[asift]

I'm fairly new to HN, but I've found people here tend to be much more civil than most places on the web, which I think is great.

>if that data can then be used to make a statement, its proof

I'm not trying to be overly semantic, but I think "evidence" would be more appropriate than "proof" in this case. My claim was never that there isn't evidence that housing the homeless costs less than other welfare programs (or that I think it's something we shouldn't do), I just think you are being too forceful in your claim.