As the primaries start to wind down and the home stretch is near, this is a quick update on what the candidates have said about affordable housing, homelessness, welfare and poverty. To read the full articles please click on the link below.
Republicans
Ted Cruz:
- Department of Housing and Urban Development
- Offer real solutions to lift people out of hardship rather than trapping families in a cycle of poverty, and empower Americans by promoting the dignity of work and reforming programs such as Section 8 Housing
- Welfare and Poverty:
- “Volunteers in the private sector who depend on donations to keep their efforts afloat have vested interest in helping people down on their luck get back on their feet, so that the charity can then help other people in need. The best cure for poverty is not temporary food and shelter (although those are certainly needed), but a job and the ability to provide for your family. And private charities are far more likely to work not only to feed and clothe those in need, but also to help train them and get them interviews for jobs. Moreover, through the church, they can also help with their spiritual needs, which can be transformational in their lives. Under government assistance, by contrast there is far less on an incentive to help people become independent. Government programs don’t tend to run out of money, regardless of whether they help people or not. In fact, the larger the homeless problem, the more money government programs receive.”
John Kasich:
- Welfare:
- In Congress John Kasich worked as part of a leadership team to pass legislation that led to historic reforms to federal welfare programs. Lifetime limits on cash benefits, work requirements and flexibility for states to design their own relief programs helped people begin moving from dependency to self-sufficiency.
- “… My sense is that it is important that we do not ignore the poor, the widowed, the disabled. I think that’s the way America is. And I think there’s a moral aspect to it. In my state, there’s not only a moral aspect where some people’s lives have been saved because of what we’ve done, but it also saves us money in the long run.”
- This is in regards to the expansion of Medicaid
Donald Trump:
- Welfare and Poverty:
- The American work ethic is what led generations of Americans to create our once prosperous nation. That’s what I find so morally offensive about welfare and dependency: it robs people of the chance to improve. Work gives every day sense of purpose. A job well done provides a sense of pride and accomplishment. I love to work. In fact, I like working so much that I seldom take vacations. Because I work so hard, I’ve been privileged to create jobs for tens of thousands of people. And on my hit show, “The Apprentice”, I get to work with people from all works of life. I’m known for my famous line, ” You’re fired!” but the truth is, I don’t like firing people. Sometimes you have to do it, but it’s never fun or easy. One of my favorite parts of business is seeing how work transforms people into better, more confident, more competent individuals. It’s inspiring and beautiful to watch.”
Democrats:
Hillary Clinton:
- Affordable Housing:
- Proposed affordable housing policy:
- Increase the supply of affordable rental homes by expanding annual allocation of Low-income Housing Tax Credits, also known as the Housing Credit
- Reform the Section 8 program to help recipients of rental assistance vouchers access neighborhoods with good schools, jobs, public transit and other resources
- Make comprehensive investments in high-poverty neighborhoods, including resources to clear blight and preserve the supply of affordable homes
- Proposed affordable housing policy:
Bernie Sanders:
- Affordable Housing:
- Sander’s plan calls for increasing the National Affordable Housing Trust Fund to at least $5 billion a year “to construct, preserve and rehabilitate a 3.5 million affordable housing units over the next decade.”
- “We must return to pre-2010 funding levels… and invest, more, not less in affordable housing.”
Independent
Gary Johnson:
- Welfare and Poverty:
- Entitlement reform proposals
- Block grant Medicare and Medicaid funds to the states, allowing them to innovate, find efficiencies and provide better services at lower cost
- Fix Social Security by changing the escalator from being based on wage growth in inflation
- Repeal ObamaCare, as well as the failed Medicare prescription drug benefit
- Entitlement reform proposals
Jill Stein:
- Affordable Housing:
- “We will honor right to decent affordable housing, including an immediate halt to all foreclosures and evictions. We will create a federal bank with local branches to take over homes with distressed mortgages and either restructure the mortgages to affordable levels, or if the occupants cannot afford a mortgage, rent homes to the occupants. We will expand rental and home ownership assistance, create ample public housing, and capital grants to non-profit developers of affordable housing until all people can obtain decent housing at no more than 25% of their income. We will honor the right to accessible and affordable utilities-heat, electricity, phone, internet, and public transportation-which will be made available to all through democratically run, publicly owned utilities that operate at cost, not for profit. In honoring these rights we will create the basis for a new economy- an economy that is stable and not vulnerable to speculation.”
