It's probably stupid to get worked up about memes on the internet, but since that's how so much information is conveyed these days--particularly on social media--I can't help but react. Today, in our (probably) never-ending series "dissect a meme," we take a look at the "homeless veterans" memes in circulation. Primarily, these are ones that take a stand suggesting that people can choose to either be outraged by the way the Trump administration is treating refugees and immigrants OR homeless veterans. You know, ones like these: http://bit.ly/2kAparf or http://bit.ly/2l92BYj or http://bit.ly/2kEDaju or http://bit.ly/2k83Jud or the variations.
The basic problem with these, is that this is not an either/or proposition. We can do both, and we can certainly "care" about both groups. Paying attention to one doesn't suggest we don't care about the other. But, since one (refugees and immigrants) recently suffered a major set back due to a change in policy, it's understandable that people might be talking about them more than the other.
My other complaint about these memes, and usually the comments that go along with them, is that the accusation is that Democrats (or liberals in general) don't care about homeless veterans, but Republicans do. Yet, it's the Republicans (and conservatives in general) who point the finger at Democrats (liberals in general) for being the party of "handouts" and "socialism." Which is it? Plus, if you look into it, you'll find that Democrats have proposed far more legislation to help homeless veterans than Republicans have.
The earliest bill to explicitly help homeless veterans is H.R. 558 "Stewart B. McKinney Homeless Assistance Act." It was introduced by Thomas S Foley, Democrat from Washington State on January 8, 1987, and it became law July 22, 1987. Here's the information about the legislation: https://www.congress.gov/bill/100th-congress/house-bill/558…
It's not until 1989 that there's a co-authored bill (with a Republican and Democrat) initiated.
And the first Republican introduced-bills, that becomes law, is introduced September 19, 1995.
Ultimately, Democrats proposed 251, Republicans 192, and Indepedents 4. This total includes bills, amendments, and resolutions. And, lest anyone think the Democrats didn't care about homeless veterans during the Obama years, Democrats proposed 120 (bills/amendments/resolutions) from 2009-2016, Republicans proposed 72, and Independents proposed 4, during that same period.
74 of the total 447 proposed (from 1987 to present) became law. 28 of those were originally proposed by Democrats, and 46 by Republicans. The most recent became law December 16, 2016. The most recent Democrat introduced-bill that became law was introduced January 3, 2013 and became law December 16, 2014.
If it is something you're interested in reading more about, and/or helping with, check out the National Coalition for Homeless Veterans (http://nchv.org/index.php/policy/) and their link with the most recent legislation regarding homeless veterans: http://nchv.org/index.php/policy/policy/active_legislation/ (5 of the 8 pieces of legislation were created by Democrats)
The National Coalition for Homeless Veterans gets good scores and is a reputable charity: https://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm…
By the way, don't get tricked and go to: http://www.americanhomelessvets.org/ (or American Homeless and Disabled Veterans--they're the same organization), because they are known for not living up to their promises: http://www.cnn.com/2012/05/07/us/veterans-charity-fraud/
If you want to sift through the bills, here's what I did: Go here: https://www.congress.gov/, select "all legislation" and search for whatever terms you want. I did "homeless veterans" (with the quotation marks). Then I sorted by "date of introduction - oldest to newest". (Admittedly, there might a bill/amendment/resolution that indirectly assisted homeless veterans, and I might have missed that. If so, please do point it out.)
Finally, here is a rather snarky--but not inaccurate--webpage outlining ways that Republicans have not been the "savior" of veterans as they like to claim they are: http://usuncut.com/…/happy-veterans-day-5-times-republican…/
One final, final point that I'm not sure exactly how to make (because I don't want to diminish the sacrifice veterans made), but in terms of simple numbers: there are ~30-50k homeless veterans and ~780k refugees (since 2001), and millions of immigrants in the United States. So, based on sheer numbers, the homeless veterans "problem" affects fewer people than that of refugees and immigrants. Of course you could make an argument about duty and responsibility to people who served... but, still, the sheer scope of these issues makes them anything but an either/or proposition.
[Please do feel free to share and distribute however you want.]
0 comments:
Post a Comment