Government Limits on Charity

T

Timshel

New member
Let's see if nAHZi will defend this one.

http://sayanythingblog.com/entry/government-stopping-charities-from-feeding-the-homeless/

– Gainesville, Florida began enforcing a rule limiting the number of meals that soup kitchens may serve to 130 people in one day.

– Phoenix, Arizona used zoning laws to stop a local church from serving breakfast to community members, including many homeless people, outside a local church.

– Myrtle Beach, South Carolina adopted an ordinance that restricts food sharing with homeless people in public parks. …

– In Orlando, Florida the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) filed a lawsuit against the City of Orlando on behalf of local organizations, challenging a 2006 law requiring a groups sharing food with 25 or more people to obtain a permit that was only available twice a year per park. A federal district court found the law to be unconstitutional and in violation of Free Exercise of Religion and Freedom of Speech in October of 2008. The city has appealed the decision and the appeal is pending.

– In San Diego, California the zoning department attempted to prohibit a local church from serving a weekly meal to community members, many of them homeless.7 In 2008, attorney Scott Dreher successfully defended the church’s First Amendment right to practice its religion. The weekly meal continues to take place on church property and serves 150 to 200 people each week.
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This seems like lunacy to me. There are people who are destitute and hungry. There are other people who are willing to give of their own time, talent and wealth to provide for those people. But the government is limiting their ability to do so, or in some instances stopping them.

Why? The motivation is hard to pin down. One chief motivation, no doubt, wanting homeless people out of parks and public areas. They believe that feeding them in a public place like a park only lures more homeless to that park. And some people just don’t want to see homeless people during their day-to-day lives. It’s the old “not in my back yard” attitude.
 
Why the heck would the state have a compelling reason to limit the number of meals you are willing to give away? Clearly they were up to standards to serve the food, this limitation doesn't say they can't serve food and seems irrevocably foolish with no apparent reason behind it.

I can see the church maybe, were they up to standards required for food service industry? It doesn't tell you. Can you imagine if they passed e coli onto a whole grip of people? Were those serving the food properly checked for hepatitis for example? That would be the only compelling reason, but they wouldn't need to shut it down they would just need to have them come into compliance under reasonable restrictions.
 
This is bullshit. I do not support this stupidity. of course, corporations are also interested in curtailing free resources so workers have no choice but to accept the slave conditions corporations prefer.
 
Damocles said:
Why the heck would the state have a compelling reason to limit the number of meals you are willing to give away? Clearly they were up to standards to serve the food, this limitation doesn't say they can't serve food and seems irrevocably foolish with no apparent reason behind it.

I can see the church maybe, were they up to standards required for food service industry? It doesn't tell you. Can you imagine if they passed e coli onto a whole grip of people? Were those serving the food properly checked for hepatitis for example? That would be the only compelling reason, but they wouldn't need to shut it down they would just need to have them come into compliance under reasonable restrictions.
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I don't know about each state, but in IL churches that serve food must be licensed by health department. I've volunteered at 3 separate food kitchens and all had professional kitchens and licenses.

I think it has more to do with wanting the states to control those needing help. Most of the charitable locations not only give hot meals, but showers, counseling, and clothing for job interviews. Not so surprisingly the kitchens are doubling as AA and NA meeting places.
 
AssHatZombie said:
This is bullshit. I do not support this stupidity. of course, corporations are also interested in curtailing free resources so workers have no choice but to accept the slave conditions corporations prefer.
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Next they will be wanting to enforce the borders.
 
AssHatZombie said:
Is it your belief that the government never does things that coporations influence them to do?

Now's who's retarded?
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kelso_burn.gif
 
AssHatZombie said:
Commerce clause. Free meals effect the market for purchased meals.
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LOL. Only if served in a vacuum. Each meal given away was purchased first. The food isn't just "born there", somebody had to purchase it in order to prepare it so they could give it away.
 
AssHatZombie said:
The value add of assembling the ingredients into meals cuts into restaurant profit. Even that is problematic for the machine.
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Homeless people are not the regular clientele of restaurants. I don't think that is the nefarious motive here. I think we'll have to look closer in order to figure this one out. Maybe if we didn't have excerpts and actually had stories for the blurbs we'd have a better understanding.
 
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