OBAMA ADMINISTRATION TO ROUND UP HOMELESS PEOPLE

April 23 2009

Washington, DC – In the first 100 days of his presidency, Barack Obama has made a concerted effort to distance himself from his predecessor. The closure of Guantanamo Bay and the planned withdrawal of troops from Iraq are no doubt the biggest and most controversial of his changes, they are far from the only ones. Despite that
almost desperate distancing from Bush there are a few practices that the Obama administration has worked in lock-step with its predecessor. Bailouts are one of those policies, as is the sure-to-be controversial directive to round up homeless people around the country.     

Though not yet given an official name, the Obama administration has decided to pursue the proposal first set forth by the Bush administration to begin rounding up homeless people from major cities and putting them into work camps. First undertaken in the middle of last summer, the plan was put on hold following the
economic collapse out of fear that many Americans would see the initiative as a waste of taxpayer dollars in desperate times. With some tweaks though, the new administration feels it can sell the program to an eager public.

“It’s really just a matter of how they sell it and there has never been a Presidency better at selling their policies than the Obama one has been. It will be speculation until they actually reveal the details of the program, but my guess is they have found some way to make it a sensible expenditure,” said Scrape TV Political analyst Gabriel Kinsey. “Hopefully they will make
it a transparent operation so that we won’t see the kind of controversy that has come out of secrecy. The last thing the United States needs is a new controversy, especially with Obama already trying to do everything.”

Reportedly the plan has altered in significant ways from the Bush-era design including the make-up of the camps that will house the homeless. Under the Bush
plan the homeless were to be given indefinite terms of service and the mandate of working for the government with the promise that they will be freed, but under the Obama plan workers will be given the opportunity to work for the people of the United States.

“Selling it as being for the people is probably the safest tactic to take in this environment. It would be a difficult sell to try and convince the American people that this was wise investment of their money if they were unable to see the results of the effort. This way, people can see they are earning something with the dollars they’ve spent,” continued Kinsey.
“That is the smartest way to play it in this environment and could go a long way towards showing the American people that the government is working for them and not the other way around.”

What hasn’t yet been revealed is the tactics that will be used to round up the homeless and whether or not they will brought to centralized locations or will work for their local community.

“It would be easy enough to capture the homeless as most of them are easily spotted on most streets. Many may come willingly but for those who don’t a military grade netting could be used quite effectively. I’m sure the Obama administration will want to
differentiate that aspect of the project from Bush as well, so that means no lassos,” continued Kinsey. “As for the location, they will likely look at it as a cost vs. reward thing. Large population centres would probably have enough of a yield to justify keeping them local but for smaller communities they would have to look at the relative cost of infrastructure to gain and compare that to the cost of transport to a more formidable location. Those details will have to ironed out before they can move ahead but once they are settled the United States could have one formidable and dedicated workforce.”

It’s not immediately clear what will happen to the homeless once released from service, nor what the length of those terms of service will be.  

Edward Bastil, Political Correspondent

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