MI Republican Wants Foster Children to Buy Clothes Only in Thrift Stores
Michigan’s Republican State Sen. Bruce Caswell has an idea that I’m sure will be a big hit in today’s GOP. Caswell has proposed that children in the state’s foster care system should only be allowed to buy clothes in second hand stores.
Caswell wants to give foster children and children of the working poor “gift cards” that can only be used at stores such as Goodwill and Salvation Army. His idea wouldn’t save Michigan any money; the clothing allowance would be the same.
Apparently, the only reason for this is sheer mean-spiritedness, and a desire to make sure that poor children know they belong to the underclass.
“I never had anything new,” Caswell says. “I got all the hand-me-downs. And my dad, he did a lot of shopping at the Salvation Army, and his comment was — and quite frankly it’s true — once you’re out of the store and you walk down the street, nobody knows where you bought your clothes.”
(h/t: elizajane.)
Caswell’s experiment in social engineering was dropped from the budget at the last minute.
A last-minute amendment would eliminate the subcommittee’s previous plan to make poor children spend their $79 clothing allowance at the Salvation Army or other thrift stores.
“The state will work with those other retailers to get a discount on clothing that is bought,” said Sen. Bruce Caswell, chairman of the DHS Appropriations Subcommittee.
So the kids will still be getting “special” clothes, which was the point in the first place.