Study: 744,000 are homeless in U.S.

There were 744,000 homeless people in the United States in 2005, according to the first national estimate in a decade. A little more than half were living in shelters, and nearly a quarter were chronically homeless

I find this disturbing that in a country that is one of the richest and technologically advanced in the world that we still have so many people that do not have a home. The unfortunate part is that most of these homeless are veterans and suffer from mental illness. California was the state with most homeless people in 2005, about 170,000, followed by New York, Florida, Texas and Georgia, according to the report. Shouldn't we first be helping these people before trying to 'spread freedom' in violent countries?