California criminalizes homeless

It's hard to say what aspect of this story is more shocking.

Is it that people who were once thought to be reasonably secure are now becoming homeless (which I knew was happening anyway)?

Or is it the fact that people who make more than minimum wage still can't afford a small apartment?

Or is it that the state of California has criminalized the homeless by making it illegal for people to sleep in their own cars?

When did that law pass? I don't remember ever hearing of such a law anywhere. I don't think it's the law in Kentucky or Ohio, because I know that plenty of people in my area have to do it.

A better question is, why is so little being done to keep people from staying homeless? The good news is that an organization in Santa Barbara tries to find housing solutions for the newly homeless. But various levels of government have done so much more to punish the homeless than to prevent homelessness that it almost makes you keck.

If the country was run by people who had half a brain, we could probably cut homelessness by 80% in 6 months. We can start by constructing housing that people can afford, instead of more subdivisions full of million-dollar fall-apart mansions.

(And yes, the obligatory victim-blaming by the right-wing thought police in the wingnutosphere has already occurred.)

(Source: http://www.cnn.com/2008/LIVING/wayoflife/05/19/homeless.mom)