Should towns provide shelter for homeless when it's cold? Poll

[SoCalDem]

Be sure to read the comments..

Thankfully Yes is "winning" but the fact that 24% said no or not sure is troubling all the same..

http://www.wmdt.com/
Should towns or counties provide shelter for people with nowhere to go in the cold?
Yes
No
Not sure


Entertainment Purposes Only

[GreenPartyVoter]

1. Yes. DUH!

The people who said no must live in the tropics and have no clue how deadly the cold is.

[Sugarbleus]

19. "DUH"..pretty much says it all. hehe

there are some pretty scary citizens out there. Yikes!

[madrchsod]

2. the comments

are very ,very scary. i hope these people never get cold

[GreenPartyVoter]

5. Homeless shelters attract more people??

Um.. Yeah. I have a nice warm home, but I would leave it in a heartbeat to move into a homeless shelter.

[camero]

6. especially GWB

God's plan for natural selection? :wtf:

[mtlipsc]

3. Fox News does that to people

I used to have fairly nice parents. Reasonably compassionate. Not any more. After years of watching Fox News they now think that the poor deserve their poverty. Survival of the fittest, that's their motto. I'm glad my kids are too old to be influenced.

[SoCalDem]

9. Welcome to DU..

:hi:

Be sure and check in at the Lounge and get your group welcome :)

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=105&topic_id=703268&mesg_id=703268

[newyawker99]

27. Hi mtlipsc!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[pacifictiger]

4. more proof that

"christians" do not walk the talk of Christ.

[GreenPartyVoter]

7. Hey, don't lump us all together

We on the Christian Left don't consider ourselves to have much in common with the kind of "christian" you are thinking of. :^)

http://www.geocities.com/greenpartyvoter/liberalchristians.htm

[pacifictiger]

8. sorry greenparty

in my haste I did not clarify - I meant the holyroller, wear-a-prayer-on-your-sleeve and condemn those who dont, kind. you know, like the ones ruling this country? SORRY!!!!!

[GreenPartyVoter]

10. ;^D

'S'alright. I figured that's what you probably meant. :hi:

[jmags]

26. These are probably the same people who are apalled

when Scrooge talks of letting the poor die to get rid of the 'surplus population.'

[Cleita]

11. The towns should, but if the towns won't then

those Christian Churches who say poverty is a virtue should be providing shelter.

[Heyo]

12. I live in South Florida..

And when it gets below a certain temperature they open shelters in Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties that I know of..

I think they have hot food too but Im not sure on that.

Heyo

[DoYouEverWonder]

13. Same thing in North Florida

when it gets too cold the shelters are allowed to take in more people.

However, dealing with the issue of homelessness needs to go beyond the quick fix for emergencies. This is how we have dealt with homelessness for the last 20 years and it's not working.

First, society needs to acknowledge that there are always going to be people who for numerous reasons, can not take care of themselves. One way or another society is forced to take care of these people. Unfortunately, there are not many options available beyond emergency shelter to find more permanent solutions to rehousing people once they become homeless.

[Cleita]

14. Here's a post on homelessness causes and cures that

I put in the Meeting Room. Even though it's mostly about California, I think some of the fixes I mention, especially property taxes for the guttonously rich in property, which you also have in Florida could work for you. I mean MirDeLago or whatever that palace Donald Trump has down there certainly qualifies for huge property tax assessments.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=111&topic_id=16544

Edited for link.

[Malva Zebrina]

15. How about letting the homeless stay in the churches overnight

when it is freezing outside? The churches, now being subsidized or about to be subsidized by Bush if he gets his faith based charity schtick off and running, are empty most of the time, are they not? All of that has to be heated in order for the pipes not to freeze etc. So why not open it up and let the homeless at least sleep on the floor or on one of the pews in order to not freeze to death.

We have had below zero temps for at least two weeks now here. There are homeless people although not many at all. I would imagine that in the larger cities, thee would be a lot more wandering around looking for some shelter in this bitter cold.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

17. Churches are some of the biggest providers of temp shelter

especially if they're located in downtown and inner city areas.

My own church is an overflow shelter for the downtown Minneapolis area. We also cooperate with the other downtown churches in providing hot meals on a rotating schedule.

However, your average suburban megachurch would rather shut down than take in homeless people.

[solinvictus]

28. Church in Birmingham

There was a church in Birmingham that made a local man stop giving out food on their front lawn. They said it attracted "undesirables".

[Misinformed01]

16. Yes, and when it's warm too

One would think that the wealthiest nation in the world could afford to put roofs over all the heads, eh?

[Muddleoftheroad]

18. Should cities keep people from starving to death?

Of course.

The problem is that homelessness doesn't go away when things get warm. This is a year-round problem and a nationwide problem and we need to show the will to fix it. If someone is genuinely homeless, we need to help them with a temporary place and work them toward permanent housing and a liveable situation.

But a good number of the folks on the street are crazy. We need to get them into treatment and, in the extreme cases, put them in institutions.

[PsychoDad]

20. It is troubling...

That 20% of the population is so callous that the plight of their fellow human beings means nothing to them. :(

[Mr.Green93]

21. no one should be without shelter and food

anytime of the year

[Indiana Democrat]

22. What kind of question is this?

I mean what's the point? What kind of person can legitimately say no?? The only possible answer is yes.

[SoCalDem]

24. The fact that they even ASK is what's troubling to me..

Why not have this question?

Is it OK to beat your wife if you don't really hurt her?

or

Is it OK to cheat your employees if they don't know or complain about it?

or

Is it OK to lie in court if no one finds out you lied??

[buddhamama]

23. the "compassionate conservatives"

have left some enlightening comments.

i voted yes, of course.

[JohnyCanuck]

25. No way. If they can't provide shelter for themselves,

it must be because they are lazy and don't want to work. Having to stay out in the cold will motivate them to find a job. Ooops. Sorry I forgot I was on DU. Thought I was on Free Republic when I typed my response.