-By Warner Todd Huston
Atlanta thought it had a great idea. Instead of its citizens being accosted by bums and panhandlers in the street, the idea was to set up parking meter-like machines for people’s donations instead of handing the money straight to the bums. Then, the money collected from Atlanta’s well-meaning citizens would be used to enlarge government programs for the homeless.
After six months the donation meters have only netted $500, a sum that won’t go too far especially in the over priced world of government programs. In fact, the machines themselves cost far more than that. So, the meters are pretty much a bust. In that case one might think that the Atlanta city council would quietly shelve the idea as one born of that good ol’ college try, but a failed one nonetheless.
Atlanta Homeless Effort Fails. Solution: Throw More Money at it!”