Most of these guys are just campers who have chose a fuck-the-world lifestyle, so... huh?

@1: There is nothing in the data that supports your ignorant, mean-spirited comment. There are families, women, educated men who simply can't afford Amazon-era rents. You may feel better calling them all "fuck-the-world" campers, but it's not true and it doesn't solve the problem.

Unless the author is willing to acknowledge that at some point increased taxation is going be be more counterproductive than productive, the Seattle Times article is more intellectually sound.

@4 - I generally agree with your comment.

The mayor himself admitted that he doesn't have a plan in place and hasn't been managing the current budget to fight it- namely the city automatically renew the contracts for homeless shelters and services without evaluating performance even though the mayor's own consultants said that nearly 40% were drastically underpeforming- which is the definition of fiscally irresponsible. Why should we trust that clown to squander even more of our money when he's already demonstrated incompetence? There's nothing illiberal about expecting a Democratic mayor to delegate funds based on performance.

*Most* people do not want to become homeless. They *mostly* want housing and jobs.
Fixed it for ya.

So according to my non-scientific research involving daily and weekly interaction with the homeless people, I'd say 15% are truly despondent, victims of bad luck or decisions, and truly want to become homed. The other 85%....well #1 nailed it. They are not homeless, they are vagrants.

Agree with @1 & @10. I interact with these vagrant *daily* and they have no desire to do anything other than what they're doing: scrounging up enough money to get high and passing out in my bus stop. And shooting up in my doorway as I found them doing this morning. There are good, hardworking people who are homeless. Those people take advantage of the programs there to help them. The screaming junkie covered in his own feces spreading mrsa on the bus? That dude is not even trying to get off the street, no matter how much money you throw at the condition. The hobo kids with 4 dogs and a guitar? They choose to be vagrants. I'm a liberal person but I'm sick of people being too PC to admit that some people don't want help and they choose to be homeless and participate in criminal activity.