While most of our eyes are fixed on the Middle East, primarily the Israel-Iran conflict, the budget bill plods its way through the Senate. Part of the bill that was eliminated was Sen. Mike Lee’s (R-UT) proposal to sell of millions of acres of public lands, including old forests for “needed housing,” but, of course, the proposal did not say the housing needed to be affordable.
Certainly, we desperately need housing, but with the continuing deportation of our immigrant construction workers, who’s going to build it? And the forests are out in the middle of nowhere, as they should be. Who’s going to live there? Not the people in Toms River or Los Angeles who really need affordable housing.
And with major cuts in social services, who will supply them to the people there? This was a proposal to benefit the rich; those poor rich people just have no place to live. Perhaps instead of building more McMansions, we should invest in affordable housing where people do live. But, God knows, that’s just too practical and besides, we don’t want poor people cluttering up our nice suburbs.
Prayer for the Day
Hard pressed to loosen grips on self-preserving rules,
We use laws to keep our differences defined;
Upset that the disadvantaged need to live among us,
We use rules and zoning to keep them out of our communities.
But you, O God, call us to open our minds and hearts,
Granting all the opportunity to housed with welcome’
In the name of the One we say we follow,
Even Christ Jesus our Lord, Amen
Thoughts for the Day
This is a victory for the American public, who were loud and clear: Public lands belong in public hands.
Maz Greenberg, Wilderness Society
The path to affordable housing should be fair and equitable for everyone, and access to affordable housing is the infrastructure people in our communities need to elevate into the working class and the middle class. It is the foundation that helps people support their families and contribute to their economies.
Ralph Warnock, U.S. Senator (D-GA)
Those who oppress the poor insult their Maker,
But those who are kind to the needy honor God.
Proverbs 14:31