Here is something that – thankfully – we don’t see every day.
Down in Florida, a taxpayer-funded unemployment agency is spending more than $14,000 buying 6,000 “super hero capes” for the unemployed – really! An additional $2,300 is being spent on foam cutouts of a character nicknamed “Dr. Evil Unemployment.”
It’s all part of a “creative strategy” for outreach to the jobless, officials with the program told the Orlando Sentinel.
But understandably, labor officials in Florida are not amused by that “outreach.” They are pushing for an investigation of the unemployment agency’s absurd use of public money.
We have sympathy for people who want work but cannot find it, and sadly, Florida’s jobless rate is higher than 11 percent.
But it is hard to see how squandering so much money on ridiculous capes will help the jobless in Florida get work. We certainly hope they don’t wear the capes to job interviews, or potential employers may wonder about their judgment.
We would question the wisdom of a private individual who spent his own money this way. But it is appalling that a taxpayer-funded organization with the difficult task of finding people jobs would be so wasteful.