"Schweik" wrote in message
You are basically correct, I believe, when you say "political will".
Certainly a WPA scheme would be easy to implement and in fact the
state of Maine has, or had, a provision that the town/city can call
for people receiving public assistance to perform work for the
city/state and have in the past called out people on the relief rolls
to clean snow off sidewalks which is considered to be for the public
benefit.

A program requiring everyone who is on the relief rolls to fall out at
05:00 and sweep the city's streets would improve the cleanliness of
the city as well as, perhaps, impress on some that it is a better
decision to get a job.

But of course that would ensure that every one of these early morning
street sweepers would vote for the "other guy" in the next election
and is thus political suicide.

cheers,

Schweik

I've personally seen both sides of that. The city uses welfare recipients to
clean up trash on abandoned lots, which men can do but not single mothers
with infants to care for and no RELIABLE friends available to take them.

I couldn't believe the mess of spilled food and pet waste some of them raise
their kids in. Civilization hasn't taken on everyone. Glad I moved out. That
neighborhood was poor because they were obstinately dysfunctional.