Senator Obama to unveil housing plan for veterans

[Monkeyman]

I don't know if this has been posted been at hospital with my son. We are ok. So here goes

Iowa --Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama on Friday said he will unveil a housing program for veterans aimed at keeping them off the streets when their service is completed.

The Illinois senator told The Associated press he would introduce legislation Monday that he calls Homes for Heroes. The Plan would establish grant and voucher programs to encourage development of affordable housing targeted for veterans.

http://www.nbc5.com/politics/11552816/detail.html

[illinoisprogressive]

1. thanks. I know Obama has been very proactive for vets for a long time

[nevergiveup]

2. I think this is a great idea.

I hope Obama wins because with him at the top of the ticket I think we have a good shot at finally ridding ourselves of the country's most despicable congressman, Denny Hastert. Obama is surprisingly popular in this very red district

[newburgh]

3. Ummm... obviously no one looks further than this bad political ploy.

Housing for veterans should be a part of the military budget and managed and maintained by the military, not a separate "grant and voucher program"- much like the extremely flawed Section 8 program. This puts government checks directly and unaccountably into the hands of slumlords- the privatization of veteran housing, if you will.(This is EXACTLY what transpired at Walter Reed!)

"Affordable housing" is a strawman term for overcrowded housing in already blighted urban areas, where such use is more "permissable"/unchecked/unenforced. A veterans' housing project would NEVER be allowed in a suburban setting- just like "affordable housing" projects are rarely, if ever, permitted and/or profitable enough. Services, jobs, resources and shopping is out of reach in these areas and expands and enforces the blight of high density cities that are becoming government-subsidized social service centers and dumping grounds for the poorest of the poor. A housing program that mimics the veteran home ownership/low-no interest mortgage program after WWII, possibly tied to rehab/restore moneys in these blighted urban centers, would better serve the veteran population that rarely has the income and stability to purchase their own homes.


Ironically, a veteran in our city attempted this ploy and, in spite of his veteran rhetoric, was rebuked by the Zoning Board of Appeals. This slumlord was going to walk away with more than several million $$$ for a housing project in a restored/expanded building with no egress and in a place where such density would add to the blight and place the vets in an isolated wasteland of overcrowded slums far from jobs and resources. Besides the fact that real estate values are a fraction of his profit margin for such a property, this was a totally ill-conceived scam of taxpayer money under the guise of "housing for veterans".