Slog - Comments on Homeless and Homeless Advocates Crowd Capitol Building

Comment by the fuck

the fuck — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 12:12:22 -0800

I don't get it, are they trying to look like communists?

Comment by J.R.

J.R. — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 12:18:49 -0800

"Demanding to meet their representatives, who are sequestered in chambers (i.e. doing their jobs)." Yeah, that'll work. That money from Olympia will just come rolling in.

Comment by joykiller

joykiller — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 12:53:27 -0800

Maybe they'd have more income if they spent their days doing something other than playing dress-up.

Comment by Trevor

Trevor — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 13:24:39 -0800

Right on. These new anti-homeless laws are outrageous and must be stopped. And what's with saying we might not have enough money for the housing trust fund while proposing a $75 million tax break to Microsoft?

Comment by joykiller

joykiller — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 13:32:26 -0800

@4, a tax break is foregone revenue, not a cash gift. If the state doesn't provide MSFT the break, it may not put the server farms in Washington anyway, which would have the same effect as far as the state's revenue picture is concerned.

Comment by Ben

Ben — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 08:36:42 -0800

As an organizer of the event, it was awesome to see 450 people take time out of their day to come down to Olympia and tell lawmakers to make housing & homelessness a priority.

Have to say, attitudes like Joykiller's are exactly what we are trying to combat. This silly notion that in a state where 250,000 families have to choose between food and rent that somehow the family is to blame, not the system.

Thanks for covering this Josh.

Comment by Murgen

Murgen — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 09:21:36 -0800

What a great event -- as someone who works at the Capitol, I'd like to thank those who brought the real people down to the people's house to remind their elected representatives who it is that they are working for, and why.

Watching the hired gun business lobbyists looking irritated and harried scurrying around the masses of low-income folks was priceless . . .

Comment by Sally

Sally — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 11:36:40 -0800

Good story, except one comment is incorrect: Those who wore the red jackets were not all low-income. This was not a huge group of poor people; this was a huge group of people of all different economic strata, from poor to high-income. What can be accurately said is that they were people who CARE about their neighbors, their kids, their friends. This is not a poor peoples' issue; it's EVERYONE's issue.

Comment by Marie Antionette

Marie Antionette — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 14:11:26 -0800

I don't remember Mao wearing a red poncho about housing, but clearly 450 people trekking to Olympia demanding affordable housing means we have a real crisis in this state that needs attention and resources.