Ideas About How to Fix the Economy

*Updated* (with the usual edits)

Having revisited the Obama-Biden Transition Team Change.gov Website and, viewing the video of President-elect Barack Obama laying out key parts of the economic recovery plan (here), I followed the link for sending questions or ideas about how to fix the economy (here).

After viewing the short video featured on that page, I wrote and then submitted the following thoughts, insights, comments and ideas using the online submission form:

Re: Quickly and meaningfully work to address, both during the short-term as well as over the long-term, the dire affordable housing and homelessness crisis that has long plagued this nation over the last 30 years or so

There is a dire need to address the longstanding affordable housing and homelessness crisis within our nation.

The National Housing Trust Fund might prove to be an empty promise and not enough to address the need, not only because as I understand it the program would not begin drawing down monies until around 2010 or so, but now that the funding source was dependent on a stream from Fannie Mae and Freddy Mac and those programs are in peril and have basically been taken over by the government, it remains to be seen if the funding will be there for what is required for building and growing the trust fund. Even if it were, nothing would be coming from it until at least 2012 or later on. This is not either good or soon enough to address the problems at hand, either in the short or long term.

It is crucial not to make the make[errors] of previous administrations as well as Congress and allow the problems to continue to be ignored. Nor it is enough to simply throw money at it in the manner as has been the case thus far.

What is required to address homelessness among all those in need is affordable housing. Due to the serious need and also limited resources considering everything else the government needs to address during this time of economic crisis and not being able to do everything needed, what helps most in helping people get and stay housed is affordable housing as well as offering a menu of *voluntary* supports (without string[s] attached). Homeless shelters and transitional housing are not what works best and are only poor bandaid solutions, ones which cost lots of money and only help relatively few people.

Affordable housing needs to be understood as a crucial infrastructure need within the local community, county, state and nation as important and vital as roads and bridges to the economic engine and vitality of our communities, counties, states and nation.

It is also important to keep in mind there is a dire need in rural areas as well and not just in urban areas. In fact rural areas have been seriously neglected for far too long.

Instead of going to Mars or worrying about the space station or other such boondoggles as being above the housing needs of the citizens of our nation, let us prioritize housing as a fundamental right rather than either a privilege of those who can most afford it or a limited entitlement with never enough to meet the need.

In both training and putting people back to work in building and repairing existing housing, including making such energy efficient in all regards, this will help provide both needs[ed] jobs and the housing many are in need of, including both those most in need as well as those whose incomes make it tough if not impossible to own their own or even rent an affordable residence.

With all this in mind, it might be good to also consider newer and better means of housing, including building various types of [housing] along the lines of what is termed as Katrina Cottages depending on the housing needs and family size. This sort of housing would be more energy and cost efficient, as well as take up less land, etc.

Rather than depending on the type of huge apartment or housing complexes that either the private or public housing community have long relied on, which are usually very expensive as well, housing along the lines of the Katrina Cottages in the mix would also help lend to home ownership options, particularly for those like myself who subsist on limited incomes and are section 8 housing choice voucher eligible if only there was the affordable housing to use such a voucher and could use such a voucher toward a home ownership package.

With everything else the new administration is duly focused on, please do not forget those of us in serious need of real, affordable housing opportunities sooner rather than later.

One last thought on the subject is that people who live or formerly have lived homeless are not the problem, we are part of the solution. Thus one of the things that need changing is for programs to stop doing stuff to or for us and work with us at all levels and stages, including by having those who are or formerly were living homeless to be at the table in an equal and full manner as experts as anyone else from planning to implementation whether it be at the systemic level or during the process of a person seeking help to address their needs. We often know best what works and what does not, although we are not usually use to be[ing] included in meaningful ways, except maybe merely as tokens whose opinions and input is ignored.

Thank you in advance for any consideration given to these concerns.

Sincerely,

Morgan W. Brown
Montpelier, Vermont

If you have your own questions or ideas about how to fix the economy, make sure to submit them, here or, otherwise share your vision, here or, your story, here.

For those who might wonder if it would make any difference and matter to those within the new administration who will soon be taking power, it certainly cannot hurt to try, especially while they appear to be willing to listen and learn.

In addition, it certainly will not make a difference or matter if people do not try and share their concerns, stories, questions or ideas.

It is at least a place to start from, which is better than what usually happens, since people do not typically have any chance of being asked or heard about their concerns and ideas about their own government and the building of its agenda and policies.

fyi: National Housing Trust Fund (NHTF)


*Note*: made a couple of, mostly minor, edits for the purposes of clarification and readability; posted an embedded link to an informational page regarding the National Housing Trust Fund; last updated on Sunday, January 11, 2008 at 8:09 AM [ET].