A HEARTLESS CUTBACK

Shame on the U.S. House of Representatives for eliminating a program
aimed at curbing drug use and trafficking in public housing. The vote
hurts the most vulnerable American citizens. But, intent on being good
Republicans and supporting the President rather than good
representatives responsive to their respective home fronts, they went
along.

If the Senate doesn't manage to restore the funding and maintain it
during joint conference sessions, Toledo will lose up to $800,000 a
year for, among other things, community policing in housing projects.
Sens. George Voinovich and Mike DeWine need to hear from constituents,
lots of them.

One New York Democrat complained of waste, fraud, and abuse in the
program, without documenting her remarks. She called for more focus at
the local levels, a position at odds with the notion that local levels
are best suited to spend grants.

Toledo Rep. Marcy Kaptur led the fight to amend the budget to restore
this program. The House rejected it 213 to 197. Her amendment
authorized spending $175 million to continue the hitherto bipartisan
program set up under President Reagan in 1988 with a total budget of
$8 million. So successful has it been that New York City alone now
gets $35 million to $40 million.

Mr. Bush wants the money to go to a new program to help families out
of public housing with down-payments on homes.

Little attention appears to have been given to the fact that homes
require frequent and often expensive maintenance, that low-income jobs
are not necessarily steady, and that the paucity of health insurance
among earners of low wages means many will be subject to health
problems that may cost them their jobs and their ability to pay mortgages.

But what can one expect when upper and upper-middle class people
determine how the less fortunate ought to live?

Like Ms. Kaptur, we hope the brighter lights in the Senate restore
this successful program that has brought relative tranquillity to the
lives of families in projects.

All low-income people, not just those in projects, should get the help
they need in buying a home, including assistance in understanding
mortgage rates, paying mortgages on time, estimating other household
expenses, and budgeting to pay for them. But to suggest that a program
like this replace a here-and-now program that provides a safe
environment in public housing is absurd.