Politics

Obama: Stereotypes on Left, Right a Hurdle to Ending Poverty

Published

9 years ago

May 13, 2015

President Barack Obama smiles as Washington Post Columnist E. J. Dionne speaks at the Catholic-Evangelical Leadership Summit on Overcoming Poverty at Gaston Hall at Georgetown University in Washington, Tuesday, May 12, 2015. The president said that “it’s a mistake” to think efforts to stamp out poverty have failed and the government is powerless to address it. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)

NANCY BENAC, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — It wasn’t your typical panel discussion: President Barack Obama sat down Tuesday with leading thinkers from the left and right to reflect on poverty, income inequality and the stereotypes that get in the way of finding solutions.

“The truth is more complicated” than the caricatures of liberals just wanting to throw more money at undeserving “sponges,” Obama said, and descriptions of “cold hearted” free-market types who see the poor as “moochers.”

Obama told an audience of about 700 at Georgetown University that it makes him mad when he hears a “constant menu” of stories on Fox News Channel featuring poor people who want a “free Obama phone” or other easy benefits.

“They will find folks who make me mad,” Obama declared. “Very rarely do you hear an interview of a waitress, which is much more typical, who is raising a couple of kids and is doing everything right but still can’t pay the bills.”

Obama said the stereotypes are a barrier to finding solutions that will be acceptable to Republican leaders in the House and Senate.

“If we’re going to change how John Boehner and Mitch McConnell think, we’re going to have to change how our body politic thinks, which means we’re going to have to change how the media reports on these issues,” Obama said. “… It’s a hard process because that requires a much broader conversation than typically we have on the nightly news.”

Obama appeared with Professor Robert Putnam of Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government, and Arthur Brooks, president of the American Enterprise Institute, at a Catholic-Evangelical summit.

Obama said he was hopeful that the recent unrest in places such as Baltimore and Ferguson, Missouri, had underscored the need to address income inequality. But when it came to discussing policy specifics, divisions were clear.

Obama highlighted a loophole that allows hedge fund managers to pay low tax rates, saying, “If we can’t bridge that gap, then I suspect we’re not going to make as much progress as we need to.”

Brooks countered that the loophole was a “show issue,” and that it was more important to tackle the high cost of middle-class entitlements. Brooks warned against impugning the motives of Republican leaders, calling it the “No. 1 barrier to making progress.”

___

Follow Nancy Benac on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/nbenac

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Oakland Post: Week of April 24 – 30, 2024

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of April 24 – 30, 2024

Published

2 days ago

April 26, 2024

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MAYOR BREED ANNOUNCES $53 MILLION FEDERAL GRANT FOR SAN FRANCISCO’S HOMELESS PROGRAMS

San Francisco, CA – Mayor London N. Breed today announced that the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has awarded the city a $53.7 million grant to support efforts to renew and expand critical services and housing for people experiencing homelessness in San Francisco.

Published

1 week ago

April 20, 2024

Oakland Post

Mayor London Breed

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Wednesday, January 31, 2024

Contact: Mayor’s Office of Communications, mayorspressoffice@sfgov.org

***PRESS RELEASE***

MAYOR BREED ANNOUNCES $53 MILLION FEDERAL GRANT FOR SAN FRANCISCO’S HOMELESS PROGRAMS

HUD’s Continuum of Care grant will support the City’s range of critical services and programs, including permanent supportive housing, rapid re-housing, and improved access to housing for survivors of domestic violence

San Francisco, CA – Mayor London N. Breed today announced that the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has awarded the city a $53.7 million grant to support efforts to renew and expand critical services and housing for people experiencing homelessness in San Francisco.

HUD’s Continuum of Care (CoC) program is designed to support local programs with the goal of ending homelessness for individuals, families, and Transitional Age Youth.

This funding supports the city’s ongoing efforts that have helped more than 15,000 people exit homelessness since 2018 through City programs including direct housing placements and relocation assistance. During that time San Francisco has also increased housing slots by 50%. San Francisco has the most permanent supportive housing of any county in the Bay Area, and the second most slots per capita than any city in the country.

“In San Francisco, we have worked aggressively to increase housing, shelter, and services for people experiencing homelessness, and we are building on these efforts every day,” said Mayor London Breed. “Every day our encampment outreach workers are going out to bring people indoors and our City workers are connecting people to housing and shelter. This support from the federal government is critical and will allow us to serve people in need and address encampments in our neighborhoods.”

The funding towards supporting the renewal projects in San Francisco include financial support for a mix of permanent supportive housing, rapid re-housing, and transitional housing projects. In addition, the CoC award will support Coordinated Entry projects to centralize the City’s various efforts to address homelessness. This includes $2.1 million in funding for the Coordinated Entry system to improve access to housing for youth and survivors of domestic violence.

“This is a good day for San Francisco,” said Shireen McSpadden, executive director of the Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing. “HUD’s Continuum of Care funding provides vital resources to a diversity of programs and projects that have helped people to stabilize in our community. This funding is a testament to our work and the work of our nonprofit partners.”

The 2024 Continuum of Care Renewal Awards Include:

$42.2 million for 29 renewal PSH projects that serve chronically homeless, veterans, and youth
$318,000 for one new PSH project, which will provide 98 affordable homes for low-income seniors in the Richmond District
$445,00 for one Transitional Housing (TH) project serving youth
$6.4 million dedicated to four Rapid Rehousing (RRH) projects that serve families, youth, and survivors of domestic violence
$750,00 for two Homeless Management Information System (HMIS) projects
$2.1 million for three Coordinated Entry projects that serve families, youth, chronically homeless, and survivors of domestic violence

In addition, the 2023 CoC Planning Grant, now increased to $1,500,000 from $1,250,000, was also approved. Planning grants are submitted non-competitively and may be used to carry out the duties of operating a CoC, such as system evaluation and planning, monitoring, project and system performance improvement, providing trainings, partner collaborations, and conducting the PIT Count.

“We are very appreciative of HUD’s support in fulfilling our funding request for these critically important projects for San Francisco that help so many people trying to exit homelessness,” said Del Seymour, co-chair of the Local Homeless Coordinating Board. “This funding will make a real difference to people seeking services and support in their journey out of homelessness.”

In comparison to last year’s competition, this represents a $770,000 increase in funding, due to a new PSH project that was funded, an increase in some unit type Fair Market Rents (FMRs) and the larger CoC Planning Grant. In a year where more projects had to compete nationally against other communities, this represents a significant increase.

Nationally, HUD awarded nearly $3.16 billion for over 7,000 local homeless housing and service programs including new projects and renewals across the United States.