Trump has repeatedly selected someone to run major government agencies who opposes the core mission of the agency.
Robert Kennedy Jr., for example, is opposed to routine public health measures.
Trump did it again. He chose a far-right critic of any government assistance to the poor to run the Department of Housing and Urban Decelopment.
As Donald Trump’s nominee to run the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Scott Turner may soon oversee the nation’s efforts to build affordable apartments, protect poor tenants and aid the homeless. As a lawmaker in the Texas House of Representatives, Turner voted against those very initiatives.
Turner supported a bill ensuring landlords could refuse apartments to applicants because they received federal housing assistance. He opposed a bill to expand affordable rental housing. He voted against funding public-private partnerships to support the homeless and against two bills that called merely to study homelessness among young people and veterans.
Behind those votes lay a deep-seated skepticism about the value of government efforts to alleviate poverty, a skepticism that Turner has voiced again and again. He has called welfare “dangerous, harmful” and “one of the most destructive things for the family.” When one interviewer said receiving government assistance was keeping recipients in “bondage” of “a worse form to find oneself in than slavery,” Turner agreed.
Such views would seemingly place Turner at odds with the core work of HUD, a sprawling federal agency that serves as a backstop against homelessness for millions of the nation’s poor, elderly and disabled. With an annual discretionary budget of $72 billion, the department provides rental assistance to 2 million families, oversees the country’s 800,000 public housing units, fights housing discrimination and segregation and provides support to the nation’s 650,000 homeless. If Turner’s record indicates how he will direct the agency’s agenda, it is those clinging to the bottom of the housing market who have the most to lose, researchers and advocates said.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
I spoke to a Russian immigrant recently who cited why many Russians actually support Putin. Street crime is very low; you can walk the streets at all hours and not be in any danger no matter where. There is food in the market and no one needs to live on the streets. No one but the oligarchs are getting rich, but no one is dying from lack of medical care. Trump doesn’t even plan to take care of basic needs; he just wants to be an oligarch.
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tRump doesn’t even plan to take care of seniors, many of whom have no one to help them financially, so they must rely on publicly funded senior housing or become homeless.
Even the charity in my area will only help seniors for a certain length of time and then expects them to move on and go live in publicly funded senior housing. This is truly awful for aging people who’d like to be able to stay in their own place –which is usually just a rented apartment but nevertheless it’s the home they know and where they would prefer to spend their last days.
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It’s also vital government funded programs that seniors rely on to be able to stay in their homes, such as Meals on Wheels for food and Homemaker services for help with cleaning etc.
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We’re going to lose a lot of people over the next four years.
Permanently.
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I was required by a charity to sign up for publicly funded senior housing (which are in such demand in my area that they don’t even have waiting lists, you have to apply just to get notified when you’ll be able to get on the waiting lists). I discovered then that HUD also has homes specifically for Veterans, so Vets are at risk, too.
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Friend, every living being is at risk. And I don’t limit that statement to the United States.
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Yes, I fully agree. With this POTUS & his administrative picks, the entire planet is severely at risk.
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If you’ve read much Michael Connelly, you know his protagonist Harry Bosch, an L.A. homicide detective.
Bosch’s approach to police work is “Everybody matters. Everybody.”
I treasure that philosophy. In my career as a prosecutor, I came into contact with many, many desperately poor people. “Everybody matters” was foremost in my approach to my work.
It still is.
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You can’t get Medicare Part C?
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Thanks, but that’s Medicare Advantage, which is not free, I can’t afford, and has a terrible reputation for marketing schemes that defraud seniors, so I’ve been avoiding it for years.
Then, not long ago, when my state created a program that combined Medicare & Medicaid services, without requesting Medicare Advantage, I got signed up for it and it took an arm and a leg for me to get out of it! I had told them numerous times, “I don’t want Medicare Advantage!” but they still gave it to me and they insisted that I HAD to have it because it’s a requirement that I have coverage for medications. Fortunately at the time, I was getting free meds from a charity & told them so, which is the only reason why they finally let me out of it. I do not believe my state really has a law that requires prescription coverage. See recent scam alert here: https://www.thestreet.com/retirement-daily/social-security-medicare/medicare-advantage-marketing-schemes-how-enrollees-are-being-misled
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I have it in Colorado. My dental bills are covered. Additionally, with regard to Medicare Advantage, my prescriptions are mostly covered (haven’t paid anything additional yet), and my OTC stuff is also covered.
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Sorry, a direct link to the fraud alert can be seen here: https://oig.hhs.gov/documents/special-fraud-alerts/10092/Special%20Fraud%20Alert:%20Suspect%20Payments%20in%20Marketing%20Arrangements%20Related%20to%20Medicare%20Advantage%20and%20P.pdf
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Here’s an article which describes some heart-wrenching issues involving seniors with Medicare who signed up for Medicare Advantage: https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2024/01/03/1222561870/older-americans-say-they-feel-trapped-in-medicare-advantage-plans
Fortunately, the situations described in the article above do not really apply to me. That’s because someone that works for the charity which has been helping me for years referred me to charitable doctors who will not charge me more than what Medicare and Medicaid will pay, AND because I never signed up for Medicare Advantage.
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Thanks, I’ll read it.
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I could still get free meds (including OTC meds that are prescribed) from the wonderful charity that’s been helping me. I decided to stop getting free meds there because I know they’re cash strapped now. Also, it was more important to me that they continue to help pay the amount they agreed to pay towards my rent, because rent keeps going up by large amounts and my roommate and I could never afford to cover it all ourselves.
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jsrtheta, You are very fortunate to have had positive experiences and I’m very glad for you!!!
Maybe there’s some hit or miss involved for Medicare Advantage recipients. I’m pretty sure they were trying to scam me into believing that I was required to get prescription coverage. (I had thought I was talking to someone who worked for my state but the call got passed around and now I highly doubt that.)
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I haven’t paid for a doctor or prescription since I went with United Healthcare. United has come in for a lot of criticism lately. I am not about to judge the veracity of people’s complaints: I have no reason to question their validity.
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jsrtheta, I’ve read about the United Health Care complaints, so it’s wonderful that’s been working out so well for you!
My circumstances differ greatly though. Due to my poverty level Social Security Retirement Income (SSRI), when I became 65, I qualified for QMB, which means I’m in the Qualified Medicare Beneficiary program for low income seniors and I don’t have to pay premiums etc anymore for Medicare. In fact, due to getting into QMB, as well as the charitable doctors I see, I’ve not had to pay anything at all for Medicare or Medicaid. If I got Medicare Advantage, I’d lose all that and have to pay. I really can’t afford to do that on poverty level Social Security, when I need monthly charitable assistance just to be able to pay my rent –and I don’t know how long that help will last.
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If you haven’t already, talk with your local social services.
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Thanks, I have spent a good deal of time talking to social services over the last 10 years.
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United mailed me when I turned 65. That’s how I wound up with them.
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Then you got VERY lucky. I wish you continued good fortune!
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Oh, and when it’s long been well known that dental, vision and hearing deteriorate with aging, which vain-glorious politicians decided it would be best for Americans if Medicare skimped by not providing coverage for those three capacities? (I can guess their party.) I say this because I’ve been in truly excruciating pain over the last few days due to broken teeth that easily become infected whenever the food I eat accidentally goes over to that side of my mouth, so they become infected and half my face is swollen. Fortunately, I figured out long ago how to get antibiotics for that, but you can take only just so much tylenol and aspirine for the pain. And, whenever it happens, my main course then becomes soup & crackers (so I’m very hungry right now.)
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I feel your pain. Dental problems can wind up as painful and deadly as other problems.
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Thank you so much! I really appreciate your kind thoughts.
It’s the deadly part that scares me most, so I’m addressing the infection. Lately, my jaw on that side has been bothering me too and I’ve also had a runny nose and frequently tearing eyes. At first I thought it might be a cold, but I’m not sure now since I’m home-bound and I don’t know how I could have caught that. So I’m wondering if the infection might have impacted my jaw and sinuses as well? Well, hopefully the antibiotic will be kicking in soon.
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Where are you ECE? You need help.
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Thanks for your concern, speduktr. Last night was really brutal, but I was able to sleep a lot in the evening on Saturday and it felt like the kind of “sleep that knits up the raveled sleeve of care” (Shakespeare). I think the antibiotic is working now as well, because I’m not feeling nearly as much pain as I felt last night and in the morning. I was even able to skip the pain killer tonight, and I just ate some pasta, so I think I’ll be okay now.
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ECE….if you are near a teaching hospital that has a Dentistry program, you may be able to get care for free. The intern dentists need clinical practice and they are well supervised by experienced dentists (teachers). You can actually die from a tooth abscess if the infection travels to your brain. I suggest that you get Eugenol (oil of clove) from the pharmacy (the real stuff is behind the counter and pretty inexpensive) and soak a q-tip then bite on the cotton….this acts as an anti inflamatory and kills some of the germs.
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LisaM.
Thanks so much for your suggestions! I really appreciate being reminded of clove oil, because when I was in so much pain the other night (that it made me cry), I recalled using that many years ago but couldn’t remember exactly what it was that I took then, just clove something, or where I got it. After reading your post, I found it on Amazon and it’s coming today!
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ECE– I went through something similar recently, so adding my 2cts in case it helps.
It’s very good news that the antibiotics are bringing the swelling/ pain down. A good sign. >>HOWEVER, the fractured teeth may have to come out, posthaste.
I woke with the swelled jaw on a Fri (when my dentist is closed), but she called from her home & called in antibiotic immediately, & checked over wkend to make sure swelling was same/ not getting worse [it actually went down some]. Monday turned out tooth had recently ‘died,’ and my dentist insisted on extracting it then & there based on xrays, with follow-up shortly to oral surgeon. Oral surgeon reqd a 3D jaw Xray, put me on stronger antibiotic & said 1wk follow-up would show if I needed incision/ drainage. [I didn’t].
The point: oral surgeon analysis of situation/ treatment may be covered by medicare. [Oral surgeons perform extractions when needed as well (says internet)– but don’t count on that being covered by Medicare: may need to look for teaching hospital that includes dentistry as LisaM suggests].
The oral surgeon I consulted [oral surgeon to NJ Jets (hockey)! :-D] had no problem that I was on Medicare. I paid $104 copay for each of 2 visits. The 3D XRay is pricey at $400 “per yr” [i.e., if you need another one or more during the yr it’s covered], but maybe they don’t have to do that.
You could probably get best input on this directly from the admin at oral surgeon, but there are Medicare contacts listed if you google ‘is oral surgeon covered by Medicare].
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Thanks. bethree5! The Medicare website says nothing about oral surgery here: https://www.medicare.gov/providers-services/original-medicare/not-covered
I probably do need that but I have a very strong aversion to it, ever since I had some serious oral surgeries in my teens, as my eye teeth never came down and it was because they were turned sideways and fused to my skull. I was getting braces at the time so they attached the teeth to that and tried to turn them and get them to come down, every time they tightened my braces. That went on for way too long for me and it was pure hell. Plus it didn’t work. So eventually they extracted those teeth and although they put in a “permanent” bridge, it didn’t last very long, and I know all too well what it’s like to chew where there are no teeth –and I can’t afford to replace any missing teeth today.
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Ugh. That’s awful, ECE.
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Thanks, Diane. I’m in a lot less pain now; the swelling is going down and I’m feeling much better this morning.
IMHO, American exceptionalism is way over-rated and filled with false promises, as evident today. If we had never split from England, I think we would probably be better off now, because I’ve been there several times and they are much more civil and empathic than we are. For example, they gave up slavery long before we did, and they have had free health care since the late 1940s –which covers virtually everything for all permanent residents.
I’m not crazy about monarchs but that works a lot differently in the UK now than it did in the past. And pensions are provided by jobs in England so commonly that seniors there are typically referred to as “pensioners.” I’m glad that at least we have Medicare and Social Security (for now), even though it’s been a huge challenge for me to get by on poverty level SS. But I would sooo much rather be retiring in the UK!
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