[Peace-discuss] Tackling homelessness and why you can't trust the duopoly

[J.B. Nicholson]

An excerpt from 
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-08-07/survey-exposes-america-s-looming-rent-crisis

> An estimated 27% of adults in the U.S. missed their rent or mortgage payment for
> July, according to a nationwide survey conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau weekly
> over the last three months. Among renters alone, just over one-third (34%) said
> during the waning days of July that they had little to no confidence that they
> could make their August rent payment, a stark measure of the ongoing economic
> devastation for households stretched to the brink by coronavirus pandemic.
> 
> The survey registers the deepest uncertainty across the South, where in some
> states, more than one-third of renters and homeowners said they missed their last
> rent or mortgage payment and would struggle to meet their obligations for August.
> In Texas, for example, 39% of renters said they weren’t certain they could pay
> their rent (or they were sure that they couldn’t). In Oklahoma, doubt has crept up
> to 43%.
> 
> The Household Pulse Survey[1] paints a picture of a nation veering toward widespread
> financial precarity. Over the last 90 days, the Census Bureau conducted this
> weighted survey by polling Americans weekly on their financial, physical and
> mental well-being. The responses show large shares of Americans foregoing medical
> care and many struggling with food insecurity. During the week of July 21 — the
> final week of the census survey — an estimated 35% of Americans said they expected
> to lose employment income due to the pandemic. One-third of respondents reported
> feeling anxiety most days or every day of the week.
> 
> The risks weigh differently for different groups. For example, 31% of Black
> renters said that they were unable to pay last month’s rent, versus 28% of Latino
> renters and 14% of white renters. It’s worth noting that the Census Bureau
> provides estimates for adults, not households, which would provide slightly
> different and perhaps more accurate estimates[2].

[1] https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/household-pulse-survey/data.html
[2] 
https://www.jchs.harvard.edu/blog/using-the-census-bureaus-household-pulse-survey-to-assess-the-economic-impacts-of-covid-19-on-americas-households/

There are still no efforts from the two major parties or their presidential 
candidates to tackle this in a serious way via a universal basic income and Medicare 
for All. Congress seems to have established bulwarks in the House and Senate leaders 
who won't write or bring already-written UBI/M4A legislation to the floor. There are 
no efforts to recall Congress from their vacation to pass such legislation, even 
though we're still in a pandemic.