Nearly Half Of The US Homeless Live In California

[Praxas]

Remove them. Don't let them sit around in those areas to even get to that point.

Remove them to go where? To die? Seriously, you cons (you aren't a libertarian) have such disdain for the homeless that if you could, you cons would probably sentence them to death.

 

[OscarLevant]

And yet, while CA touts their economy, they have a dumpster full of poverty.

California ranks No. 1 in poverty once again. Take one guess why. - The San Diego Union-Tribune

In a large state, CA is going to be number one in a lot of catagories. Sure, it's going to serve the right wing agenda to focus on the poor, but, as a 'the-cup-is-half-full' kinda guy, I'm focusing on the good stuf, and CA ahs a lot of good stuff. It's coastline is to die for, the redwood forests, the beaches, a booming economy. But, go ahead and focus on a couple of square miles in SF and LA where they are homeless, because, of course, that's who you are.

That's capitalism, for ya, the rich get richer and the poor get poorer. In a big state like CA, naturally capitalism is going to have greater affect.

 

[Lord Tammerlain]

Remove them. Don't let them sit around in those areas to even get to that point.

Remove them to where? They have to go somewhere, just where would that be, and would they be free to leave?

 

[Checkerboard Strangler]

I never said it was a sunny tropical resort. I said it has very moderate weather. You just backed me up in your own comment. That is the definition of moderate.

Whatever, you were not homeless in San Francisco. The main attraction there are the plentiful rich folks, not so much the year round weather. Plenty of rich folks in LA too but it's more of an urban concentration in SF...downtown Los Angeles is not the cultural hub that downtown San Francisco is.

You lived in Monterey for three years. I lived in SoCal for eighteen years, then moved back again in 2012 after a decade in Texas and almost three years in Arkansas.

My only point was that it is L.A. that has the better weather. We have short rainy season, much warmer weather and our downtown is more industrial/clerical.

 

[Fishking]

Remove them to go where? To die? Seriously, you cons (you aren't a libertarian) have such disdain for the homeless that if you could, you cons would probably sentence them to death.

Stupid comment is stupid. Dismissed.

 

[Fishking]

Remove them to where? They have to go somewhere, just where would that be, and would they be free to leave?

Under bridges is a spot that is already used a decent amount and it's not an area where they are ****ting on sidewalks and leaving needles in store bathrooms.

 

[Fishking]

Whatever, you were not homeless in San Francisco. The main attraction there are the plentiful rich folks, not so much the year round weather. Plenty of rich folks in LA too but it's more of an urban concentration in SF...downtown Los Angeles is not the cultural hub that downtown San Francisco is.

You lived in Monterey for three years. I lived in SoCal for eighteen years, then moved back again in 2012 after a decade in Texas and almost three years in Arkansas.

My only point was that it is L.A. that has the better weather. We have short rainy season, much warmer weather and our downtown is more industrial/clerical.

L.A. is also fairly moderate year round. I didn't know you were making a competition on whether L.A. or San Fran was the best climate for being homeless. I mean, I've only said moderate weather helps. It's not like it's amazing to be on the streets in Chicago during the winter.

 

[Lord Tammerlain]

Under bridges is a spot that is already used a decent amount and it's not an area where they are ****ting on sidewalks and leaving needles in store bathrooms.

Forcibly kept there or free to leave?

 

[Checkerboard Strangler]

Is it an urge to oversimplify or is it just plain old Archie Bunker muleheaded obstinance that some resist the fact that homeless come in a variety?
Do working families have to be regarded as being the same as the drunks, druggies, hobos, bums and mentally ill?
How about homeless veterans?
Isn't it interesting that the same things that help homeless vets also help homeless working people and their families?

The mentally ill need mental health help, the drunks and druggies need attention from law enforcement, the bums can be dealt with in a variety of ways including laws already on the books.
What works on those groups doesn't work well for homeless vets and working homeless and families, two groups who are arguably the most likely to benefit the most from whatever help we can offer.

If we succeed in moving through homeless vets and working homeless and families, we will be making a sizable dent in the problem, yes? That leaves the other "lesser" categories, which then amounts to a somewhat more manageable couple of groups, yes?

Mentally ill need institutional help. Drunks and druggies need treatment and failing that, the courts.
Bums need vagrancy laws.

This is not some blind attack on Republicans and conservatives, because all can afford to listen to these ideas, including liberal groups. The ability to discern dissimilar things is critical thinking and this issue requires a fair bit of that to come up with solutions. Just dolloping a blatherous blob of vague clumsy lawmaking and some privatized gravy trains isn't going to move the needle.

Much of the increase in homelessness nationwide, the INCREASE, mind you, are vets, and working or formerly working people and families. Subtract that and while you still may see an increase, it is a significantly smaller number and a slower growth rate.
It is less homeless, plain and simple.

And vets, working or formerly working people and families can benefit the most from help like subsidized low cost housing.
Naturally, the entire program needs to be designed to spur upward mobility.
The idea is to make it possible and desirable to eventually transition up and out and move up a few rungs...if those rungs exist.

It's the despair quotient.

 

[Casca XV]

How so?

They have been in 100% power for 50 years. Cali had gone form the "Golden State" to the closest thing to a 3rd world country in America.

 

[Praxas]

Stupid comment is stupid. Dismissed.

Nope I spoke the truth. You want them removed so they can just die elsewhere. You cons have such hatred for homeless veterans that you would rather have them dead then help them.

 

[Checkerboard Strangler]

Absolutely. A great many people have an imaginary view of California which, although exciting, isn't always realistic.
One of the main industries here is the manufacture of fantasy via mass media, in the form of entertainment.
Tragically, not everyone get that it is entertainment.
So they come here with their dreams, and as often happens, those dreams get shattered.

I am not saying this with derision or mockery in my voice, not one iota.
It is tragic, it is oftentimes very tragic, and all too real.
This state sings a siren song which attracts people who dream, and unfortunately a great many of those dreams have no basis in reality. We are not the only state which has a hand in this. New York, so called "The Big Apple", is also famous for "If I can make it there, I'll make it anywhere." (Sinatra!) It is famous for Broadway, famous for Wall Street.
All of that is just another version of fame, fortune and stardom. These states sell a vision of fame, fortune and stardom, and people are naturally attracted to those visions.

And the simple fact is, there is a lot of collateral damage.
For many, California, New York, and some other places are regarded as places where one might lead an enchanted life if one hits all the right boxes and makes all the right moves.
Sadly, for too many, these places wind up being the "Boulevard of Broken Dreams".

Here is my guess. It may have something to do with the weather. Chasing the dream, finding out the expense, staying where the weather is nice, regardless. Sad, but regardless, this shouldn't be a partisan issue but a human one.

By the way, Lovebug, here is an example of what I am talking about with regard to broken dreams and the freight that comes with it:

My first year as a professional film/video editor (1982) was pretty tame and pedestrian.
I wasn't yet working on dazzling glamorous Hollywood stuff yet, I was doing a ton of consumer level work, like birthday parties, editing home movies, transferring overseas videocassettes so they played on US equipment, duplication...and...
TONS OF ASPIRING ACTOR DEMO REELS.

And I do mean tons of them, from all corners, from all over the country, from all kinds of people with all kinds of talent OR COMPLETE LACK THEREOF. Their money was green, so I took the work.
Remember "Eddie and the Cruisers"?

I did demo reels for both Ellen Barkin AND Michael Pare.
I did demo/audition reels for Bruce Willis! He was still sending actor reels to audition for parts at that point because in 1983 his biggest hits were still "Moonlighting" and "The Return of Bruno", which by the way I did work on.
(We supplied the stage equipment, lighting and sound for Bruno's "Woodstock" dream sequence.)
I estimate I probably made forty thousand dollars on actor reels alone, just that year.

Those are success stories, but for every Bruce Willis and Michael Pare, I probably did a hundred people's reels who you have never heard of and never will. Some people were paying me with piles of one dollar bills earned from tips they made as waiters and waitresses. A LOT OF PEOPLE PAID ME THAT WAY.
I can dig up a lot of reels from people who eventually died of a drug overdose or wound up homeless no matter how many demo reels they sent out.
I even did a demo reel for a guy who called himself Allen Los Angeles and claimed to be Jim Morrison's son.
Turns out his DNA test MATCHED Patricia Kenneally, who WAS one of Jim Morrison's love interests, so if he isn't Jim Morrison's son, he certainly IS Patricia Kenneally's son.
Last I heard, Allen Los Angeles is serving a life term in prison for murder.

My point is, a great many people who do wind up on our streets out here in Southern California are people who simply came out to Los Angeles because they were sure that they were going to hit the big time.

Boulevard of Broken Dreams
Southern California always has been and always will BE the boulevard of broken dreams for hundreds of thousands of people.
And that contributes to the scads and scads of homeless people we have wandering our streets out here.

Here's another guy who, although talented, probably will never get enough work in acting to live on:

I did his last reel in 2011.

 

[ocean515]

Nope I spoke the truth. You want them removed so they can just die elsewhere. You cons have such hatred for homeless veterans that you would rather have them dead then help them.

All the homeless are veterans? Prove it.

 

[Lovebug]

By the way, Lovebug, here is an example of what I am talking about with regard to broken dreams and the freight that comes with it:

My first year as a professional film/video editor (1982) was pretty tame and pedestrian.
I wasn't yet working on dazzling glamorous Hollywood stuff yet, I was doing a ton of consumer level work, like birthday parties, editing home movies, transferring overseas videocassettes so they played on US equipment, duplication...and...
TONS OF ASPIRING ACTOR DEMO REELS.

And I do mean tons of them, from all corners, from all over the country, from all kinds of people with all kinds of talent OR COMPLETE LACK THEREOF. Their money was green, so I took the work.
Remember "Eddie and the Cruisers"?

I did demo reels for both Ellen Barkin AND Michael Pare.
I did demo/audition reels for Bruce Willis! He was still sending actor reels to audition for parts at that point because in 1983 his biggest hits were still "Moonlighting" and "The Return of Bruno", which by the way I did work on.
(We supplied the stage equipment, lighting and sound for Bruno's "Woodstock" dream sequence.)
I estimate I probably made forty thousand dollars on actor reels alone, just that year.

Those are success stories, but for every Bruce Willis and Michael Pare, I probably did a hundred people's reels who you have never heard of and never will. Some people were paying me with piles of one dollar bills earned from tips they made as waiters and waitresses. A LOT OF PEOPLE PAID ME THAT WAY.
I can dig up a lot of reels from people who eventually died of a drug overdose or wound up homeless no matter how many demo reels they sent out.
I even did a demo reel for a guy who called himself Allen Los Angeles and claimed to be Jim Morrison's son.
Turns out his DNA test MATCHED Patricia Kenneally, who WAS one of Jim Morrison's love interests, so if he isn't Jim Morrison's son, he certainly IS Patricia Kenneally's son.
Last I heard, Allen Los Angeles is serving a life term in prison for murder.

My point is, a great many people who do wind up on our streets out here in Southern California are people who simply came out to Los Angeles because they were sure that they were going to hit the big time.

Boulevard of Broken Dreams
Southern California always has been and always will BE the boulevard of broken dreams for hundreds of thousands of people.
And that contributes to the scads and scads of homeless people we have wandering our streets out here.

Oh, my apologies. I don't know many names and am not a movie goer, but I get the point. The few one hears about in the news now and then seem to have broken themselves, by their own making. I often wonder what is going on behind the glamour, not just there by everywhere. We envy what we don't have, we want what everyone else is running after. Why? Are we happier once we have?
We wandered through Fl for a time, lots of haves and have nots there too.
What I remember fondly is an interview from after one of the hurricanes. A homeless person was asked how he was doing. He said that he didn't have anything before the storm, still didn't have anything after.
What goes on behind the facade?

 

[Checkerboard Strangler]

I knew it existed, I wasn't aware that federal funds were used for it.

No, the point is, while Medicaid money goes to it, the rest is uncompensated care, which is the lion's share, and which accounts for (at the time the article was published) six percent of hospital costs, and now accounts for about eight percent in 2019.

It is an UNFUNDED mandate. We the healthcare consumers are having most of the costs shunted onto our premiums, and ER care is 5 X more expensive than regular care, so we're also paying way too much to cover that uncompensated care as well.

 

[Praxas]

All the homeless are veterans? Prove it.

Since I never said all the homeless were veterans your idiotic strawman is ignored. Take a trip to the ocean, your comments are lacking common sense.

 

[Checkerboard Strangler]

Oh, my apologies. I don't know many names and am not a movie goer, but I get the point.

Pfffft, you saying you don't know who Bruce Willis is? I'm going to bet you have heard of Bruce Willis.
Every air duct in Los Angeles office buildings got widened to accommodate him.
Nope, just kidding, there are no "Bruce Willis" laws with regard to office building HVAC systems, it's just that it seems that way when you watch his "Die Hard" films. It's an industry joke.

The few one hears about in the news now and then seem to have broken themselves, by their own making. I often wonder what is going on behind the glamour, not just there by everywhere. We envy what we don't have, we want what everyone else is running after. Why? Are we happier once we have?
We wandered through Fl for a time, lots of haves and have nots there too.
What I remember fondly is an interview from after one of the hurricanes. A homeless person was asked how he was doing. He said that he didn't have anything before the storm, still didn't have anything after.
What goes on behind the facade?

A lot of people come out here thinking that as soon as they hit Sunset Blvd in Hollywood, they're going to get discovered.
Then they realize that Sunset Blvd is actually a collection of tourist trinket stores, sex shops, bars, restaurants and office buildings having nothing to do with the film and television business, and that they should be in Burbank, which is for the most part a boring suburb with 100+ degree temps two thirds of the year and sky high rents.

There are a lot of hookers walking Sunset though.
I probably did some demo reels for a few of them, if they are still alive today.
I don't know if they were hookers at the time I did their actress reels, but I suspected as much on a few occasions, just a gut feeling, ya know? :lamo

 

[ocean515]

Since I never said all the homeless were veterans your idiotic strawman is ignored. Take a trip to the ocean, your comments are lacking common sense.

Your quote: "You cons have such hatred for homeless veterans that you would rather have them dead then help them."

Talk about comments lacking any common sense.

Your hyperbole erases any need to consider your opinion.

 

[Praxas]

Your quote: "You cons have such hatred for homeless veterans that you would rather have them dead then help them."

Talk about comments lacking any common sense.

Your hyperbole erases any need to consider your opinion.

Nope, what I stated is facts. You cons hate homeless and that includes the homeless veterans. You spit on them and say they just need to be removed. Cons that treat homeless in this manner are nothing but human garbage themselves. Sad and pathetic on your part, but you can't handle the truth obviously. How's that ocean trip coming along because you haven't improved your babbling comments or are you too busy kicking homeless people around?

 

[ocean515]

Nope, what I stated is facts. You cons hate homeless and that includes the homeless veterans. You spit on them and say they just need to be removed. Cons that treat homeless in this manner are nothing but human garbage themselves. Sad and pathetic on your part, but you can't handle the truth obviously. How's that ocean trip coming along because you haven't improved your babbling comments or are you too busy kicking homeless people around?

BS. You have nothing. No need to keep proving it.

 

[Praxas]

BS. You have nothing. No need to keep proving it.

Bull****, I've got cons comments talking bout how the homeless are lazy, garbage and should be removed. You're just pissed because your ilk likes to spit on those homeless which included veterans. I'd be embarrassed to be a conservative too with your ilk. Now go take your trip to the ocean because your babbling comments have become boring.

 

[ocean515]

Bull****, I've got cons comments talking bout how the homeless are lazy, garbage and should be removed. You're just pissed because your ilk likes to spit on those homeless which included veterans. I'd be embarrassed to be a conservative too with your ilk. Now go take your trip to the ocean because your babbling comments have become boring.

More hyperbolic nonsense that is meaningless and empty.

Carry on...

 

[Praxas]

More hyperbolic nonsense that is meaningless and empty.

Carry on...

You can't refute anything I've said, so yeah you should move on. I've been proven 100% right about you and your disgusting ilk.

 

[Kreton]

They have been in 100% power for 50 years. Cali had gone form the "Golden State" to the closest thing to a 3rd world country in America.

That doesn't make any sense. I don't think you understand what a 3rd world country is. Or you do, but you political bias prevents you from intelligent or honest thought. It may come as a surprise but not everything Trump, and Rush and Tucker tells you is fact. There are better sources for accurate information.

 

[Waddy]

Or perhaps the other state bus their homeless to California, to get rid of their problem and make it California's

Personally I think California should give each homeless person a bus ticket, and $200 to move to Kansas. The $200 can only be accessed 2 weeks after being in Kansas.

Hey, that's exactly what California has been doing. Buy them bus tickets to other states. And other states bus them right back. With a few more on board for good measure. If you're going to be homeless, California is the best choice. Not much fun spending the winter homeless in Chicago. And even Kansas has some harsh weather extremes.