Path: bloom-picayune.mit.edu!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!news.media.mit.edu!americast.com!americast.com!usa-post Newsgroups: usa-today.issues,americast.usa-today.issues From: usa-post@AmeriCast.Com Organization: American Cybercasting Approved: usa-post@AmeriCast.com Subject: issues Thu, Oct 8 1992 Date: Thu, 8 Oct 92 04:25:12 EDT Message-ID: 10-08 0000 DECISIONLINE: Issues & Debate USA TODAY Update Oct. 8, 1992 Source: USA TODAY:Gannett National Information Network Here are some of the issues and topics being debated across the nation Wednesday morning in USA TODAY: Homelessness; debates. TODAY'S DEBATE - AID TO HOMELESS: USA TODAY'S OPINION: Last year, 750 people died from the risks that go along with living outdoors. They sleep in boxes, train stations, under bridges or bushes, on lake fronts and in alleys. There are 200,000 to 3 million of them - at least 100,000 children. Yet they've been invisible this election year... President Bush, Bill Clinton and Ross Perot say little about the problem. There aren't many votes among the homeless. That's a shame. Good programs exist. They just need the support a national commitment can provide. Los Angeles, for example, is renovating dozens of single-room-occupancy units. Their disappearance, along with low-cost rental units during the 1980s, is a major cause of the homelessness crisis. Federal housing aid can help it along. ... The federal government, under the McKinney Act, provides health care for the homeless in 100 cities. But this $58 million program reaches few. ... Local leadership is vital. But only a national push can give successful programs the reach they need. Without that push, too many of the homeless will continue to be ignored, walked over and left to die in dumpsters. OTHER VIEW: MARTIN MORSE WOOSTER, a Silver Spring, Md., writer and columnist for Reason magazine: Aid to the homeless is one of the most difficult issues in social policy. No one knows how many homeless people there are. ...We also do not know if the homeless population is rising or falling, or even if homelessness is a problem that is truly national in scope. ... Given this lack of information, it is hard to see why additional aid to the homeless will do any good. Homeless aid doubled in the late 1980s, but there is little evidence the funds had any effect on reducing the homeless population. That is because these federal funds largely go to ... social workers, planners, administrators, regulators and other people who make handsome salaries in the name of aiding the poor. ... Aid to the homeless should be local and private. We should all be compassionate to those less fortunate than ourselves, but the best form of aid is voluntary efforts to help people in one's own neighborhood. VOICES ACROSS THE NATION ON WHAT CANDIDATES SHOULD SAY IN DEBATE: RUSHMORE, Minn., Randy Wiertsema, 28, farmer: I'd like to hear realistic approaches about what they're going to do. Perot's the only one who will do just that. Like it or not, he'll tell you he's going to raise taxes, cut programs. The deficit is a serious problem; none of the others will matter if it isn't taken care of. CLEARWATER, Fla., Bonnie Patrick, 33, fitness specialist: I really want to hear about health insurance. Rates have skyrocketed, and a lot of people just can't afford quality care. For a while I was disabled and out of work. I had to come up with my own health insurance, and when you're injured, no one wants to insure you. PORTLAND, Ore., Bud Clark, 60, mayor: I'd like to hear what they're going to do to solve the problems of the cities. The real national security problem is the cites. The Bush administration has ignored them. More people were killed in Washington, D.C., alone during Desert Storm than in Desert Storm. FORT WAYNE, Ind., DeLois McKinley-Eldridge, president: I want to hear about programs for the youth - not just summer programs that are stopgap programs. They should prepare young people to become valuable citizens. They should start a program in freshman year in high school. LOS ANGELES, Calif., Rhonda Fleming Mann, 63, philanthropist: I'd like to hear what everyone else wants to hear: truth, wisdom and caring for people, for the hurting, for the hungry in our country. Also, it's not just putting one man in there; it's putting in a whole team. I want to hear talk about putting women in positions of power. Issues & Debate Editor: Beth Mann. (1-919-855-3491) Making copies of USA TODAY Update (Copyright, 1992) for further distribution violates federal law. This article is copyright 1992 Gannett News Service. Redistribution to other sites is not permitted except by arrangement with American Cybercasting Corporation. For more information, send-email to usa@AmeriCast.COM