Taking his point to the extreme, the number of Homeless in our country is no more than the number of people we imprison. We don't let criminals starve or freeze to death- on the contrary, we provide education, entertainment and medical care.

And when you make prison life better than what many of the inmates have at home, what exactly have you taught them? I prefer the jail ran by a certain Arizona sheriff.

Some homeless are mentally ill which isn't surprising since we close mental hospitals and convert them to prisons. (There must be more fed funding for prisons.)

Nice piece of revisionism. If you look at the history, you'll find that many mental patients were released from the hospitals after the creation of drugs like lithium. These drugs proved very effective at treating mental disorders, so good intentioned groups like the ACLU sued to get the patients released. After all, why keep someone in a hospital against their will for a treatable illness? Unfortunately, many of the former patients proved unwilling or unable to manage their medications (even when they were provided free of charge), so they found themselves out on the streets and relapsed. As the saying goes, the road to Hell is paved with good intentions.

You don't need communism to point out the strengths and weaknesses of capitalism. It's often said by conservatives that government should be limited to providing only essential services that can't be effectively be produced by the private sector.

Actually, this comes from the Constitution, such as the long neglected 10th Amendment.

At the level of wealth that WE in this country have obtained, why can't we include minimal food and shelter among the essentials?

Freezing to death is too harsh a punishment for making the wrong choices in life.

What existed for the homeless in America before government stepped up to provide the services? Did they all starve or freeze to death? Or, did many of them find aid and comfort from charities? At the very least, they certainly had incentive to fend for themselves. I've read interviews of some of our local homeless people who, when offered a job, actually got upset. All they really wanted was for people to give them money without expecting them to do anything in return, even staying sober.

Looking out of my office window right now, it's cold, windy, and a stiff breeze is blowing. It's a tough time to be outside. Those homeless who are still in town (and didn't move to warmer places before winter hit) can find shelters, warm food, medical care, and other assistance, most of it provided by charities. From the government, many of them qualify for SSI because of their adictions to drugs or alcohol. They qualify for other forms of assistance, too, such as food and often shelter. Much of the cash payments many of them receive are converted to more drugs or alcohol.

Compared to the poor from my wife's country (the Philippines), the poorest in America are quite well off. Growing up poor like my wife did in a country like the Philippines, you had to work, steal, or starve. Her parents worked very hard to provide for their family. What a concept. As my wife says, "Americans take everything for granted. They don't know what poverty is."