Government IS the problem!

From The San Francisco Chronicle…

He sleeps under a bridge, washes in a public bathroom and was panhandling for booze money 11 months ago, but now Larry Moore is the best-dressed shoeshine man in the city. When he gets up from his cardboard mattress, he puts on a coat and tie. It's a reminder of how he has turned things around.

In fact, until last week it looked like Moore was going to have saved enough money to rent a room and get off the street for the first time in six years. But then, in a breathtakingly clueless move, an official for the Department of Public Works told Moore that he has to fork over the money he saved for his first month's rent to purchase a $491 sidewalk vendor permit….

The bureaucrat told Moore that she found out about his business after reading about his success in this paper….

Moore is nothing if not dutiful. He attempted to work his way through the byzantine city government channels, although he didn't get much help….

When Moore found the permit application, he got a money order and headed down to the appropriate department to pay. But because he didn't have a valid ID card, they wouldn't take his money.

Apparently the bad press has made the mindless bureaucrats decide to allow Moore to continue shining shoes until he can get an ID and pay for the license---which means he’ll continue to be homeless long after that as he once again attempts to raise money for rent—rent that is expensive because government housing programs elevate rental rates.

Posted by Danny Carlton at June 8, 2009 7:23 AM