MedWorm provides a medical RSS filtering service. Over 6000 RSS medical sources are combined and output via different filters. This feed contains the latest medical blog items that have been tagged with 'affordable housing'. Sat, 03 Sep 2011 02:42:03 +0100 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4841440&cid=t_215541_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FtYpomVeivos%2F By Tad DeHavenA year-long investigation by the Washington Post into the Department of Housing & Urban Development’s HOME affordable housing program uncovered systemic waste, fraud, and abuse. The tale is yet another example of why the federal government should extricate itself from housing policy and allow the states to chart their own course. The piece is lengthy and should be read by interested readers in its entirety, so I’ll just excerpt the Post’s findings: Local housing agencies have doled out millions to troubled developers, including novice builders, fledgling nonprofits and groups accused of fraud or delivering shoddy work. Checks were cut even when projects were still on the drawing boards, without land, financing or permits to move forward. In at least 55 cases, dev... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4841440 Tue, 17 May 2011 18:07:26 +0100 4841440 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3671668&cid=t_215541_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2Fx6Jjj5XVZWU%2F By David BoazThe state of Maryland wants more people to have affordable housing — at least if they’ve already got it. Concerned that the owners of mobile home parks might sell the land for other uses, “affordable housing advocates” succesfully lobbied Maryland legislators this year for legislation that, they say, discourages owners of mobile-home parks from selling their properties. If the landowner does sell, it provides the homeowner with some protection. Under the law, which was passed earlier this year, a mobile-home park owner who wants to sell and change land use must give written notification to the residents and provide displaced homeowners with a relocation plan and relocation assistance that equals 10 months’ worth of rent. The legislation applies to... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3671668 Thu, 17 Jun 2010 18:42:51 +0100 3671668 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3671670&cid=t_215541_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FEMC2kCMdGQs%2F By Tad DeHavenIn a recent speech to real estate interests, former Clinton HUD secretary Henry Cisneros preposterously claimed that the recent housing meltdown “occurred not out of a governmental push, but out of a hijacking of the homeownership process by some unscrupulous interests.” The only criticisms Cisneros could muster for the government’s housing policies over the past 20 years were that regulations weren’t tough enough and it should have focused more on rental subsidies. The reality is that Cisneros-era HUD regulations and policies directly contributed to the housing bubble and subsequent burst as a Cato essay on HUD scandals illustrates: Cisneros’s HUD pursued legal action against mortgage lenders who supposedly declined higher percentages of loans for minorities than ... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3671670 Thu, 17 Jun 2010 17:50:21 +0100 3671670 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3556070&cid=t_215541_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2F0rRaylTbIcQ%2F By Walter OlsonCalifornia just adopted effective next year a requirement that all new one- and two-family dwellings include indoor sprinkler systems. Other states are debating similar mandates, spurred by changes to national building code standards. Earlier legal mandates have required the inclusion of smoke alarms and carbon monoxide alarms, but the cost of those devices is relatively minor, whereas full-blown sprinkler systems add measurably to the cost of a new home, as well as posing challenges in such areas as maintenance, aesthetics, and risk of property damage through accidental activation. It will surprise not a single reader of these columns, I suspect, to learn that the fire sprinkler industry has been a major force in pushing the new mandate. As for the opposition, home builders... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3556070 Wed, 12 May 2010 14:29:47 +0100 3556070 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3546843&cid=t_215541_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FKsX_kk5f6ss%2F By David BoazBack in 1996 George Liebmann wrote in Regulation about how “Zoning makes it more difficult to keep aged parents close by and care for them.” He recommended that “Duplex homes and accessory apartments should be permitted in all new residential construction. Housing options such as these allow elderly persons to live near their adult children without intruding on their children’s privacy.” (“Modernization of Zoning,” pp. 71, 75) Now the Washington Post reports The Rev. Kenneth Dupin, who leads a small Methodist church [in Salem, Virginia], has a vision: As America grows older, its aging adults could avoid a jarring move to the nursing home by living in small, specially equipped, temporary shelters close to relatives.So he invented the ME... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3546843 Sat, 08 May 2010 17:53:43 +0100 3546843 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3533824&cid=t_215541_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2F349QB7oDbkg%2F By Tad DeHavenOne of the justifications members of Congress offer for earmarking is that the Constitution gives the legislative branch the “power of the purse.” Congressional earmarkers often denigrate the executive branch’s inability to effectively allocate funds. But just because the federal bureaucracy does an abysmal job of spending taxpayer money, it doesn’t mean lawmakers would do any better. The following example out of Florida illustrates why lawmakers are just as likely as bureaucrats to misspend taxpayer money. According to the St. Petersburg Times, a developer who has never had a successful project was able to convince four members of Florida’s congressional delegation into supporting a $500,000 earmark for a Tampa affordable housing project. The developer had already ... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3533824 Tue, 04 May 2010 16:09:36 +0100 3533824 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3490617&cid=t_215541_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FMzVJcCMSmrk%2F By Tad DeHavenPeter Wallison calls attention to President Obama’s amnesia regarding events that precipitated Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac’s collapse. Writing in the Wall Street Journal, Wallison points out that in 2005 then-Senator Obama joined with his Democratic colleagues in stopping legislation that would have helped rein in the government-sponsored housing duo’s risky behavior: The bill would have established a new regulator for Fannie and Freddie and given it authority to ensure that they maintained adequate capital, properly managed their interest rate risk, had adequate liquidity and reserves, and controlled their asset and investment portfolio growth. These authorities were necessary to control the GSEs’ risk-taking, but opposition by Fannie and Freddie—then the most p... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3490617 Wed, 21 Apr 2010 12:51:32 +0100 3490617 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3316124&cid=t_215541_109_f&fid=34750&url=http%3A%2F%2Fpsychcentral.com%2Fblog%2Farchives%2F2010%2F02%2F27%2Fbon-jovi-rocks-for-the-homeless%2F My wife is a big fan of Bon Jovi, so when I read this article about Bon Jovi’s fact-finding efforts to help better understand homelessness in order to help it through his foundation, I couldn’t help but blog about it. If you didn’t know, a significant portion of homeless persons have a mental disorder, such as depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder, or schizophrenia. It’s hard to know for certain, but research suggests that approximately 2 out of 5 homeless people have a mental health issue. Bon Jovi wants his foundation to do more to help the homeless: That’s because this tour in support of Bon Jovi’s latest release, “The Circle,” is also a fact-finding mission. The singer plans on visiting as many homeless shelters and programs as time allow... World of Psychology blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3316124 Sat, 27 Feb 2010 18:00:01 +0100 3316124 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3290796&cid=t_215541_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FSvNOqGq_Sxs%2F By Mark A. CalabriaToday in Las Vegas, President Obama will take another $1.5 billion in taxpayer money and let it ride another spin on the roulette wheel otherwise known as foreclosure assistance.  This time, however, he’s not even bothering to send the money to homeowners; its all going to state governments.   That’s correct, he’s sending a huge check to select state governments to use in almost any manner they choose, as long as it offers some pretense at propping up the housing market.   The assistance will be targeted at those states that have seen at least a 20% decline in home prices.  Subsidizing states because their housing markets are getting more affordable almost makes one yearn for the days when we subsidized states because their housing markets ... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3290796 Fri, 19 Feb 2010 20:18:29 +0100 3290796 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2912264&cid=t_215541_109_f&fid=34859&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.dare-to-dream.us%2Farchives%2F2009%2F10%2Fbarriers_behaviors_subcultures_and_the_homeless_po.php I really enjoy reading the blog Kellevision.com. She says it like it is and seldom misses the point of what she's writing about. She identifies a problem in programming for homelessness and proposes a set of concepts to help clarify the situation. Image via Wikipedia Many of the "barriers" faced by the chronically homeless are not external. They are self-inflicted. Repeatedly failing to pay one's utility bills is not a barrier. It is a behavior. Repeatedly getting into relationships with drug addicts and being evicted because you have allowed your new girlfriend to turn your affordable housing into a crack house is not a barrier. It is a behavior. Choosing to pay your boyfriend's bail instead of the rent is not a barrier, it is a behavior. Consistently refusing to hold down steady employm... Ψ Dare To Dream... blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2912264 Wed, 21 Oct 2009 15:12:07 +0100 2912264 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2005919&cid=t_215541_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2FIlrs31XXXc4%2F Housing for disabled adults in New Jersey. The current economic crisis, and its effect on the housing market. This post is about both of those topics. Don’t stop reading—this is an upbeat post, despite the subject matter. Certainly one wishes that the question of housing for disabled adults weren’t the sort of topic that is accompanied by words like “worries” and “depressing.” But it very much is, right now. In New Jersey, where we live, the waiting list of developmentally disabled adults wishing to move into government-supported community housing has over 8000 people on it. Last week’s report that 28-year-old Tara O’Leary died of starvation after being removed from a group home run by New Jersey’s Department of Developmental Dis... Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2005919 Mon, 01 Dec 2008 17:30:36 +0100 2005919