I heartily thank the 23 legislators who have rebelled against the budget and its inhumanity with the motel voucher program. Who knows what the real reasons for this cruelty are, but that it is “too expensive,” according to what our political leaders have been saying about it in public, has a hollow-sounding echo to it.
No matter what the motive behind it is, this sudden termination of the motel voucher program displays a breathtaking lack of empathy. Our needless housing tragedy is not a natural calamity visited upon us by an act of God (whoever he or she is), like Hurricane Irene, but is a cruelty of our own making. It is American capitalism at work, a brutal tyranny of what we call the marketplace, then blame the victims for their suffering rather than the perpetrators of it.
Any one of us, from the governor down to the janitor who cleans his office, could become homeless at any time. All it takes is one disaster like a sickness. If it were not for public housing, where I live now, I might also be one of those being tossed back onto the streets by this budget.
This taxpayer and voter applauds the courage of these 23 legislators. I’m certain that other lawmakers also feel the same way, but have not joined them for whatever reason. Maybe it is finally time to follow these rebellious legislators and at last start prioritizing humanity over costs.
Walter Carpenter
Montpelier