As the election draws nearer, news headlines will inevitably focus more on the horserace and handicapping the parties’ chances of winning or retaining a majority. The underlying issues that lie in wait for us all will fade till after Election Day in favor of the ‘gotcha’ questions. This might be a good time to look at just one issue that’s not on the mainstream radar at all. Maybe we can raise a question or two to the candidates on our own.
Each year, Project Censored puts out a list of 25 censored stories. This year’s list includes a story about how homelessness and food aid requests are on the rise throughout the country—and have been for decades. You probably didn’t know this was the case— I know I didn’t.
The US Conference of Mayors, who would know, issued a report on it at the end of last year. Their study showed a clear increase, nationwide. Not only was 2005 showing an increase, but the trend has be towards increasing demand since the Conference of Mayors started counting these numbers in 1982.
An enterprising labor reporter, Brendan Coyne, who writes for “The New Standard,” a non-profit news source, did what few other reporters have: he read the report and wrote a piece on it. Apparently, the Conference of Mayor’s report found a number of disturbing figures on the rise. Coyne reported:
In addition, a majority of cities included in the survey
said the average amount of time people were
homeless increased over the past year to seven
months.
Aid-seekers cited a number of causes for their
situation, the report noted, including lack of
affordable housing, mental illness, protracted
joblessness, drug addiction, domestic disputes and
re-entering society after incarceration.
The Mayors came up with their figures, in part, by using data from the US Census and Department of Labor, as well as from their own local sources. So what has the Bush Administration done about this growing problem? Attempted to eliminate the reports that collect this data.
Ever wonder why we don’t talk about the most serious issues in our political campaigns?