Tag: poverty

The Business Of Homelessness

Several months ago, I wrote an opinion piece questioning Miami Beach’s homelessness policies, the City’s compliance with state law, the effectiveness of taxpayer-funded programs, and the measurable outcomes residents were receiving for millions of dollars in public spending. The article was published by Miami’s Community Newspapers. Today, that article no longer exists on its website. Readers attempting to access it are greeted with a 404 error page.

I have no interest in speculating about who made that decision or why. What interests me is the larger question: why is there such resistance to a public debate about homelessness in Miami Beach? Because the questions raised in that article have never been answered.

For months, I have asked for a real discussion about homelessness in Miami Beach. Not a press release. Not a presentation. Not carefully crafted messaging. A debate. Policy against policy. Outcome against outcome. Fact against fact. Those opportunities have never been granted.

That alone should concern every resident and taxpayer.

When government is confident in its position, it welcomes scrutiny. It does not avoid it. It does not rely on talking points. It does not ask the public to accept conclusions without examining the facts. It engages, explains, and defends its decisions in full view of the people it serves.

Instead, Miami Beach continues to celebrate low point-in-time homeless counts as proof of success. That may make for a favorable headline, but it does not necessarily mean the problem is being solved. A point-in-time count is exactly what it sounds like: a snapshot. One night. One moment. It does not measure how many people return to the streets days later. It does not measure treatment outcomes. It does not measure recidivism. It does not measure whether people are actually escaping homelessness. It measures optics.

The uncomfortable reality is that Miami Beach has built a system that explains inaction instead of delivering results.

The City’s ordinance conditions enforcement on the availability of shelter and services. In practice, that means enforcement becomes optional. No shelter available means no enforcement. No enforcement means no compliance. No compliance means the problem continues. Florida law does not provide cities with an indefinite loophole to suspend action. The State made its expectations clear. Prohibit public camping. Enforce the law. Provide structured alternatives. Use available treatment resources. Intervene when individuals are in crisis.

More importantly, the State backed those expectations with funding, treatment programs, crisis stabilization resources, Baker Act authority, Marchman Act authority, and legal tools designed to address homelessness, mental illness, and substance abuse. The authority exists. The resources exist. The question is whether local government has the will to use them.

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Mamdani’s “COGE” commission to prepare deeper cuts to New York City social programs and regulations

On Thursday, Mayor Zohran Mamdani announced the formation of a Committee on Government Efficiency (COGE) to examine the New York City Charter for efficiencies: that is, to search for ways in which social programs can be cut.

“The Commission on Government Efficiency will take a hard look at how City government functions and identify the reforms we need to deliver faster, smarter and more effectively for working people,” Mamdani told the media.

The Charter is essentially New York City’s constitution. It defines what authority belongs to the mayor and other officials and what to the City Council; laws, timelines and mandatory minimum rules for city reserve funds; the multi-step public review process required to build housing, change zoning laws or approve major infrastructure; and the scope, duties and enforcement powers of every city department.

The Charter does not control funding but does dictate the operational rules that heavily control, protect or limit social spending. For example, the Charter legally mandates the existence of agencies like the Department of Social Services and the Human Resources Administration, which a mayor cannot simply abolish to save money. The Charter also sets the exact legal procedures for how the city buys goods and hires outside nonprofits to run homeless shelters, daycare centers and after-school programs.

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Secret Trial of Pfizer RSV Vaccine Killed Two Infants in the 1960s — Their Families Just Sued the U.S. Government

The families of two Black infants who died during a 1960s experimental RSV vaccine trial have filed a federal lawsuit against the U.S., alleging government researchers enrolled the babies in a dangerous medical experiment without their parents’ knowledge or consent, The New York Times reported.

The lawsuit, filed May 22 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, alleges the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and other researchers, in 1965 and 1966, subjected dozens of infants — most or all of them from low-income Black families — to testing of Pfizer’s Lot 100 experimental vaccine for respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV.

Two infants, Victor Marcellus King and Ross Otto Hambrick, later died after developing vaccine-associated enhanced respiratory disease (VAERD), a severe respiratory illness caused by the vaccine.

VAERD occurs when a vaccinated child who never had RSV is exposed to the virus and develops a more severe case of RSV than they would have if they hadn’t received the vaccine.

The suit was filed by Sharlette Hambrick and Darius King, acting as representatives of the estates of their deceased brothers. They allege federal researchers failed to obtain informed consent from the children’s parents, withheld critical information about prior vaccine failures, and continued the study despite mounting evidence that the vaccine was causing severe reactions in participants.

The complaint also alleges that the tissue samples from the babies who died were later used to develop the RSV vaccines and monoclonal antibody shots that have been approved in the last several years — providing a financial boon for drugmakers.

“Medical research in the United States has a long, troubled racial history,” the complaint states, comparing the alleged conduct to other notorious examples of unethical experimentation involving Black Americans, including the Tuskegee Syphilis Study and the exploitation of Henrietta Lacks.

The infants’ families were unaware the babies had been subjected to the experiment until a reporter from Undark magazine contacted them while investigating the story in 2023.

The reporter found the babies’ names in a doctor’s government-issued laboratory notebook and other paperwork from the clinical trial, the Times reported.

Parents not told infants were being enrolled in trial for experimental vaccine

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Socialist Candidate for Mayor of Los Angeles Complains After Activists Set Up a Homeless Encampment Outside of HER HOUSE

Nithya Raman is a member of the Los Angeles city council who is running for mayor on the far left. She wants to be the Zohran Mamdani of LA.

That’s not even an exaggeration, by the way. She has the same political philosophy as Mamdani, is supported by all the same types of people, and like Mamdani, she was born outside of the United States but feels completely entitled to run one of our biggest cities.

Recently, some activists set up a homeless encampment outside of her house. They were trying to make a point about her support for occupy-style tent encampments. She had the nerve to be offended by this.

The New York Post reports:

Brutal karma for Nithya Raman as she goes ballistic over staged homeless encampment outside her home

Socialist LA mayoral candidate Nithya Raman is getting hammered online after appearing visibly rattled by a staged homeless encampment protest outside her own home.

“I’m glad my kids didn’t have to see that,” Raman told comedian Adam Conover on his podcast released Wednesday before adding, “I thought this campaign was going to be about bike lanes and transportation.”

Raman was referring to a staged Memorial Day protest outside Raman’s Silver Lake-area home.

Footage from the stunt shows homeless people climbing out of tents, staging an open-air barbecue and one individual walking around carrying a bucket as neighbors recorded the scene.

The podcast was quickly shared on online with comment exploding because Raman has spent years defending homeless encampments near schools, parks and neighborhoods across Los Angeles while opposing tougher enforcement restrictions.

Critics immediately accused the Democratic Socialist councilmember of showing a stunning lack of self-awareness as families across Los Angeles continue dealing with encampments outside homes, playgrounds and schools.

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Humiliation Ensues for Failed LA Mayor Karen Bass After She’s Confronted with a Brutal Question Regarding City’s Homelessness Crisis

LA Mayor Karen Bass has made the best case for why Spencer Pratt must replace her after she got confronted by an actual reporter with a question over a major broken promise she made to voters.

During an interview on CNN on Tuesday, journalist Elex Michaelson pointed out that Bass failed miserably to keep a promise she made in 2023 to end street homelessness in three years. As everyone knows, LA still has one of the worst homelessness problems in the country.

Bass responded by essentially admitting she was too naive to understand the bureaucracy rampant within the government, but insisted she was making progress. How embarrassing.

She also claimed that this was the first time there had been any decrease in homelessness.

But Michaelson was unimpressed. He told Bass she was only 17.6% of the way toward her goal after three years and asked why anyone should trust her to finish the job.

Bass’s only response was to tout her meager progress, which, at this rate, would amount to only 1/3 of her initial pledge.

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James O’Keefe Confronts Woman Federally Charged For Illegally Paying People to Register to Vote on Skid Row 

James O’Keefe on Wednesday confronted the woman who was federally charged for illegally paying people to register to vote on Skid Row.

A woman who was caught on O’Keefe Media Group’s undercover camera illegally paying people to register to vote on Skid Row in Los Angeles, California, was federally charged this week.

The Justice Department on Monday announced that Brenda Lee Brown Armstrong was charged with one felony count of paying another person to register to vote. She is facing a max of five years in federal prison.

“False registrations undermine Americans’ faith in elections – even more so when payoffs are involved,” said Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division.

“This Justice Department is committed to ensuring that all U.S. elections are fair and free from illegal meddling – so that all Americans can accept the results with confidence,” she said.

The O’Keefe Media Group in March released its investigation into a California elections fraud cash for ballots scheme.

James O’Keefe and his team of journalists went undercover on Skid Row in Los Angeles, posing as homeless people.

‘Petitioners’ told the undercover journalists that they are paid between $7-$10 per signature. Some of them earn up to $1,000 per day.

“California NGOs Encourage Fake Addresses To Homeless People To Sign Petitions & Register Voters, A State & Federal Felony. Footage Shows 28 Instances Of Cash Changing Hands For Ballot Signatures & Voter Registration Forms,” they said.

Brenda Lee Brown did not want to speak on camera so she let O’Keefe into her apartment to talk off the record.

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Gavin Newsom Finally Cleaned Up a Homeless Encampment – In Front of the Home of One of His Rich, Connected Friends

Apparently, Gavin Newsom does know how to clean up homeless encampments – as long as they’re in the way of one of his wealthy, politically connected friends. That just happened in Oakland, California.

It’s just like the time a few years ago when Newsom cleaned up the streets of San Francisco for a few days because officials from China were coming to visit the city. Some people matter. Not you, of course, just the famous and powerful people.

This is so insulting because it is a reminder that people do not have to live this way. It’s just being allowed to happen because people like Gavin Newsom don’t care about the average American. Just their connected friends in their inner circle.

Breitbart News reports:

Gavin Newsom Intervened to Clear Homeless Encampment Outside Super Bowl Champ Marshawn Lynch’s Home

Many Californians are wondering just what they have to do to get Governor Gavin Newsom to get the homeless off the streets. As it turns out, all you need to do is be one of his celebrity buddies.

According to text messages obtained by the San Francisco Chronicle, Newsom’s office became very proactive in helping clear a homeless encampment outside the home of the governor’s friend and podcast co-host, Seahawks legend Marshawn Lynch. Lynch’s agent is also friends with the governor.

The homeless encampment became an issue in 2024, when an RV, a camper, and an SUV set up shop and backed up into the freeway. Lynch was far from the only resident to register a complaint. In fact, Oakland officials received 311 requests to disperse the Dover Street encampment.

However, one particular request seemed to go further up the chain than most.

“I got a call from the Governor’s office regarding a number of RVs that are parked out in front of Marshawn Lynch’s family home,” texted then-Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao’s chief of staff to Oakland city administrators. “The Governor’s office is requesting our support to help resolve the issues in a timely manner.”

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Dem L.A. Mayor Karen Bass Proposes Free Teeth for Meth Addicts

Failed Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass has proposed a new government program for her failed city: free teeth for meth addicts, paid for by taxpayers.

Speaking at an event this week, Bass floated her latest idea to further destroy and bankrupt what was once a great city…

How many people who are unhoused that you meet have no teeth at all?” she asked. “They don’t have teeth, why? Because meth rots your teeth. You can’t succeed without teeth! So there needs to be comprehensive healthcare provided to people.”

This is like refurnishing a house that’s still on fire.

This has to be one of the most ridiculous ideas anyone has ever come up with, and she actually uses the retarded term “unhoused.”

What good does it do to fix the teeth of a meth head? Who’s going to look at a meth head’s smile and say, Please work my cash register.

And we’re not talking about a cleaning here. We’re talking about tens of thousands of dollars in dental care. Implants cost about $6000 per tooth. Extractions run around $300 per tooth. Meth heads will almost certainly require bone grafts, sinus lifts, and maybe even sedation. Are we going to trust meth heads with dentures, which are cheaper at around $5000, but likely to end up in a pawn shop or left behind in a crack house?

In my experience, you’re looking at a total cost in the range of $30,000 to $80,000, and that’s if the city pays the dentist directly, which it won’t. The whole program will be funneled through a non-profit or NGO, which will double or triple the cost to taxpayers (with sweet kickbacks to Democrats), just like Gov. Gavin Newsom’s (D-CA) “free” diaper program tripled the cost of the diapers the government (i.e. taxpayers) bought.

As for “my experience,” it’s been two years and counting of paying massive dental bills out of my own pocket, just like every other law-abiding taxpayer in America.

You mean, all I have to do to get my dental bills paid is smoke meth?

Medicare doesn’t even cover dental, which means people who have worked all their lives and paid into the system do not have government help paying their dental bills. Ah, but the government will assist degenerate meth addicts.

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Millions of Americans expected to lose SNAP benefits amid fraud crackdown

Some Americans who are reliant on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), or food stamps, are expected to lose benefits after the passage of President Donald Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act.

Starting Friday, May 1st, the president’s bill requires adults up to 64 years old, without young children, to log 80 work, school, or volunteer hours per month to maintain eligibility.

Supporters of the new restrictions believe it will reduce the risk of SNAP fraud and increase workforce participation.

“Reintroducing basic guardrails like an asset test is a commonsense step to restore integrity, ensure benefits go to those who truly need them and protect the long-term viability of the program. This isn’t about taking help away. It’s about making sure SNAP works the way it was intended to,” said Matt Schmid, America First Policy Institute Health & Harvest Campaign Director.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is currently working to crack down on food stamp fraud across the nation, including what officials call a “loophole,” which allows wealthy individuals to claim eligibility for government benefits.

“We’ve found 500,000 people getting more than one benefit illegally. We found 244,000 dead people. This is just the red states,” said Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins.

The USDA also revealed this week that in one state alone, SNAP recipients had ties to more than 14,000 luxury vehicles.

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Blue Cities Dole Out Homeless Services Based on Race and Sexual Identity

The homelessness crisis in Multnomah County, Oregon, home to deep-blue Portland, is among the worst in the country. The county allocates public housing resources using a point-based system that gives preferential treatment to minorities, non-native English speakers, and those who are “LGBTQIA2S+,” the Free Beacon‘s Aaron Sibarium reports.

“Rolled out in October 2024, the Multnomah Services and Screening Tool awards up to 5 points to non-white, non-straight applicants who speak English as a second language—more than the 4 points it would award a domestic violence survivor with a six-year-old child who has been homeless for over a year,” Sibarium writes. “The rubric, obtained by the Washington Free Beacon through a public records request, is ‘designed to prioritize … BIPOC households, LGBTQIA2S+, [and] people with disabilities,’ according to a Frequently Asked Questions pamphlet. It awards 1 point for ‘interest in LGBTQ services,’ 2 points for ‘English as a second language,’ and another 2 points for ‘interest in culturally specific services,’ a catch-all term for Portland’s race-based housing program.”

The system, which American Civil Rights Project director Dan Morenoff described as “very unconstitutional,” might sound like a veritable kick-me sign for the Trump administration as it seeks to defund housing programs that use racial preferences. “But that has not stopped housing authorities in a host of Democratic jurisdictions from rolling out their own race-based systems—even in counties, like Multnomah, where the majority of homeless people are white.” The Free Beacon identified five states, including Maryland, Minnesota, and Illinois, as well as several cities, that have incorporated racial preferences into their housing programs.

“In at least two states, Maryland and Minnesota, race appears to be the single largest factor in allocating rent relief,” writes Sibarium. “At a time when the Trump administration has promised to protect ‘the civil rights of all Americans,’ the programs are a stark indication that some people, including the poorest and most vulnerable, are falling through the cracks.”

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