To the Editor:
U.S. Sen. Everett Dirksen once quipped, “A billion here, a billion there, sooner or later it adds up to real money.”
We are now talking about spending another trillion, a number incomprehensible to most of us, but without debating politics or economics, let’s put it in perspective.
If we spent a trillion dollars on building and/or improving housing in this country, we could build five million homes for $200,000 each or do $100,000 in energy-saving improvements for roofing, windows, HVAC, insulation, and appliances to 10 million existing housing units.
This would go a long way in solving homelessness and housing insecurity while providing jobs and economic stimulus. It would also create tangible assets in building new homes or improving old ones.
I will leave it to the sociologists to determine the impact on society of such a program, but as a member of society, I believe this kind of spending would go a long way in making this a better place to live for all.
