Where Did All the Homeless Go?

One lesson that was taught to me as a child, out of many lessons, was the axiom: “If you can’t say anything nice, don’t say anything at all.” Usually this admonishment came after I called one of my brethren “stupid” or something similar. Never mind that they may have been teasing me with similar comments.

Although I learned the words to the lesson and tried my best to apply this thought, there were still mistakes made along the way. In an ideal setting, I would not talk ill of anyone. However, life doesn’t work that way. Therefore, sometimes I have said things from time to time that I regret.

This brings me to the topic of Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney. I have never met the Governor. I have heard a few of his speeches and listened to an interview on C-SPAN. I cannot say I like him or do not like him.

Recently, I wrote about Governor Romney is a post entitled “Hurtful Things”. In this article I fell back into a familiar pattern of praising and then damning. Rereading the article, I notice that I didn’t call him names or even specifically show disrespect.

What I did do was ask some pointed questions. I stand by those questions. I believe that what I wrote was an important statement about fostering hatred in today’s society. The Governor, much more eloquently than I, follows some of my same patterns and practices.

Today, I am not going to directly criticize the Governor, but I do have a few more questions.

In a speech given this past February in the state of Michigan, the Governor told a story about the early days of his tenure in Massachusetts. It is a great story about how the state was spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on hotel rooms. Roughly 600 rooms a night were being spent by the state on hotel rooms for the homeless.

He explains that the previous administration had a policy that if the shelters were full, that anyone who needed a place to stay would not be turned away. A hotel room would be purchased on their behalf. This is a good thing. The homeless problem was being addressed.

Governor Romney made a change to the policy. Instead of the last people coming to the shelters getting a room, the people who arrived at the shelters first would be moved from the shelters to a hotel room and the latecomers would take their place at the shelter.

The Governor is proud that with that little change, no more hotel rooms were rented. After sending the first comers to the hotel rooms and keeping the latecomers in the shelter, there were fewer people looking for beds at the shelters. He saved the state a lot of money by making a simple procedural change.

Now I think that is a brilliant move. (See, here’s my old pattern kicking in.) The Governor saved the state money that could be used on other projects, etc. He certainly proved that he is a good thinking, conservative politician.

Still, I have one question. (Watch how I switch now.) What happened to the 600 homeless people? I assume they stayed somewhere. Where did they go?

According to the Governor, Massachusetts was spending money on 600 hotel rooms a night for months and years and he swept in and saved the state a lot of money. Still, I think there were 600 people who had to go somewhere.

Here are my guesses: 1) They are living in refrigerator boxes on the streets of Massachusetts; 2) They went to Connecticut; 3) They went to New Jersey; 4) They went to New York; 5) They weren’t really homeless but a) college students who were too drunk or too embarrassed to go home; b) spouses who were too drunk or too embarrassed to go home; c) friends of hotel managers.

In the blog I posted earlier (Hurtful Things) I asked some questions about his stance on same sex marriage. The Governor’s position still puzzles me.

I will quote from the speech again: “The ideal setting for a child is where there’s a mom and a dad.” I can agree with that statement and still support same sex marriage. How?

I can make statements that I fully believe in. “The ideal setting for our government is one where it can support itself without further taxes on its citizens.” However, life doesn’t work that way. As an adult I realize that taxes are necessary to fund programs to assist citizens in our country. Therefore, although I don’t like them, taxes are necessary.

“The ideal setting for a home life is one where we do not need to purchase guns to defend ourselves.” However, life doesn’t work that way. Some people live a lifestyle where they feel guns are necessary to protect and defend, and in some cases, live off the land. Therefore, although I don’t like guns, they should still be available for sale.

“The ideal setting for a baseball season is one where the Chicago Cubs win each year.” However, life doesn’t work that way. If the Cubs won every year it would be boring. (Still, they could at least win once.) Therefore, the current system of playing 162 games to determine a winner should remain in place.

“The ideal setting for the world is where there is no war for any reason.” However, life doesn’t work that way. I have no “Therefore” for this one. I don’t have one for capital punishment or drug abuse either.

“The ideal setting for a child is one where there is a mom and dad.” However, life doesn’t work that way. Therefore, we have to hope for the best parents for the child. Sometimes mom and dad are not the best option for some children. Sometimes the best parent is a single parent. Sometimes that can be parents of the same sex. It certainly is better than no parents at all.

With the Presidential election on the horizon and the Governor being an obvious candidate, I think I need an answer to these questions before I could seriously consider supporting him. Ideally, he would explain where the homeless went. However, life doesn’t work that way. Therefore, this is the last I have to say regarding Governor Mitt Romney. After all, if I can’t say something nice, I shouldn’t say anything.

Still, I will be listening. Maybe he will have an answer.