Public Housing in the Ownership Society
I'll assume for the sake of argument that "the Ownership Society" is an actual concept and not a market-tested euphemism for "we're going to privatize Social Security". Would not a reform of our public housing policy, by scrapping project-based housing altogether and using the money saved to dramatically ramp-up Section 8 vouchers, be a logical part of such a program?
It seems to me such a move would share several features with other "Ownership Society" initiatives like personal Social Security accounts and Health Savings Accounts. Administratively, it would shift the locus of government assistance from a bureaucracy to at least some degree of individual control. Intellectually, it would involve the overthrow of a since-discredited mid-century idea about sociology or economics (here that the problem with low-income housing was that it was insufficiently rationally planned). Politically, it delivers benefits to a traditionally Democratic demographic (here, the poor) in an effort to woo them, while also affording at least a psychic benefit to core GOP voters in sub- and exurbia (the demolition of those great sources of terror and lowered property values, the projects). And, for those who fell you can never overestimate the mendacity of the Bush Administration, it would be relatively easy and cost-free for the Bushies to covertly massively underfund the program.
Outside of whether it "fits" in the "Ownership Society" concept, such a move would be a good idea. The goal of our low-income housing policy ought to be to, as nearly as possible, turn low-income individuals into normal renters or homeowners. Vouchers to help them live in normal rental units as normal tenants achieves this quite a bit more effectively than placing them in state-run housing units which they can't leave without losing their subsidy, where everyone else is on government assistance, and which quickly devolve into poorly maintained havens for criminal activity.
How 'bout it, Secretary Jackson?
It seems to me such a move would share several features with other "Ownership Society" initiatives like personal Social Security accounts and Health Savings Accounts. Administratively, it would shift the locus of government assistance from a bureaucracy to at least some degree of individual control. Intellectually, it would involve the overthrow of a since-discredited mid-century idea about sociology or economics (here that the problem with low-income housing was that it was insufficiently rationally planned). Politically, it delivers benefits to a traditionally Democratic demographic (here, the poor) in an effort to woo them, while also affording at least a psychic benefit to core GOP voters in sub- and exurbia (the demolition of those great sources of terror and lowered property values, the projects). And, for those who fell you can never overestimate the mendacity of the Bush Administration, it would be relatively easy and cost-free for the Bushies to covertly massively underfund the program.
Outside of whether it "fits" in the "Ownership Society" concept, such a move would be a good idea. The goal of our low-income housing policy ought to be to, as nearly as possible, turn low-income individuals into normal renters or homeowners. Vouchers to help them live in normal rental units as normal tenants achieves this quite a bit more effectively than placing them in state-run housing units which they can't leave without losing their subsidy, where everyone else is on government assistance, and which quickly devolve into poorly maintained havens for criminal activity.
How 'bout it, Secretary Jackson?
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