I’ll be home for Christmas
You can count on me
Please have snow and mistletoe
And presents on the tree.

Sounds nice, doesn’t it?  The lyrics don’t work so well if you don’t have a home though.

And, apparently in California the lyrics don’t work so well.  New statistics released by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development showed that California’s 16.4% increase in homeless was “entirely” responsible for the nation’s overall increase of 2.7% by early 2019.

So if the nation’s homeless population increased by 2.7% and Cali increased by 16.4%, and that was “entirely” responsible for the increase, that means either less people were homeless in all of the other states, or they all moved to California.

Which one was it?  If 49 states found a way to reduce the national embarrassment, how did they do it?  Perhaps it was more drug addition, alcohol addiction, or mental health treatment?  With the national unemployment near zero, did some find permanent work, and by extension housing?  Or, did the nation’s homeless catch a ride to the left side of the continent?  If so, why?  Is it because California is more tolerant and accommodative?

These aren’t easy questions to ask, and the answers might be much more complex than meets the eye.  But, isn’t it time, actually past time, that we asked the tough questions? As a nation are we willing to accept the tough answers and get after fixing the problem rather than passing it by under a tent under an overpass?

California Governor Gavin Newsom thinks so.    He said earlier this week, “It is an embarrassment, it is unacceptable. And we’ve got to own it, we’ve got to own up and solve it.”  How?  Newsom and other Democrats in California insist the solution is more federal money for housing.  Donald J. Trump disagrees. He tweeted, “Governor Gavin N has done a really bad job on taking care of the homeless population in California. If he can’t fix the problem, the Federal Govt. will get involved!”

We wonder if giving(throwing money at) housing to those without a house helps anything long term.  You’ve heard of “give a man a fish and he eats for a day, but teach him how to fish and he can feed himself for a lifetime,” haven’t you?  Is the problem not having a home? Or, is the problem not doing enough good in society to be paid in kind for it and then renting or buying a place to live?

For a person homelessness should be a short term problem.  Society should look for a long term solution.  Gavin Newsom needs to lead the charge for change in how this is addressed, not lead the cry for national cash to address it.

You don’t get to tell the federal government to stay out of your sanctuary cities, but come build your homeless a city.  Trump won’t carry California in 2020.  There is not a chance.  But he might have to step in to solve it’s problem for it’s downtrodden to have a chance.