'Unfathomable' Budget Cuts Deepen the Housing Crisis

According to author Patrick Markee writing for The Nation, "Indeed, in the midst of rising homelessness, rampant joblessness and the lingering foreclosure crisis, Congress recently slashed the federal housing agency's
 budget by $3.8 billion."

"The federal housing agency's annual assessment finds that 'worst-case housing needs' grew by 42 percent from 2001 to 2009, and nationwide there is a shortfall of nearly 3.5 million housing units for the poorest households... Another way you can find tangible evidence of the housing affordability crunch is by visiting one of New York City's exploding number of homeless shelters, where a record 41,000 homeless people bed down each night, including more than 17,000 children."

Availability of affordable housing, including rentals and government managed units have decreased over the past ten years and continue to shrink even more, according to Harvard University's Joint Center for Housing Studies.

Thanks to Cathie Pagano