"Fully" of baloney
Here's some misleading happy talk from The Oregonian, which is a veritable font of such pronouncements these days. The headline reads: "Oregonians express optimism that state can solve homelessness crisis with the right policies: Poll." What the poll respondents said was that "with the right changes," homelessness "can be solved."
Nobody was asked if they thought the current state leadership can get the job done, or are adequately pursuing "the right policies." And nobody was asked about how "optimistic" they were.
But sadly, the article's not completely off-base, in that the ridiculous "housing first" mantra seems to be catching on. And the percentage of the population that sees homelessness as mostly a mental illness and drug addiction crisis has gone down slightly.
Of those surveyed, 62% said they support diverting $34 million to provide rent assistance and prevent evictions, 65% said they support diverting $55 million to house people currently living unsheltered and 69% said they support diverting $24 million to build 600 new shelter beds across the state. Only 44%, however, said they support diverting millions to expand incentives for landlords....
Fully 38% of Oregonians said they believe homelessness is mostly the result of a lack of affordable places to live – up from 28% who said the same thing in September 2022.
Of those surveyed, 56% said they believe homelessness is mostly the result of mental health and drug addiction – down from 61% in September 2022.
That "fully 38%" is pretty telling. There's another "fully" at the top of the story, too. That, my friends, is a dead giveaway of a writer's bias. When people agree with her, they are "fully."
Oh well, these are the voters who passed Measure 110, and the newspaper that told them to vote for it. Now there are no consequences for being an addict. Just free needles, free tents, and all you can eat. It's going so well. Let's double down, Oregon! Build the tent squatters free apartments! Woo hoo! That will solve it. Are you optimistic? Oh, boy.
Handing out tents and talking about affordable housing is just another way of kicking the can down the road
ReplyDeleteAt the first Bridge Pedal 25 years ago, I stood atop the Fremont Bridge and heard Erik Sten tell us he had a plan to solve homelessness in Portland within ten years. Anytime I hear someone else make that promise, I think back to that morning in front of the old milk truck.
ReplyDeleteEventually Sten moved away. So too, Hales. So did the next generation. And so will this one.
They're gonna throw $200M at it now. That'll pay for a lot of conferences and a lot of pretty sweet vacations, not to mention mortgages and car payments. I should really figure out how to get in on the business end of that firehose. It might be enough to fund me straight to retirement.
I like how one number is "only 44%" while another number is "fully 38%." Nothing like objective reporting here.
ReplyDeleteAnd don’t forget the $1,000 a month payment to anyone who asks!
ReplyDeleteThe Homeless Industrial Complex is going to be here for a long time!
May as well pile up the $200 million and set it ablaze. All of this is a futile debacle by the worst possible people in charge of everything. And the Oregonian is just as bad.
ReplyDeleteAmong many others, the notion of the new CRC plan having a draw bridge is another display of madness.
I noticed that our governor polled fairly low in a recent survey. And that was conducted in an area of progressive voters
ReplyDeleteHere again there is no mention of the many root causes that bring homeless to Oregon.
ReplyDelete