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https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/lefts-homeless-plans-wrecked-cities-help-come-from-unexpected-source

The left's homeless plans wrecked our cities. Now help may come from an
unexpected source
Supreme Court could give cities a way to overcome the left's insane
homeless policies
Jason Rantz By Jason Rantz Fox News
Published April 15, 2024 5:00am EDT

Debris from Austin homeless encampment falling into creek: ‘insanity’
The creek flows into Barton Springs Pool, frequented by many Austin,
Texas, residents. (Credit: DASH)

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The once-idyllic streets of our nation's most beautiful cities have been
transformed into scenes straight out of a dystopian novel, where tents
crowd sidewalks and the stench of decay (and human waste) hangs thick in
the air. You can blame this grim reality on radical left politicians and
activists, who seized the chaos and uncertainty of the COVID-19 pandemic
to push through their disastrous policies on homelessness.

Thankfully, there's a glimmer of hope on the horizon, sparked by former
President Donald Trump and an Oregon town that most of you have never
heard of.

The catastrophic failures fueling a drug-addicted homeless crisis stem
from progressives’ blind allegiance to two deceptively named and
profoundly damaging strategies: "harm reduction" and "housing first."

CALIFORNIA GOP LEADERS CALL FOR ACCOUNTABILITY AFTER STATE CAN’T ACCOUNT
FOR $24B SPENT ON HOMELESS CRISIS

In San Francisco, these policies have created conditions so dire that
even its criminally liberal citizens revolted, voting to impose drug
testing for welfare recipients — a clear repudiation of the city's
"progressive" label, which earned a scolding by the left-wing San
Francisco Chronicle declaring the city probably can’t use the label any
longer. But that’s a good thing: progressive policies should be
synonymous with failure.

Homeless encampments line the streets in Oakland, California on Friday,
March 15, 2024. The city remains plagued by homelessness as nearby
businesses close their doors due to safety concerns. (DWS for Fox News
Digital)

What did "progressivism" really bring to San Francisco? A staggering and
tragic record of fatal drug overdoses — 752 in 2023 alone, an all-time
record. The streets became a permanent gallery of human misery and waste
(unless Chinese diplomats are visiting, of course). The city's
commercial heart, Union Square, began 2024 with the highest rate of
office vacancies in the nation. In just the last month, two more large
retailers announced closures -- North Face and Zara.

The situation is no better in downtown Seattle, another supposedly
progressive "utopia" (where I live) that’s still reeling under the grip
of homeless drug addicts who have claimed the streets as their own. The
exodus of major retailers, most recently Lululemon, fleeing what was
once a bustling, high-end mall, speaks volumes.

A 2023 poll by the Seattle Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce found that
68% of voters now avoid downtown more than before the explosion of
homelessness and crime. If there are no visitors, there are no
customers. The crisis even scared away Amazon, announcing last week it’s
resuming construction in nearby business-friendly Bellevue -- all while
the Seattle tech giant’s footprint shrinks.

Recently, a man was randomly stabbed in the head while walking his dog
in a notoriously dangerous downtown Seattle corner — a place where the
air is so saturated with the smell of urine that it clings to the back
of your throat. Yet, progressive leaders and the radical activists they
enable pretend the city is thriving, shaming anyone who says otherwise.

We’ve spent billions and tripled the homeless population: WattersVideo
The radical left disguises harm reduction as an "evidence-based"
solution to substance abuse. Yet, in practice, it does little more than
enable addicts, providing them with clean drug paraphernalia like
fentanyl pipes, clean needles and "booty-bumping" kits for taking drugs
under the guise of "reducing harm."

Housing first, meanwhile, offers "permanent supportive housing" to the
homeless, followed by a claim to address their underlying issues through
on-site, wraparound services. In reality, these places often turn into
drug dens with virtually no conditions on use. If you're homeless
because of drug addiction, you continue to use — and likely die — in
what inevitably become taxpayer-funded drug havens.

I dissect these flawed approaches in my book, "What’s Killing America:
Inside the Radical Left’s Tragic Destruction of Our Cities," a critique
the left-wing media won't give you. Their refusal to challenge these
feelgood yet destructive policies only serves to push a partisan agenda
under the radar. My book can help you save your community from the
progressive policy creep.

With these strategies in mind, the radical left opposes sweeping
homeless encampments, calling that cruel and inhumane, while cruelly
using the homeless as pawns in their demands for free housing. They even
fight to keep squatters and delinquent renters in properties they have
no right to, driven by an ideology that rejects private property rights
and repeats a lazy bumper sticker talking point: "housing is a human
right."

The new Jason Rantz book, "What’s Killing America: Inside the Radical
Left’s Tragic Destruction of Our Cities," underscores how progressive
plans for our cities have failed.

In the Seattle area, homelessness has worsened following drug
decriminalization, yet instead of admitting failures,
activist-politicians have poured tens of millions into converting hotels
into permanent supportive housing.

In one recent move, the city council in nearby Redmond colluded with
county officials to secretly transfer property without public notice.
Their message to residents fed up with the encampments? Shut up and let
officials spend millions more for subsidized housing and only then will
tents be cleared.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE FOX NEWS OPINION

While the homeless remain outdoors waiting for "free" housing, diseases
spread. Recently in downtown Portland, a Shigella outbreak — a highly
contagious bacteria spread through fecal matter — was traced to the
homeless. Seattle faced a Hepatitis A scare from homeless in January.
And last August, in Los Angeles, homeless encampments contributed to a
significant rise in flea-borne typhus.

But the progressive reign of despair may soon come to an end if
conservative United States Supreme Court justices come to the rescue
after hearing arguments for The City of Grants Pass Oregon v. Johnson on
April 22. It might return a tool that can be part of a broader strategy
to address homelessness more effectively.

The radical left disguises harm reduction as an "evidence-based"
solution to substance abuse. Yet, in practice, it does little more than
enable addicts, providing them with clean drug paraphernalia like
fentanyl pipes, clean needles and "booty-bumping" kits for taking drugs
under the guise of "reducing harm."

This legal battle about whether cities can enforce public camping bans
may be a defining moment for homelessness policy. A decision in favor of
Grants Pass could empower cities across the nation to reclaim their
public spaces, reducing crime and disease spread, while providing a
truly meaningful pathway out of homelessness.

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More importantly, it could signal the beginning of the end for the
unchecked spread of radical left policies that have been long shielded
behind claims of good intentions.

If the Supreme Court, fortified by Trump-appointed conservatives, sides
with pragmatic policies, we might just see cities finally be released
from the grip of progressive overreach, returning to an approach where
compassion and regulation can actually coexist and assist the homeless.
This isn’t just about cleaning up the streets — it's about wrestling
control back from the radical left.

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM JASON RANTZ

Jason Rantz, author of "What’s Killing America: Inside the Radical
Left’s Tragic Destruction of Our Cities," is a Seattle-based talk show
host on KTTH Radio. Follow him on Twitter @JasonRantz.

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franklinleibell
4 hours ago

Solving the homeless crisis has become a billion dollar industry. As
long as there is that much money to be made trying to solve the problem,
rest assured the the problem will never be solved!

Reply
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LibbiesRRacist
1 hour ago

That is correct, homelessness is a cash cow and they do not want it
solved. Some friends of the local Dems are making bank on $100k a year
tents and other extravagant nonsense. Further WSJ show the vast
majority of “new jobs” Biden has touted are healthcare and gov jobs to
take care of illegal immigrants and homeless, yet another Dem scam.