Yes, creative

Bless the Rhode Island chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union for suing in federal court a really ridiculous state Division of Taxation stance that a special sales-tax exemption for the works of published authors in the state applies only to fiction writers because, the division asserts, nonfiction isn’t “creative and original.’’ (The division also favors work by musicians and such visual artists as painters and sculptors.)

Of course, historians and other nonfiction writers, even including some journalists writing news and commentary articles, must often be highly original and creative in coming up with topics, and in crafting engaging narratives combining analyses and syntheses -- all with the aim of drawing and holding readers. There is artistry in this.

The ACLU’s argument is that the Division of Taxation’s distinction violates the First Amendment guarantees of freedom of speech and the press. I don’t know about that but I do know it’s grossly unfair and illogical. Whether authors in general should get preferential sales-tax treatment is another issue. It reminds me a bit of when I worked for the old International Herald Tribune, technically a French company, we journalists had 25 percent lopped off our French income tax in what was in effect a government subsidy to encourage the practice of journalism; it was partly in reaction to the censorship during the Nazi occupation of France.

Put panhandlers to work

Adapted from Robert Whitcomb's "Digital Diary,'' in GoLocal24.com

I type this, I see panhandlers on the street below, right before a traffic intersection. Too often cars stop without warning in order to give the panhandlers money. From their behavior, I’d guess that most are mentally ill and/or have substance-abuse problems.

There have been reports that in some cities syndicates place the panhandlers at certain corners and then take some of the revenue, sort of like pimps.

In many places (such as Rhode Island) the local chapters of the ACLU have made it too difficult to force these people to stop their “work,’’ or whatever you want to call it. So they continue to create litter (lots of cigarette butts) and threaten car crashes. In some (more conservative?) places, however, municipalities have managed to make bans on panhandling stick. Indeed, the National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty reports that the number of communities that bar all panhandling has risen 40 percent in the past decade and more than 60 percent now prohibit the practice in some public places.

But some cities are being more creative. As a story by Maine Public Radio’s Ed Morin reports, Portland officials have hired some beggars to do such public chores as cleaning parks, focusing on picking up trash (which panhandlers, who are often homeless, help litter), generally at the local minimum wage.  Private donations have also been used in some places to support these initiatives. To see Mr. Morin’s story, hit:  https://nenc.news/portland-program-puts-panhandlers-productive-paying-public-projects/

It recalls the WPA of New Deal days.

As Mr. Morin reports, some other cities are taking the same approach, including Albuquerque, Denver and Chicago. I applaud this effort to financially support people to help prevent their homelessness, to give more structure,  meaning and self-respect to their dysfunctional lives and to clean up communities, especially in public places. Let’s not let municipal labor unions get in the way.

Worsening the panhandlers' problems

Excerpted from Robert Whitcomb's Dec. 8 "Digital Diary'' column in GoLocal 24.

Kudos to those in the Rhode Island General Assembly for trying to suppress the epidemic of panhandling concentrated at intersections in Providence. It can cause car accidents, crime and scares away business. Better to beef up social services to deal with the panhandlers, many of whom are mentally ill, than to allow panhandling along the streets.

The ACLU is all wet on this. Reducing panhandling, including by penalizing motorists who stop and give panhandlers money (often swiftly used for drugs and booze), isa matter of common-sense public safety.  Tolerating panhandlers reinforces their problems

Providence panhandling out of control

Providence officials must be willing to take on the ACLU and address the ever-more-serious panhandling and loitering problem in Providence. It seems obvious that the city’s failure to stop this epidemic is drawing in more panhandlers in what is not really a freedom-of-speech issue but  a public-disorder one. These people are causing traffic problems, littering and harassing citizens just trying to go about their business.  And, of course, hurting the economy. Time to enforce common-sense ordinances. Go up to the U.S. Supreme Court if necessary.

-- Robert Whitcomb