It's All Your Fault

Shorter Mickey Kaus: You hear that, Money Liberals? You're why we are awash in shantytowns!

You're not going to bowl over the American political system by engineering a wave of naive, guilt-tripping compassion. Did Marion Wright Edelman prevent welfare reform? I don't quite understand it. It's not as if homelessness isn't a real problem. An organization that gained a reputation for not hyping it might have real impact on legislation.

Well, of course that's why Republicans resist anti-poverty programs ... a lack of *credibility*. [And here I thought it was because they were dim sycophants who consider enriching the wealthy as the only worthy goal of government -- ed. Who let you in here? Was it the Money Liberals?]

Also, isn't this post nearly identical to Gregg(gg) Easterbrook's article about homelessness in the Atlantic? That made the exact same points, and drew the exact same conclusion (if only liberals would get out of the way, we'd solve homelessness) 25 years ago? Oceans rise, cities fall, neoliberalism remains.

[Is it worth noting that Jack Shafer has also poked holes in the dubious use of statistics in media coverage, and with far more success? -- ed. Sure, but Shafer's only attempting to expose the outright propaganda, conflicted sources and uninformed hysteria that continue to propagate an enormously destructive War on Drugs. Mickey's the real hero here, saving his fire for that *truly* awful war: the War on Poverty.]

But that doesn't seem to be what the world of non-profit grantsmanship rewards.

Damn anti-poverty activists ... always in it for the money.