Are Miami-Dade County’s Bureaucrats Distorting The Facts?
Earlier this month, the Miami Herald ran an article regarding claims made by a homeless “advocacy group” asserting that Miami-Dade County residents shelled out some $40 million dollars to panhandlers. I have to admit, when I read the claims made by the Miami-Dade County Homeless Trust (the so-called advocacy group) I snorted in disbelief. In fact, I pretty much dismissed it as “government propaganda.” A number of other bloggers picked up on the article and published posts to their blogs; most notably Shannon Moriarty at the End Homelessness Blog and Joel John Roberts of the L.A. Homeless Blog. Although I had intended to write a post about the article also, I let it be because I hadn’t had a chance to read the report. Plus, there was something about the $40 million number which triggered a faint memory in my mind. I vaguely recalled having previously read something a few months back about that same amount and homelessness in Miami-Dade County – but it had nothing to do with panhandling.
