LA's Section 8 is a Grim Reminder of Americans' Struggles
- Author: Chris Remington
- Posted: 2024-01-20
Unfortunately for the poorest Americans out there who need housing, the only news about Section 8 for the longest time has been bad news. A few weeks ago, it was reported that Los Angeles would expand its Section 8 program and start accepting applications for homes. However, it was addressed that the program only had 30,000 spots, and that it would work like a lottery, with people who did not win that lottery going on a longer waiting list. It was initially big news because LA had not opened its waiting list for Section 8 in over five years, and so many poor citizens believed that the county was finally getting its stuff in order and that people who needed homes could get them.
The tone and tenor surrounding this news quickly turned a bit somber as people learned that this lottery would be open to everyone in LA county, even if they were undocumented immigrants. California, being a sanctuary state, could not rightly exclude illegals from such a lottery. The issue is that people were concerned that the application process and subsequent lottery would be dominated entirely by illegal immigrants in the Area.
Yes, the people were right on the money about that. Of the 30,000 available spots on the list, around 224,000 people applied. The overwhelming majority of those applicants were illegals who were only in LA due to California's propensity to offer them housing.
Doug Guthrie, CEO of the Housing Authority of the City of Los Angeles, said in a statement that he was very aware of the lack of resources people had, in terms of affordable housing solutions. Although Guthrie was keenly aware, supposedly, he still opened up the Section 8 lottery as a free for all that now has very little chance of someone actually from LA to receive a home or any sorts of subsidies for a home.
This is yet another piece of news that you're highly unlikely to find anywhere, especially during the election season. The same people absolutely refusing to fight for you still want your vote and still want you to believe that they're actually fighting for you.
Foreign Interests are America's Only Interest
It's a very polarizing statement to say that America's government puts a lot more effort into foreigners than its own citizens; but by any sort of metric you use, that statement is demonstrably factual. In the Eastern Bloc, halfway around the world, America has decided that Ukraine is so much more important than actual Americans that Congress has weekly votes over how much money to ship overseas and still hasn't had one session on how to lower food costs or build more affordable housing in the country. Congress voted nearly unanimously to send billions of dollars to Israel for a missile defense system yet hasn't once voted on expanding Section 8 housing for America's poor. (In fact, Biden took billions away from it.) The government is using the Social Security fund to give illegal immigrants a smartphone, pre-loaded debit cards with thousands of dollars, and hotel rooms with meals, but they haven't used Social Security to up the budget for any HUD housing programs.
The previous statements are not opinions; they are stone facts that anyone can look up. America has a housing crisis, which has contributed to a homelessness crisis and other issues are getting worse. Instead of addressing domestic problems that plague Americans, America's government focuses on everything but the livelihoods of its own citizens. Though don't worry too much; the government still cares about you. It's election season, and so they've been paying you lip service for two months now. None of these politicians can run on what they're going to do for you, because there is nothing they're going to do for you. Instead, they run on how horrible the other side is, hoping you vote with anger instead of actual hope. The Section 8 applications in Los Angeles were overrun entirely by immigrants. More immigrants applied for housing than there were waiting list spots. Meanwhile, Section 8, which is the responsibility of the federal government as part of HUD, is a topic they refuse to even address.
Americans of all races and genders and religions deserve dignity and at the very least a government that represents them. Though in the United States, in the case of Section 8 affordable housing, actual citizens do not seem to even exist.
