The article begins:
Anthony Ferretti, his fiancee and their 2-year-old daughter were among hundreds of people who waited in line for hours Monday in hopes of obtaining a coveted federal rent subsidy.
At times, the line was so long that it spanned the length of Park Fair Mall and then doubled back another half-length. A police officer strolled the line of people, many of whom had small children in strollers or standing beside them.
"We got here around 8 a.m., and there were people everywhere," Ferretti said.
A "coveted federal rent subsidy"... the phrase made me cringe. Coveted? That conjures up an image of someone waiting for years, maybe a lifetime, just to aspire to the good fortune of receiving the miraculous Check someday. No, we can't aspire to accumulate more education or work experience so we can move up the pay scale at our regular 40-hour-per-week jobs. No, we want to be like THIS guy:
Ferretti, 24, works at Burger King. His fiancee, Tiffany Stilwell, 20, is unemployed.
They live in an apartment northwest of downtown Des Moines in an area that Ferretti said is less than ideal for a family.
Right now, however, it's all the family can afford.
"At numerous times I've had to go outside and break up fights," Ferretti said.
"There are people with guns and drugs, and it's not a place where you want to raise a family."
So don't. Get a better job. Get two jobs. Get an education. Quit shacking up and making babies you can't provide for.
My tax dollars are going to provide the means for people like this to continue living irresponsibly. It is only a matter of time before we're all going to collapse under the weight of immoral freeloaders standing in line for hours coveting a federal gimme.
The demand for the subsidies reflects an overwhelming need for more affordable housing in Polk County, said Pam Carmichael, executive director of Home Inc. Carmichael's group builds and renovates homes and sells them at reduced costs to low-income families.
"The need continues to grow because the rents are so out of pace with what people are making," Carmichael said.
...
Carmichael said housing advocates in the area have not made enough progress to increase decent, affordable housing in the area.
"What you'll continue to see is people living with someone else or paying more than 50 percent" of their incomes "for rent and going without other things" like food or medicine, Carmichael said.
Honey, there are consequences to all our actions. People choose to quit school or refuse to further their education... they choose to procreate indiscriminately... they choose easy jobs that pay little... and none of these choices should obligate ME in any way. Those of us who do provide for our families should reap the reward for our good choices, but instead we get punished by having our gain confiscated and redistributed to layabouts.
At the very least, I should be able to take stock of my possessions and determine for myself who deserves to be shared with. If I know someone in my church who's having a really hard time, I should be able to give to them freely AND help them be accountable for what they've received. And I do. I'd like to be able to do it more, but Congress has determined that they know better than me where my money should and shouldn't go, so they skim a substantial cut off the top of everything I work for and earn.
I'm going to cut out this photo and use it in my classroom to spur a discussion and hopefully begin the process of helping some of these guys out of that mindset before they get unleashed on society and perpetuate the cycle. I can't stand it. There is not one of my students who isn't capable of working and earning a living wage somewhere, even though they're "special ed" kids... but they're going to have to learn to make good choices.
Some days I feel so small and unequal to the task.
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