearing from New York policy
makers.
A plan to go into effect this winter would require her and thousands of other
homeless parents to work in exchange for shelter - or possibly have their
children placed in foster care.
``There are parents who have four kids. They can't get day care to work.
Who's going to pay for the day care?'' she asked.
A storm of angry reaction greeted Republican Mayor Rudolph Giuliani's
announcement Tuesday that the city will seek to extend its welfare policy to
4,600 families in the shelter system. Eventually, 7,000 single adults in
homeless shelters will also likely be required to work.
``Typical Republican simpleton logic,'' said Greg Bowens, a spokesman for
Detroit Mayor Dennis Archer, a Democrat. ``Jesus was born in a manger. They
didn't turn Mary away. Would Joseph and Mary get a spot in New York today?
Amazing.''
New York is believed to be the only major U.S. city to impose a
work-for-shelter requirement. The city already requires welfare recipients to
work to get their benefits.
New York operates the largest, most comprehensive shelter system in the
nation for a homeless population it estimates at 23,000. In other parts of
the country, shelters are often run and financed by private charities - some
of which require people to seek work.
The mayor's plan stunned advocates for the homeless.
``This could literally put hundreds, if not thousands of people on the
streets,'' said Patrick Markee, a policy adviser for New York City's
Coalition for the Homeless.
Maria Foscarinis, executive director of the National Law Center on
Homelessness and Poverty in Washington D.C., said the policy appears to be
unique in the nation, adding that it is ``horribly misguided.''
City Council Speaker Peter Vallone, a Democrat, said Giuliani's move is ``a
throwback to the days of Dickens. We cannot tolerate this morally or
legally.'' Vallone acknowledged, however, that the City Council has little
power to stop the policy.
The new requirements are supported by 1997 state regulations aimed at moving
the homeless to work and ultimately to self-sufficiency. Last February, an
appeals court ruled against the objections of advocates for the homeless.
Giuliani, who laughed when told that Vallone compared his policy to something
out of Charles Dickens' novels, defended his plan.
``The apostles of dependency want to bring us back to where we had 1.1
million people on welfare and a city where dependency was the rule, working
the exception,'' he said. ``I think this is the highest form of compassion
and love - to help people to help themselves.''
Giuliani has made welfare reform a centerpiece of his administration. The
work-for-a-bed rule is similar to requirements city welfare offices have used
since 1995 to move more than 400,000 people off public assistance.
Already, many homeless parents clean parks or do other jobs in exchange for
welfare benefits while their children are in shelter day care centers.
However, thousands of families are on a waiting list for child care.
It remains unclear what work will be required of homeless people with
physical or mental disabilities, though city policy requires those seeking
exemption from work requirements to undergo medical exams every few months.
Person said the jobs the city sends people to are often menial, not the type
of jobs that could provide a decent living.
``That just puts me right back to welfare,'' she said. ``You have to give
people bigger goals, bigger dreams.''
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