Another class warfare run

This is yet another frustrating demonstration of class warfare in suburban Cincinnati - but sadly, it's not atypical locally or nationally.

In Springfield Township, officials are trying to halt what they call a "gravy train" of publicly assisted housing. They complain that such housing has saturated their suburban township, and that the amount of publicly assisted housing is "an excess."

Yet this housing composes only (get this) 5% of all the housing stock in Springfield Township.

Five percent is saturation and "an excess"?

Considering the poverty rate in Hamilton County is close to 15% (or probably much higher), I'd call the 5% housing statistic a shortage, not "an excess." Still, 5% of housing being publicly assisted is far more than most Cincinnati suburbs - many of which have become no-go zones for poor and working-class people.

Township officials remain undeterred! They complain that housing for low-income people causes existing property values to decline. Well, township officials should be lucky they have property to worry about the value of. The working poor who are about to be driven out don't.

Are the suburbs not part of American society? In a society, communities share burdens. We can't tell central cities or poor rural counties to keep shouldering all of society's expenses. It's bad from a fairness perspective - and it has blunted interest in central cities, deprived them of economic improvements that would benefit residents, and fostered hopelessness.

The result of official efforts to keep out low-income housing? More "soak-the-poor" policies that are passed off as some great reforms.

And more naked hatred against the working poor. This story has prompted class-baiting right-wing comments on local news websites. One right-wing commenter said, "I work hard to pay for my home and I don't want people who can't afford the market rate living in my neighborhood. If you're poor you should not enjoy the same quality of housing of those of us who work and can afford our homes in the neighborhoods we choose."

Hey smartass, the working poor are called the working poor for a reason.

Should America fix some of its policies regarding publicly funded housing? Surely. But does any community have a right to drive out low-income residents? Absolutely not.

(Source: http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20090224/NEWS0108/902240351/1055/NEWS)