America keeps funding homelessness instead of ending it | Opinion
Imagine calling the fire department as your home burns, only to discover the firefighters have been pouring gasoline on the flames. Worse, they demand ever-larger budgets, congratulate themselves for responding to more fires and insist that questioning their effectiveness threatens public safety. Welcome to America's "Homeless Industrial Complex." Recent revelations from Seattle and New York show just how disturbing it has become. In Seattle, an independent financial review uncovered a staggering $16.7 million shortfall at the King County Regional Homelessness Authority, following years of financial mismanagement. The agency spent money it never earned, accumulated debt and incurred millions in interest expenses. Meanwhile, its CEO and her deputy earn more than $600,000 combined annually . Now Seattle and King County taxpayers are being asked to foot the bill . Across the country, an Oct. 31 New York Post investigation revealed that state Attorney General Letitia James' office has taken no enforcement action against three major homeless shelter operators despite serious findings against them by government watchdogs. Meanwhile, executives, lobbyists and associates connected to those operators contributed more than $56,000 to her political campaigns. Among the reported findings: One operator overbilled taxpayers more than $566,000; another faced scrutiny over insider transactions and
