Those Mean Conservatives

Remember when lefties accused President Bush of declaring war on America's poor? Well, since taking office, the Administration "has awarded more than $9 billion to support local housing and service programs that are making a powerful and positive difference in the lives of thousands of homeless Americans." And this week, the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) released the annual "housing for the poor" scorecard:

For the first time ever, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development is reporting a nearly 12 percent decrease in the number of chronically homeless persons living on the nation's streets. HUD's analysis found that more than 20,000 persons moved from the streets into transitional and permanent supportive housing between 2005 and 2006.

According to data from 3,900 cities and counties across the country, HUD found that more than 1,500 communities reported a reduction in the number of long-term homeless persons over a one-year period. HUD's analysis indicates there were 155,623 chronically homeless individuals in 2006, down from 175,914 from the year before - an 11.5 percent decrease.

"While we have a lot of work ahead of us to eliminate chronic homelessness in America, these numbers show remarkable progress is being made," said HUD Secretary Alphonso Jackson. "HUD and local communities are increasingly providing permanent housing solutions and breaking a vicious cycle of homelessness for those who have lived on the streets as a way of life."

The reduction in the number of chronically homeless persons can be directly attributed to the investment HUD and local "continuums of care" are devoting to create more permanent supportive housing units. In addition, better data collection and reporting methods are giving local communities a more accurate sense of the scope of homelessness in their own areas.

Some war--as Bush intended, the poor are winning.