I was wondering the same thing. Do the airlines get a tax break for shlepping some homeless thing from LA to Hawaii?
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Minneapolis does it all the time.. Growing up there I remember seeing stories about it on the news every time the temperature dropped below zero. Rather than trying to find places for them to sleep they just gave them a one way ticket to just about anywhere they wanted to go.
Just take them on a cruise, drop them off in the Philippines and tell them it's Hawaii. [Coffee]
It's not that expensive if you wait for the sales and even at full rate last-minute is far less than a month's welfare for vagrants. You'd probably have to talk to someone familiar with CA's government to find out how they managed it (assuming they'd even admit to it -- IIRC, CA denied it was an active state policy for some time -- in fact, I don't know that they ever admitted to it but it was curious how dozens of vagrants who couldn't seem to afford their next meal came up with cash for a plane ticket).
Homelessness has been a big issue back home for the past decade -- some of it comes form locals who just don't have the skills or education to earn what it takes to pay a mortgage there these days, some of it comes from people who migrate for the climate and welfare benefits. IIRC, Hawaii took some actions to reduce benefits until people had proved some level of residency but I've been away for years so don't know the current benefits situation. I do know my good-for-nothing cousin seems to have precise timing on when he needs to take a class or get a temp job to keep his benefits active.
Honolulu started taking steps to move the homeless out of Waikiki but of course the ACLU and various "sovereignty" groups fought them over that. One of the local groups is trying to get a legal process set up to build old-style grass shacks on state land -- definitely not modern code but safe enough and would address the locals who simply can't afford $800K for a 600-700 sq ft house and would actually go a long ways for the groups who want to get back to their old traditional roots.
We should start sending people from Denver and Boulder to the Shangri-La of California. Not homeless necessarily, just folks.
So CA is merely doing the math on welfare vs. plate ticket and doesn't care that the homeless may be going to an area with an even higher cost of living. Okay, that makes sense. Messed up but makes sense.
It's strange that Libs would do each other like that and use the downtrodden as a weapon but doesn't really surprise me.