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Authorities
have tried endless monetary accommodation, multiple bailouts, a range
of ill-conceived stimulus programs, and regular bouts of cheerleading,
but so far at least, a great many Americans are not enjoying the fruits of
the "recovery" that Washington and Wall Street keep talking about.
But tough times
call for creative solutions. Maybe it's time for those in charge to take a
different tack, and adopt a strategy that at least one locale is using
to try and improve matters. Perhaps Washington should follow the example
detailed by the Associated
Press in "Atlantic City Looks to Bus
More Homeless Back Home," and ship
those who are less fortunate somewhere else?
Larry Bogan knows precisely how much it costs for a bus ticket
from Atlantic City back home to Pompano Beach, Fla.: $126. Unfortunately,
that's $126 more than he has at present.
And so instead
of cooking in a restaurant or driving a tractor trailer for someone like he used
to do, Bogan eats at a soup kitchen and sleeps on
park benches or in a train or bus station each night. He's one of about 500
homeless people living in the nation's second-largest gambling market.
Reducing
Atlantic City's homeless population is a key element of a new effort to help
the struggling casino resort get back on its feet after more than four years
of plunging revenues, lost market share and layoffs. A state agency plans to
allocate just under $100,000 to a local homeless shelter to buy bus or plane
tickets back home for any homeless person who wants to leave.
The Travelers
Assistance Program, operated by the privately run shelter, has been around
for years, but would be greatly expanded from its current limited form with
the additional funding.
If the travel
program is the carrot, there's also a stick being brandished: the prospect of
stepped-up sweeps of the entire Boardwalk to move homeless squatters along.
Michael J. Panzner
Editor, Financialarmageddon.com
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