The problem I see growing out here in the Pacifist Northwest is the number of people who are over fifty, have been unemployed for so long as to be unemployable, and now spend most of their time smoking recreational marijuana, which many of them seem to have no problem affording. Lots of the so-called "homeless" are either drug addled, or have so much financial misconduct in their past that they cannot hold a job without having their wages garnished by multiple entities, so they live off the grid. Many have multiple criminal offenses in their past.
The Oregonian did an article a couple of years ago about how local panhandlers make in excess of minimum wage just standing on a freeway offramp with a sign and a cup. All of it is tax free, in cash and completely unaccountable. Many of these people are getting all the social benefits they can talk local aid agencies out of. These guys all have shoes that cost more than mine, top of the line backpacks, and always seem to have enough money to by cigarettes at almost $8 a pack.
We also have people who commandeer old recreational boats that still float, but have no operational engine onboard at all. These people are squatting in public waterways all along the riverbanks of the Columbia. They have no sanitary facilities whatsoever and they scavenge as much floating junk as they can find to assemble floating homes that look like something straight out of Waterworld or Thunderdome. They can spend 30 days in one spot then have to move, but enforcement is a nightmare and very expensive.
We have a complete underclass in this country that is so far off the grid as to be gone for good. No way to bring many of these people back into society and fulfill any kind of productive purpose.
Thanks for nothing Obama.