June 12 , 2000 Poverty in America: Turning the Tables BY NEIL DEMAUSE Welfare reform face a time limit of its own. Allied Forces BY TED KLEINE The National Campaign for Jobs and Income Support Poverty in a Gilded Age BY ANNETTE FUENTES An interview with Frances Fox Piven. Out of Sight BY KARI LYDERSEN In many cities, being homeless is against the law. Leave the Kids Alone BY MIKE MALES Poverty is the real problem The Union Difference BY DAVID MOBERG Down and Out on Polk Street PHOTOGRAPHS BY KEVIN WEINSTEIN Other Features: Star Wars: Episode Two BYJEFFERY ST. CLAIR The Pentagon's latest missile defense fantasy. "This Is Not Life. This Is Prison" BY RICHARD MERTENS Kosovo one year after the NATO bombing. Bosnian Serbs Still Look to Belgrade BY PAUL HOCKENOS News & Views Editorial BY JOEL BLEIFUSS Memo to third parties: Face Reality. Appall-O-Meter BY DAVID FUTRELLE A Terry Laban Cartoon Marching On BY DAVE LINDORFF Unity 2000 plans to disrupt this summer's GOP convention The Other Side of the Street BY KIM PHILLIPS-FEIN Food workers target Goldman Sachs Going to Waste BY ERIC WELTMAN Health Care Without Harm cleans up toxic hospitals Profile BY KARI LYDERSEN Flour Power Forgotten America BY Juan Gonzalez Bombs Away Culture Ancient Daze BY JOSHUA ROTHKOPF FILM: Ridley Scott's Gladiator A Class by Itself BY BILL BOISVERT BOOKS: David Brooks' Bobos in Paradise A Different Point of View BY PAT AUFDERHEIDE TV: P.O.V. on PBS

Out of Sight In many cities, being homeless is against the law By Kari Lydersen When the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) released an intensive, three-year study on homelessness in December, it proved what the homeless themselves have long known: Homelessness will continue to plague this country as long as cities fail to provide adequate shelter and social services. Unable to pay rent on the meager wages he earns as a day laborer, Larry Barnes spends his nights on the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority's Route 22 bus. The only bus in the county that offers 24-hour service, No. 22 is a warm place for many homeless people. Credit: Paul Myers/Impact Visuals The study, which involved the efforts of 12 federal agencies and thousands of interviews, showed that approximately 2 million people are homeless at some point during any given year, a third of whom had slept on the street or in some other public place within the last week. Families are the fastest-growing segment of the homeless population, and more working people are becoming homeless because of rising housing costs and a lack of living-wage jobs. Two-thirds of the homeless suffer from chronic or infectious diseases, and 39 percent are mentally ill. HUD offered one positive spin on the information: When the homeless do hook up with social service organizations offering drug and alcohol treatment and job counseling, a large percentage succeed in finding permanent housing. "Homeless people are locked out of America's prosperity, but we have the key that can let them in," HUD Secretary Andrew Cuomo said. "Assistance programs can replace the nightmare of homelessness with the American dream of a better future." The "key" to helping the homeless rests in the hands of city governments. But instead of looking for real solutions, politicians all over the country are more concerned with maintaining an image of prosperity. Playing down the homeless problem means finding new ways to "clean up" the homeless, whether by police action or through more subtle maneuvers. New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani has become infamous for his overzealous prosecution of "quality-of-life" violations, ranging from jay-walking to public drinking. Even tourists and wealthy residents have been arrested in the crackdown, but it is the homeless who bear the brunt of Giuliani's law-and-order mentality. In November, he threatened to arrest anyone sleeping in the street, saying "Streets do not exist in civilized societies for the purpose of people sleeping there. Bedrooms are for sleeping."     TOP HOME SUBSCRIBE MAIL   In These Times © 2000 Vol. 24, No. 14