Day of Silence for housing
A “Day of Silence” is being held today, Wednesday, Jan. 10, 2007, to protest federal funding cuts that will cripple public housing authorities across the U.S. Due to the ballooning federal deficit, federal funding for low-income housing has been cut drastically this year. While a permanent budget still has not been passed, there is no indication that any of those cuts will be rescinded. As a result, public housing authorities are being forced to make deep budget cuts, reduce staff and cut back on services. The long-term consequences are a reduction in the availability of housing for those who can least afford it, cuts in services that can help low-income families achieve self-sufficiency, and an increase in urban blight as existing properties are unable to be properly maintained and repaired.
The danger ahead for our nation’s poorest seniors and families is real. Housing authorities are considering a host of options to continue to finance housing operations. These include selling housing units, raising rents, eliminating social services and laying off thousands of people who provide those services to seniors and families. Today housing agencies are making ends meet with only 76.4 cents of every dollar appropriated with no relief in sight this budget cycle and dim prospects for the near future. Ultimately fewer poor families and senior citizens will be able to live in federally subsidized housing.
Today public policy and social action come together, as public housing authorities throughout the nation participate in a national "Day of Silence" in order to raise awareness of this funding crisis. For one day only, many housing authorities will not be answering phones or returning calls (except for emergencies). Instead, callers will get a voice mail message, telling them that public housing agencies around the nation are observing a national day of silence today in order to focus attention on the critical funding cuts proposed for the nation's public housing program. Such cuts will impact the ability of housing authorities to respond to calls for service. Callers will then be asked to contact members of Congress to ask them to support full funding for public housing and given the number for the US House of Representatives.
The danger ahead for our nation’s poorest seniors and families is real. Housing authorities are considering a host of options to continue to finance housing operations. These include selling housing units, raising rents, eliminating social services and laying off thousands of people who provide those services to seniors and families. Today housing agencies are making ends meet with only 76.4 cents of every dollar appropriated with no relief in sight this budget cycle and dim prospects for the near future. Ultimately fewer poor families and senior citizens will be able to live in federally subsidized housing.
Today public policy and social action come together, as public housing authorities throughout the nation participate in a national "Day of Silence" in order to raise awareness of this funding crisis. For one day only, many housing authorities will not be answering phones or returning calls (except for emergencies). Instead, callers will get a voice mail message, telling them that public housing agencies around the nation are observing a national day of silence today in order to focus attention on the critical funding cuts proposed for the nation's public housing program. Such cuts will impact the ability of housing authorities to respond to calls for service. Callers will then be asked to contact members of Congress to ask them to support full funding for public housing and given the number for the US House of Representatives.
posted by Richard Stanislaw at
12:31 PM
18 Comments:
I actually read about this the day of the protest and had found it rather interesting. I think there is a great deal that can be said about the mismanagement of the federal budget and one could complain for hours and hours. However, I would prefer to focus elsewhere. While I imagine it is purely coincidental, the timing of this protest is rather apropos. Less than a week before a holiday celebrating the nation's paramount nonviolent social actor, a large scale nonviolent action takes place. What is interesting in this case is that it is the civil servants who provide the services of low-income housing that are the ones taking the action. Here you have a group of individuals who, for the most part, will remain unaffected by the cuts taking measures to change the policy. America being a democracy, which implies that it's policies should be susceptible to the opinions and voices of even the most destitute residents living in low-income housing, it will be interesting to see the impact this "Day of Silence" has the policy.
The joys of capitalism... Capitalism's social darwinistic theory is cippling to humanistic ideals. Those who are weaker are crushed into welfared housing and insufficent funding for medicine to keep them alive and healthy. It is a shame that as we are killing Islamists, the money that goes towards killing could go towards healing. It's to bad the defense budget doesn't allow for anything else of real importance. Sorry to sound so militant...
Michael Stevens
Welcome to the United States. As sad as the situation is, there isn't much that can be done. Whether this "Day of Silence" actually has an affect remains to be seen. I guess all that can be done is some serious lobbying as well as some serious action taken by some special interest groups, whoever they may be. I do agree with Mr. Stevens though about the reallocation of funds that needs to take place.
-Mike Rudolph
After re-reading my earlier post, I realized that I did not make it explicitly clear that I think a reallocation of funds should occur- I certainly do. Thought I should just make that clear.... :)
-Jonathan Duffy
I think that this post is sadly biased and does not present for fair discussion of the facts. How much money is being saved? What other options were discussed or held over? What other social programs were saved by this one's demise? These are factors that need to be looked at and addressed before we simply decry any cut in social spending as proof that the devils in congress are continuing their slow destruction of the lower classes.
Sure, make the argument that the War in Iraq could easily pay for all these programs or some similar point of debate, but the fact is that the congressmen and analysts who made this cut probably don't have the authority to stop that "emergency spending" so they have to decide with the money and the programs that they have. So what other programs were on the block that were saved? Cuts NEED to be made if we're ever going to get the deficit under control, especially with the War on Terror eating us out of house and home. Hard decisions need to be made.
Now I'm not saying this is right, I'm just saying we've not been given sufficient information to make any comment one way or another. Give us the numbers, then we can talk.
-Garrett Ramey
Dude,
This is very interesting I wish I would have known about it earlier. It will be interesting to see the outcome of this silent protest. Most peopel would want to speak out but, how ironic would it be if this method of protest succeeded better then loud angry mobs.
It is important to help those people that are underprivledged. As a society we must help those less fortunate than us because that is what makes a nation great. However the bill to fund housing for poor people should also include a provision to help these people find jobs and learn a trade ao they do not live at these places for ever. That is the problem with these housing develpoments is that people make lifetimes out of living at these places instead of improving themselves. It is not god to have three or four generations of families collecting welfare and living at these places. There must be a time limit and incentive for these people to improve their lives because when that happens America will be a better place.
The unfortunate thing is, there is more than enough tax money to go around. I do not have any figures however, I have had dealings with the city of Cleveland, as well as squadron level budget issues in the Marine Corps. Money is wasted purposely in order to show a need for more. Moreover, once the funding is obtained it is misused on items such as a fifty dollar hammer, or overtime abuses. It would be nice if the bureaucracy could budget on an as needed basis and the sectors with sufficient funding would allow excess funds to be dispensed elsewhere. However, this is the real world and greed, corruption, and all other self-serving interests are here to stay. On the other hand, I have also had years of experience with low income housing and let me tell you; the whole idea sucks! Not only have I helped to erect a number of these structures, (only to see them trashed by the tenants within a couple of years), I have also dealt with the fact that my hard earned tax dollars are funding it. By the way, some of these low income housing residents own a Lexus, a Hummer, and I have even seen a Mercedes parked in a low income driveway. As far as the elderly, I rarely see the elderly in low income housing, unless they have spent their entire life there. Furthermore, where in the hell are these peoples' families? They should have raised their kids better and told them to respect their elders and this would not even be an issue for them (and yes I know that not everyone has children).
Vince Yafanaro
V
It’s certainly unfortunate the public housing issue has been cleared aside of the media’s spotlight due to several major newsmakers. The war in Iraq and the recent announcements of presidential candidates have made this housing crisis a minor concern on the national stage. The cuts in funding to public housing offices across the country is, unfortunately, a problem which many more financially stable Americans don’t care about. This attitude must be reversed as incomes remain flat while housing costs escalate in most major cities in the United States.
There are currently approximately 36 million Americans who are considered “working poor” who can barely afford to live in their homes. This number is staggering which reflects about 12% of the country’s population. Most of these Americans barely make enough money to pay their rent, not to mention food costs, health coverage and clothing costs.
The war in Iraq, costing about $1.7 Billion a week is a prime example of how the Republicans in Washington practice flawed policy while many Americans cannot pay for a roof over their head. Since the invasion of Iraq, over $350 Billion has been spent- money which could have been used to help support American families concerning affordable housing. We must take care of our own people first, and not spend money in a corner of the world which despises everything we stand for.
Hopefully, the “Day of Silence” has shed some light on the lack of affordable housing in America. Americans who work hard at honest work and cannot afford housing deserves better treatment from the federal government.
It’s certainly unfortunate the public housing issue has been cleared aside of the media’s spotlight due to several major newsmakers. The war in Iraq and the recent announcements of presidential candidates have made this housing crisis a minor concern on the national stage. The cuts in funding to public housing offices across the country is, unfortunately, a problem which many more financially stable Americans don’t care about. This attitude must be reversed as incomes remain flat while housing costs escalate in most major cities in the United States.
There are currently approximately 36 million Americans who are considered “working poor” who can barely afford to live in their homes. This number is staggering which reflects about 12% of the country’s population. Most of these Americans barely make enough money to pay their rent, not to mention food costs, health coverage and clothing costs.
The war in Iraq, costing about $1.7 Billion a week is a prime example of how the Republicans in Washington practice flawed policy while many Americans cannot pay for a roof over their head. Since the invasion of Iraq, over $350 Billion has been spent- money which could have been used to help support American families concerning affordable housing. We must take care of our own people first, and not spend money in a corner of the world which despises everything we stand for.
Hopefully, the “Day of Silence” has shed some light on the lack of affordable housing in America. Americans who work hard at honest work and cannot afford housing deserves better treatment from the federal government.
Wow...another attempt by our federal government to widen the gap between the rich and poor. Public housing is an institution of public service that should not be overlooked, as it has been, and be provided with more funding. I think that we should be more empathetic to the needs of our senior citizens and our less fortunate.
The United States is built on the theory of capitalism which is reflected in our booming economy including our sprawling cities and relatively low unemployment rate. The concept of capitalism is good and bad- depending on your view of life in this country. Michael Steven’s comments in this blog page is accurate concerning the weaker citizens getting crushed “into welfare housing” This statement reflects the widening gap of the working poor, the middle class and the rich in this country.
The U.S. is a terrific country with more economic opportunities than most industrialized countries; however, we need to re-evaluate our domestic and foreign policy priorities in which we can re-invest funds to help Americans first. President Bush and many Republicans usually promote the fact that they’ve created thousands of jobs nationwide since the year 2000; this maybe true, however the majority of those jobs are low paying in the service industry and paychecks from those full time lower paying jobs still cannot provide for affordable housing.
America must always come first and the current $368 Billion spent in Iraq can pay for a lot of affordable housing for many Americans instead of Dubya wasting the money in a corner of the world where we are hated, despised and regarded as occupiers.
No American should be struggling to pay for a roof over his/her head. Remember- Americans should always come first!
i think that this would be a very different but good way to go about in this situation..A silent protest would probably be better than the ways people have been going about to get their opinion out about certain issues...cant wait to see what actually happens..
-David Turkovic
I would like to know more about the cuts and strictly whom it will effect, i.e. the specific types of incomes it will effect. I also think that there are some people who are just trying to live off welfare money without trying to better their own lifestyles. There are some people who have become all to reliant on the money which the government has been giving them.
Although I am writing this long after this day has taken place, I do have a few things I’d like to say. I have a very large extended family whose economic ranks are all across the board from powerful Washington law enforcement agents to those that depend on social safety nets to help them get by. Because of this I have been exposed to all kinds of ideas about public housing, welfare, etc. I guess the greatest irony to me is that the upper class always has two complaints about programs like housing authorities: the money spent on administration and “red tape” of the operation is too much and that there is rampant fraud to receive benefits that are not deserved. And here lies the horrible paradox: the goal of eliminating both of these is impossible, because the “red tape” is what is necessary to prevent fraud, so there is no middle ground. I believe a society can be measured by the way it treats its poor, sick, elderly, and prisoners, and sometimes America has nothing to be proud of. Not one of the members of my family that has received government benefits has ever been without a job, and the sad irony is that they could have received better benefits if they didn’t work. I have a cousin who works 50 hours a week to support herself and her small child and was denied housing because she made $35 over the limit (that’s gross, not take home income). With the current situation, there will be a lot more people like my cousin who will be put into desperate situations. The lack of economic equality in the U.S. has led to a drastic reduction in political participation by its people. I hope that this Day of Silence, if nothing else, gave the people who use these services and heard the recordings hope that they too have a voice that can contribute in advocating for their needs.
I think that the fact the United States of America is cutting the federal funds for housing makes another good argument for those who contend that it is ungrateful for its citizens. The reason why I said another is because some people think that in a country where the GDP/capita is $43,500 and where the citizens are paying a lot of taxes, social services such as college education and health care are supposed to be more easily accessible by those citizens. In a democracy there is supposed to be equal right and equal opportunities for all citizens, and it’s on the government to make sure it does. In the US, however, the poorer you are, the less accessibility you have to these services. Cutting the funds for hosing does not only marginalize the underprivileged citizens but accounts for an unpractical management of the federal budget. Since the federal government is going through a deficit, why doesn’t it use the emergency money it has instead of limiting the financial aid for the citizens? I believe that the emergency money should be invested in public policy rather than the foreign one.
I think that a “day of silence” is a pretty efficient way of expressing dissatisfaction. I mean, there are a number of political issues that were solved with nonviolent ways. Sometimes, silence works better than marching, screaming, and holding signs. I wouldn’t think it’s a dumb thing because it can be fruitful.
Hopefully the change in parties in Congress has set relief into motion. A change in administration would probably serve for bettering the situations. This kind of thing seems so basic, I don't know how it can be overlooked by policy makers. These are people with so limited means victim to the system and it seems like this is what I would like my tax dollars to go to. I'd much rather help them than to give small tax reflief to people that have plenty.
While I think all of the discussion about whether or not the budget cuts are fair, valid, etc. are very important, I think there is another problem here. The day of silence was instated to make the general voting public, and in turn our elected officials, aware of the importance of public housing authorities. However, the only people who will be met with silence are those who call requiring their services. This seems to me a little like preaching to the choir, and is an ineffective and wasted day for those individuals who do need public housing. Philadelphia housing authority gets over 4,000 calls every day, and this "Day of Silence", which is essentially a day off, means a greater backlog in services and more problems providing these services.
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