In a rather crowded field of declared GOP candidates for President, Ramaswamy’s dark horse run has focused on ideas and policies. His latest focuses on the scourge of homelessness, the real root causes and the reality facing any policy to solve it.

If a sink is overflowing, you don’t run for a mop, you turn the faucet off first. (snip)

The first step is to stop incentivizing people to do the very things we don’t want them to do. If we want people to work, then stop paying them not to work. If we want people to be clean and sober, then stop handing out needles and crack pipes. Enabling destructive behavior is not compassionate. (snip)

This is insanity. Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting something other than citizens transforming into tranq-doped zombies right before our eyes or playing hopscotch over used needles to avoid getting stuck, or watching people sweep the sidewalk in front of tent camps under the deafening and disorienting sound of SEPTA trains overhead is the very definition of insanity. The people I met in Kensington (PA) deserve better.

Ramaswamy goes on to talk about drug cartels and the de facto open southern border that makes for unfettered drug trafficking. However, his talk about addiction, choice and principles is offered without apology or hedged in any way. It’s clear, it’s right and, if the Left Media complex finally decide to stop embargoing coverage of his campaign, that’s where they’ll attack him. For the regressive Left, the homeless are never ever responsible for the choices they made, or the behaviors they engage in, that put them on the streets.

If this seems a little deja vu for you, recall that this was the main focus of Michael Shellenberger’s run for Governor of California. He pulled no punches, either.

Running as an independent, former San Francisco progressive Shellenberger was actually able to reach 3rd in the CA’s jungle primary. His no-nonsense message resonated, even as proregressives sneered.

Ramaswamy is running a similar campaign, unafraid of the brickbats from stage-left.

The anti-woke candidate has a lot of ideas for America. Raising the voting age, declaring independence from communist China, shutting down toxic government agencies (Department of Education, FBI, IRS), abandoning the climate cult, and supporting term limits, to name a few.

Homelessness is not about a family or single parent suffering from catastrophic events that puts them in car, RV or motel. While it occurs, these are the short-term homeless (under one year) who benefit from private or public services to connect them with employment opportunities and permanent housing. They are a very small percentage of the long-term homeless population. The vast majority of those are the mentally ill and/or drug addicted. As Ramaswamy points out, there is no compassion in leaving them on the street, under a bridge or along a riverbank, regardless of what new euphemism — e.g. “unhomed” — regressives pull out of their nether region.

One of the most successful drug rehab programs over the decades has been NA/AA. And it starts with the individual consciously making the choice to deal with their addiction. No free booze, needles, or “free” apartment will help them if they don’t first help themselves.

But homelessness is big business for grifters and graft and that’s why regressives cover up their greed with sanctimonious pleas to compassion.

More than five years after Mayor Eric Garcetti and other public officials celebrated victory, only 1,142 units have been completed, homelessness is on the rise, only about 8,000 of the promised 10,000 units are on the books, and the cost per unit of new housing keeps soaring, as do developer complaints about beastly permitting and inspection delays.(snip)

The average per-unit cost of projects under construction — originally estimated at $375,000 — went from $531,000 in 2020 to just shy of $600,000 last year.

It isn’t just Los Angeles, the graftastic pork schemes revolving around the unhomed can be found wherever the government is one-party Democrat.

And if nothing else will shake up the Left media about Ramaswamy, it will be the threat he poses to their fat bank accounts.

Keep an eye on this idea man. He is well worth listening to.

feature image, cropped Cage Skidmore/Flickr/CC by-SA 2.0