Child Homelessness Surges in America

As the Republicans seek to destroy the social safety net and self-proclaimed "family values" spend millions of dollars to oppose gay rights, especially gay marriage - all because they claim to be concerned about "the children" - child homelessness is surging in America.  While all these funds are spent on anti-gay efforts, these same "family values" organizations spend nothing on aiding children or families.  The hypocrisy is absolute.  An article in The Daily Beast looks at the surging problem of child homelessness.  The referenced report can be found here. Here are highlights:

The number of homeless children in the U.S. has surged in recent years to an all-time high, amounting to one child in every 30, according to a comprehensive state-by-state report. The report, which will be issued Monday, blames the nation’s high poverty rate, the lack of affordable housing, and the effects of pervasive domestic violence. The report by the National Center on Family Homelessness calculates that nearly 2.5 million American children were homeless at some point in 2013.

The number is based on the Department of Education’s latest count of 1.3 million homeless children in public schools, supplemented by estimates of homeless preschool children not counted by the DOE. The problem is particularly severe in California, which has one-eighth of the U.S. population but accounts for more than one-fifth of the homeless children with a tally of nearly 527,000.

[T]he federal government has made progress in reducing homelessness among veterans and chronically homeless adults.  "The same level of attention and resources has not been targeted to help families and children," she said. "As a society, we're going to pay a high price, in human and economic terms."

Child homelessness increased by 8 percent nationally from 2012 to 2013, according to the report, which warned of potentially devastating effects on children's educational, emotional and social development, as well as on their parents' health, employment prospects and parenting abilities.

[N]either federal nor state housing assistance nor incentives for developers to create low-income housing have kept pace with demand.  "We need more affordable housing or we need to pay people $25 an hour," she said. "The minimum wage isn't cutting it."

"Fixing the problem starts with adopting an honest definition," said Bruce Lesley, president of the nonprofit First Focus Campaign for Children. "Right now, these kids are sort of left out there by themselves."

Lesley's group and some allies have endorsed a bill introduced in Congress, with bipartisan sponsorship, that would expand HUD's definition to correlate more closely with that used by the Education Department. However, the bill doesn't propose any new spending for the hundreds of thousands of children who would be added to the HUD tally.

Yet another example of "American exceptionalism" that the right wing likes to extol.

Will Obama Go It Alone on Immigration?

The Congressional Republicans have demonstrated time and time again that they have no concrete proposals for dealing with major problems facing the nation be it on the issue of the nation's still broken health care system or dealing with the desperate need for immigration reform.  All the GOP has to offer is obstructionism and attacks on whatever Barack Obama may propose.  The paralysis is so extreme that Obama is left with few options other than to proceed via executive order - something that he has done less frequently that his GOP predecessors despite the disingenuous shrieking for the far right media talking heads and buffoons like John Boehner.  A piece in The Atlantic looks at what may unfold on the immigration front which will send false Christian Republicans into apoplexy.  Here are highlights:

Inflammatory as it's been, the debate over unaccompanied Central-American children crossing the U.S. border is only the warm-up for an approaching immigration confrontation with even greater stakes.

Regardless of how Congress handles his request for more border resources, President Obama is moving toward a historic—and explosive—executive order that will provide legal status to a significant number of the estimated 11.7 million undocumented immigrants in the U.S. One senior White House official says that while "what's happening at the border will provide atmospherics for the [president's] decision," it won't stop him from acting on the undocumented—probably before the midterm elections. The resulting collision over Obama's expected action could lastingly define both the Democratic and Republican parties for the burgeoning Hispanic population.

During George W. Bush's two terms, the best estimate has it, the number of unauthorized immigrants in the U.S. jumped by about 3 million; under Obama, there's been no increase. But while the tougher enforcement has angered liberal groups, it has failed to move House Republicans, 80 percent of whom represent districts that are whiter than the national average. After the Senate passed bipartisan comprehensive immigration reform that included a pathway to citizenship in 2013, House Republicans shelved it—just as they did a similar bipartisan bill Bush helped shoulder through the Senate in 2006.

Polls consistently find broad support for such a package: In a Pew Research Center survey this week, 63 percent of whites, 71 percent of African-Americans, and 85 percent of Hispanics said those here illegally should be granted legal status after meeting certain requirements. But many House Republicans believe that in their right-leaning districts, the only voters who cast their ballots on the issue are those opposed to legalization.

Obama has indicated he wants to return more kids immediately and then devote additional legal resources to more quickly adjudicating the remaining cases. There's a humanitarian case for this: The lengthy delays may be encouraging more children to make the dangerous journey. But the approach also reflects the White House's recognition that controlling the border is the necessary political precondition to completing an executive order to legalize many of the immigrants here illegally.
 

The president can't provide them citizenship without action by Congress. But using the same theory of "deferred action" that he employed in 2012 for children brought to the U.S. illegally by their parents, he could apply prosecutorial discretion to allow some groups of the undocumented (such as adults here illegally with children who are U.S. citizens) to obtain work permits and function openly. Though the administration is still debating the reach of Obama's authority, some top immigration advocates hope he could legalize up to half of the undocumented population.

Such a move would infuriate Republicans, both because the border crisis has deepened their conviction that any move toward legalization inspires more illegal migration and because the president would be bypassing Congress. They would likely challenge an Obama order through both legislation and litigation. Every 2016 GOP presidential contender could feel compelled to promise to repeal the order.

Those would be momentous choices for a party already struggling to attract Hispanics and Asian-Americans. Alfonso Aguilar, executive director of the Latino Partnership initiative at the conservative American Principles Project, warns that if Republicans "again fall for the trap" and try to overturn an Obama legalization plan without offering an alternative path to legal status, the party will condemn itself to another lopsided deficit among Hispanics—and to a likely defeat—in 2016. David Ayon, senior adviser to the polling firm Latino Decisions, says that if Republicans erupt against an Obama legalization initiative, it "could turn the Latino vote as ruggedly anti-Republican as the black vote."

On many fronts, Obama seems to be only reacting to events. But on immigration, as on other social issues such as gay rights and contraception, he is driving decisions that could shape the two parties for years—and cement the Democratic hold on the coalition of growing demographic groups that powered his two victories.

 

Pope Francis: Immigrant Children Must Be 'Welcomed And Protected'

While he still has not taken needed action to sack bishops and cardinals who were involved in covering up the rape of children and youths by Catholic priests, nonetheless Pope Francis is proving to be a pain in side of disingenuous, anti-immigrant Republicans. One has to wonder how pretend Catholics Paul Ryan and Ted Cruz will try to dissemble and try to avoid papal condemnation if they prostitute themselves to the anti-immigrant racists of the GOP base. Perverse as it may be, I cannot help by smile at Francis' ability to put the total hypocrisy of nasty individuals like Ryan and Cruz on display.  Here are highlights from Huffington Post on Pope Francis' effort to throw down a gauntlet to anti-immigrant Republicans:

Pope Francis confronted the "racist and xenophobic attitudes" that often face undocumented immigrants by addressing the thousands of unaccompanied children included in their ranks.

In a message delivered to the Mexico-Holy See Colloquium on Migration and Development on Monday, the pope drew attention to these migrant children who he said often undertake the dangerous border crossing alone in order to escape violence in their home countries:

"This humanitarian emergency requires, as a first urgent measure, these children be welcomed and protected. These measures, however, will not be sufficient, unless they are accompanied by policies that inform people about the dangers of such a journey and, above all, that promote development in their countries of origin."

Pope Francis noted the urgency of this predicament, saying that the numbers of migrant children "are increasing day by day." U.S. Customs and Border Protection reports that more than 50,000 unaccompanied migrant children have crossed the Southwest border so far in 2014.

While Pope Francis delivered his message, Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin spoke at Mexico's Foreign Relations Secretariat and urged clergy and foreign ministers to protect young migrants.

"Whether they travel for reasons of poverty, violence or the hope of uniting with families on the other side of the border," Parolin said, "it is urgent to protect and assist them, because their frailty is greater and they're defenseless, they're at the mercy of any abuse or misfortune."

The cardinal reiterated the Vatican's support for this cause, saying, "The church will always support at the national and international level any initiative directed at the adoption of correct policies."

Outside of the church, though, the pope also called for the international community to take steps toward finding a humanitarian solution to the immigration crisis. 

On Sunday Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Matthews Burwell met privately with dozens of governors of states that will host thousands of unaccompanied migrant children from Central America. The program, initiated by the Obama administration, will go into affect in October and aims to tackle the growing influx of child migrants. 

Would that the mainstream media would have the balls to confront anti-immigrant Republicans and demand an answer as to how they reconcile their supposed Christian faith with treating immigrant children like disposable garbage.  These people are foul hypocrites and they need to be exposed for what they truly are.

Mega Church Pastor: Jesus Would Have Wanted a Border Fence

Robert Jeffress - Foul hypocrite and modern day Pharisee

It is stunning how today's "godly folk" use the Christian moniker yet act in a ways diametrically the opposite of the principles announced by Christ and the behavior he exhibited if one believes the Gospel narratives.  Christ's focus was the poor and down trodden and he socialized with the outcasts of the society of his day.  The main targets of Christ's condemnation?  The Pharisees who we see reincarnated in today's conservative Christians who are best known for their hypocrisy and utter hatred towards anyone who doesn't think, look and love like they do.  With thousands of undocumented children in custody along the USA's southern border what does Texas mega church Pastor Robert Jeffress pontificate?  That Jesus would have wanted a border fence to keep out the poor, needy and those fleeing violence in their home countries.  One has to wonder, if there is a God, when will a lightning bolt strike down Jeffress and the many professional Christians that are killing the Christian brand.  A piece in The Raw Story looks at Jeffress' foul batshitery where he claims sending children back to face violence and oppression is the "compassionate" thing to do:

Texas megachurch Pastor Robert Jeffress on Thursday cited Jesus Christ to Fox News as reason that the federal government should build a border fence, which he said was the most compassionate thing that could be done for immigrant children.

Jeffress argued that “the most compassionate thing we can do for these children is to secure the border.”

He compared the border to a swimming pool without a fence: “If you’re a homeowner with a swimming pool that doesn’t have a fence around it, and a neighborhood child wanders in and drowns, you’re liable because you have enticed that child into a dangerous situation. The remedy is to build a fence.”

“What we are doing by having these unsecured borders is we are enticing children and mothers to make this dangerous journey,” the Christian leader added. “Yes, we want to show compassion to the children who are here, but the most compassionate thing we can do is secure the borders.”

Jeffress ended his interview with a religious message to the “many Christians” who watch Fox & Friends.  “They’re wondering what the right thing to do is,” he noted. “Yes, Jesus loved children, but he also respected law. He said, render unto Caesar the things that are Caesars.”  “So, we need to do both. Show compassion, but secure the borders.”

Jeffress' real problem with these children is that (i) they are not white and (ii) they are not evangelical Protestants.   I agree with author Anne Rice - I don't want to be called a Christian anymore because I do not in any way want to be associated with horrible people like Jeffress, Tony Perkins and many others who make the Pharisees of the Bible look like kind, compassionate charity dispensers in comparison.

 

Tea Party/Christian Extremists Block Buses of Undocumented Children

Why do I state "Tea Party/Christian Extremists" in the title to this post?  Because 85% or more of the Tea Party crowd identify themselves as "conservative Christians."  Just as these people have turned the Republican Party into something ugly, so too have they transformed Christianity into something that is increasingly the antithesis of the Gospel message.   The New Civil Rights Movement looks at the protests by the "real Americans" who care nothing about poor and unfortunate children.  These people truly seem unable to see the humanity of others.  Here are highlights:

Chanting "USA! USA! USA!," "go home!," "deport!" and "impeach Obama!," about 150 Tea Party extremists, who call themselves "patriots" and claim to represent all Americans, yesterday did what they did best: they waved the American flag, held misspelled signs, and protested three buses of young undocumented children who were headed for a federal processing facility. No doubt the children, most of whom are here without parents or other family members, must have been hungry and terrified. But these "pro-family" protestors told reporters they won a "victory," comparing it to "Omaha Beach."

The epicenter of yesterday's Tea Party protests and illegal action against federal agents and the 140 young children was the California town of Murrieta. Mayor Alan Long actually told residents to protest -- and they did. The children were to be processed, given physical exams, and readied for deportation. Some were to be temporarily released into families willing to take them while awaiting deportation hearings.

The children are being housed, sleeping literally head to toe, side by side, with barely room to even turn over:

Ultimately, the buses were forced from Murrieta and headed for a federal facility in San Ysidro.

These people literally sicken me.