Someone I know works with the homeless in this state.

She has a HUGE workload…and always there are more people in need, then there is assistance for them.  She tries to use things like Section 8 to get them into housing…but it’s difficult. Yes, i know…people talk about these programs as if it’s a matter of saying “Hey…I need a place to live, and have no money…Gimmeee!”.

Nope. Not like that at all.

If you are a homeless parent with small children, and slept on someone’s couch last night, you are NOT eligible for emergency assistance. Even if you have no where to go tonight. Even if you and your children must sleep in a car…(that is if you even HAVE a car) you are not desperate enough. If  you do qualify, there is a waiting list in almost every part of the country. A lot of people are ahead of you…so don’t count on shelter before the weather turns cold. On the happy side, you ARE allowed to shelter in Hospital ER waiting rooms, if the temperature does under a certain level.

If you do qualify for Section 8, there are hoops to jump through.

http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/CFR-2000-title24-vol1/content-detail.html

There are reams of regs…including they can deny you, or kick you out if a family member has ever trafficked illegal drugs. Now isn’t THAT a kick in the pants? I know plenty of people who have such critters in their family tree. They may never have benefited from the ill gotten gains. They may have despaired of the trade, and the addictions…and honestly had nothing to do with it…but too bad. You are BANNED…because you came from the same gene pool as a law breaker. Next time, pick better parents, you dead beat!

Now the thing is…I know two people who actually did live in cars at some point in their lives. It isn’t something you boast about. It’s not a noble life choice…but a matter of need. I considered it. But I could not leave my daughter behind, nor could I bear the thought of tucking her into the back seat of a Honda. I  could do that myself…but not to her. Both the people I knew bettered their situations. Neither availed themselves of social help, to my knowledge. But that too, was THEIR choice. I can’t judge another person for their own decisions. I try not to, anyway. But what they chose, or did not doesn’t make a person in need less of a human being if they choose differently. I don’t think the woman (and yes, i know…there are homeless men too.) who is living on the street with her children is doing so because she is lazy, stupid, or a crack whore. Some might be…but not all. And certainly not most. In the last two decades we have refined the rules to make sure that no one just asks for help, and gets it.

My point? You have to be desperate. You have to have no choices…no money, and no where to turn…and even THEN, there may not be help for you. My friend told me she’s heard from women who were raped in front of their children—because they were homeless. Why? Because their attacker KNEW they had nowhere to run. So for those who make welfare, WIC, and public housing sound like some grifters dream? FUCK YOU. Pay attention.  You are not better. Your are not “too good” for that to happen to. You are simply LUCKY. My friend tells me the people she deals with are not people who made “poor choices”. Some came from other lives—and things did not work out. Funny…how that happens. No one’s life is disaster proof. No one is immune to misfortune.  And no one decides to live with their kids in a car, because they think it will get them free housing, or an express lane to food stamps.

http://portal.hud.gov/hudportal/HUD?src=/topics/housing_choice_voucher_program_section_8

Educate yourself.

Stop judging people you don’t know.

And more than anything, understand that it can happen to you…and just might amuse the universe to make you know it for real. I would add that a number of our homeless are now veterans. Great way to say “we support our troops”…but could give a shit if they freeze to death after they serve.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chief_Masconomet

A friend took me to this man’s grave today…it’s a peaceful place…there are offerings hung from the trees, out of respect for his spirit. 

Gloucester…Rock Port…Cape Anne….

I was just crunching numbers, in a more detailed manner than usual.

When you job hunt, everyone hopes for a “decent salary”, but have you ever sat down and worked out what that might be?

I’ve written in the past about the gap between a “minimum wage”, and a” living wage.” If you want to be real about it, you have to think not only about the numbers, but what they mean. There’s a LOT of tripe out there about people refusing to take low income jobs…but I have a feeling most of it comes from people who make decent salaries, and don’t really worry about the bills. So let’s do a little math.

In most states, the minimum wage is about $7.50 an hour. Since 40 hours entitles one to benefits. many employers will only give you 35 hours a week, and call it “part time”. If you work 35 hours, your pre-tax income per month is a modest $1050.00. Even assuming zero debt, you’re going to have a hard time paying your bills on that. I’ve recently moved, and while the rentals are less expensive here, you’re still looking at 800- 1200 a month for rent alone. We’re not talking lavish digs here…one bedroom, not counting utilities. I did mention that figure was “pre-tax”. It’s also pre-Social Security, Unemployment, etc. That means your wages will not cover rent…much less food, or transportation. Now some people would say that you need ANOTHER job. They usually don’t grasp that when you’re already working 35 hours, getting a second job can be tricky. But let’s say you pull it off. Now you’re working 70 hours a week, for $2100.00 (again…pre-tax, and pre deductions.) You might be able to cover that 800 dollar rental. You might even be able to cover food, and utilities…but…you’re going to be tight. One unusual bill, and you are screwed. (Call it a 500 dollar bill for tires…not unusual.)

Say you are a college grad with student debt to pay off. OUCH.

So I sat down and worked out what sort of wage you’d need to cover the basics. Not surprising, but minimum wage doesn’t come close.  You need closer to $15.00 an hour, just to not run in the red. Last year, we had IDIOTS running for President who thought it was a fine idea to abolish the minimum wage. They seemed convinced that employers would pay better, without it. When people talk about us being “more competitive” about basic wages, I feel the need to remind them that it is pretty much impossible for an American to live on 60 cents an hour. That’s what it would take to be competitive with China. And yet I still hear the bilge about it. When our country was new, we “encouraged” the citizenry to buy American made goods with stiff tariffs. Now that’s regarded as heresy. Of course, the founding fathers found it sensible.

I’ve long believed that there should be a penalty for outsourcing American jobs, in the form of a tariff. The money from the tariffs could then be used to support American workers who lost their jobs—so Nike can make a pair of sneakers for $5.00, that it will sell here for $120.00. Workers in Indonesia make about $3.00 a WEEK. We’re told it’s good business for the companies to make products elsewhere. They can sell them here at an amazing profit…but the people selling them are usually working for…you guessed it! Minimum wage.  So for the people who think that no one should be “too proud” to take work…ANY work…I ask a question.

If I will make less money than I need to LIVE working…if every week I work plunges me into deeper debt, what exactly is the point?

I’m not anti-business, nor anti-capitalism…I just wonder where there incentive is.

Years ago, my husband worked in management briefly. The company he worked for sent him on a seminar to encourage managers to find NON-Monetary ways to motivate their workers. They wanted them to focus not on their paychecks—but a nice work ethic. I couldn’t believe how stupid it was. The managers themselves expected decent salaries. When they did particularly well, their reward was usually a cash bonus. Clearly, that was INCENTIVE. But the people who worked under them were expected to work without that.

In the decades since, I have watched as CEO’s get HUGE bonuses—sometimes for running companies into the ground. Others benefited hugely from down sizing, or outsourcing jobs…and they ended up on the covers of Business magazines. I remember Chuck coming home from the seminar half amused, and half pissed off.

“You won’t believe it…they actually tried to convince us that people DON’T want money, as much as “job satisfaction”.

The point is, if you make enough money to pay your bills, cover your taxes, put aside some for savings, and your kid’s college, and retirement, you really have no idea about the “real world” where people are making a whopping $7.50 an hour. You might even believe they should be grateful to have a  job at all. And if you believe that, you might just be Mitt Romney…or think it’s a good idea to vote for him.  I find it strange, that we think it’s good business to give people millions of dollars as a reward to take away people’s jobs…but think that a living wage is going to give workers “the wrong idea”.

I guess I just think sauce for the goose, is sauce for the gander. I just have no idea why others don’t.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cdBIiqGssxI&feature=player_embedded

Bruce is on the money…and he’s been speaking for the working man for 40 years.

http://www.danoah.com/2012/10/16-ways-i-blew-my-marriage.html

I mean it.

The author has tanked two marriages…which is sad…but he LEARNED something.

While I am not in absolute agreement with him on all 16, at least a dozen are why I am now living alone.  I’m sure the guys will find it one sided…but as a couple’s counselor told me years back, if only one person is happy in a marriage, it’s NOT a marriage. You don’t need a reason to leave…but you need one to STAY…

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/10/17/michael-brutsch-anderson-cooper_n_1975560.html

Sorry my WIDE polish ass…he’s just sorry they blew his cover.

Observe…he could have stopped a year ago, when the media first got him on their radar…but he didn’t.

Arrogant asshat.

Last night, after the debate, Desi commented that Romney reminded her of Dorie, from Finding Nemo…and this happened!

http://cheezburger.com/6679115520

I’ve always detested net trolls, who hide behind the anonymity of the Web, and bully or simply destroy the work of others, from a desire to be juvenile, or even a psychotic need to bring havoc. But the Net is also a teflon playground for that sort of creep…or WAS.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/10/15/michael-brutsch-reddits-biggest-loses-job-identity-gawker_n_1967727.html

Behold…a troll gets his comeuppance.

And has the solid gall to set up a PayPal account…so people can help support him now that he’s been nailed.

Poor baby…sucks to be victimized, huh?

Yes, I watched the debate.

There plenty of things I noticed…but THAT one?

Sorry. No.

The state i recently left, has a Governor that used the money the feds earmarked for Foreclosure Assistance to plug the holes in his budget. That would be a fine idea—if EVERY homeowner had been helped…but people are STILL losing their homes.  There is something smarmy about a GOP Governor talking smack about the current administration…while sucking off the resources, to make their own administration look good.

But let’s look at other aspects.

If you live in any of the states, there is an excellent chance you were BORN there…raised there…so “state choice” was not part of your life. You are not in state x because you chose it…that’s where your roots are. You aren’t there because you love how your state does stuff…so the idea that each state should decide how to manage healthcare is faintly nightmarish. Observe…we now have fifty DIFFERENT sets of rules that control how adoption is managed.  They are not compatible with each other. Result…an expensive, complicated system that leave more children without homes or families than it serves. There are over 800,000 kids waiting for adoption on any given day…and only 120,000 adoptions last year. Worse…unless you are well off, you can’t adopt…too damned expensive.

Handing the keys to healthcare to the states makes the assumption that local governments will somehow NOT screw it up. If you follow my blog, you know that NJ’s answer to the MRSA epidemic was to STOP counting the cases…in 2001. Oh yes…and they encourage hand washing. Simple answers to a complicated problem…that don’t freaking work.

NJ is not alone…plenty of states draw from the Federal Trough…plenty of robbing Peter to pay Paul. So I don’t see the idea of handing the states the money, and assuming they will do a better job is in any way workable.