Liberal Radio Host: Getting Rid of Homeless By Flying Them to Another City Is a ‘Decent Idea’

‘It’s something we need to look at in los Angeles’

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KILMEADE: "Seattle is one of the many Progressive cities grappling with a major homeless crisis. Earlier this year the city infuriated businesses briefly passing — they repealed it — tax on employers to fight rabid homelessness in the city. Now it’s trying a different tactic. Get this. Using taxpayers funds to send the homeless to their families who might be out of town. Just to get them out of there. Leslie Marshall is a radio host. Is this the right way to handle this? Seattle has the fifth largest homeless population. Can this work?"
MARSHALL: "I live in Los Angeles that has the first and the highest homeless population. So if it does it’s something we need to look at in los Angeles. Homelessness is multifaceted. There are reasons that people are homeless and I don’t think this is a cure-all but I think this is a decent idea. Tell you something that happened ten years ago in Spain. Not homeless. But they came to Spain and were unemployed and Spain could not afford to keep them so they offered them tickets to leave Spain. Although over 20,000 rather than 80,000 they wanted took the money, that is what is happening in Seattle. These are people that are not partaking of the shelters or the homeless services. Some of the people in the future they are afraid could commit a crime. Some were robbed or lost a job and they want to get back to their family in Florida or in midwest and it offers opportunity for reunification with their families and helps them on that front."
KILMEADE: "You must have seen this in Los Angeles is the violence. A lot of the men are getting violent. One Arizona family were attacked with a roam. They grabbed the dad and put a rope around his neck and started to choke him and they cleaned out the area around the Seattle needle. I was fascinated by this. Seattle with third largest homeless population. There is 121 home for 10,000 people. This is what they estimate. A third of the homeless serious substance abusers. That goes to fentanyl and everything else we are dealing with. Third are mane thely ill — a third are mentally ill and a third can’t handle the housing costs cropping up in the cities at your end and in Seattle and San Francisco."
MARSHALL: "That is a huge issue here. This has been coming for the better part of a decade. We see this in cities like San Francisco where there are people from Silicon Valley buying up the real estate and pushing up the people in the past could afford places. This is in the pacific northwest. There is mental illness and drug abuse and look of the affordability. There are $13 million that ends up in Seattle coming up to 500 beds for over 11,000 people. It just doesn’t cut it. So it may sound crazy but it could be more cost effective and it could solve the problem that some of the financing legislation and certainly not enough beds for all the people are going to help with."
KILMEADE: "They are messing with this. They have a city encampment where the residents are allowed to use heroin around needles until they pass out. How is that going to work? I also talked to people in los Angeles who say there is a lot of people, young people that could get jobs, mentally fit. But are choosing not to participate in society. Have you seen that? I have to say and I’m."
MARSHALL: "I have to say and I’m going to stay judgmental. When the kids are in the car and someone looks destitute we pick and choose who we give money to. Especially if it’s a family with children. That tugs at my heart strings and my kids. But there are times I see someone with a smart phone and a nice sneakers and a suped up skateboard and they look healthy. Forgive my judgment I think you look healthy enough you could get a job. So do I think there are people gaming the system and taking advantage? Absolutely."

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