Testing government-benefit recipients snares very few abusers, but humiliates desperate people. That’s why the GOP keeps adding screening laws. By Jamelle Bouie. Last year, Utah Republicans passed and enacted a law that mandated drug testing for welfare recipients. Republicans haven’t proposed testing for church clergy or oil executives. Instead, they’re focused on the vulnerable, with schemes that would embarrass a Bond villain. **************************
OK the usual crap about mean Republicans as the enemy of poor people.
But read this comment posted below the article. It may not remain up long as it shoots Jamelle Bouie's whole premise to hell.
Enaid18Fan 33 minutes ago I am a resident of New York state. Several years ago I had to quit my job to care for a family member. Not that my care is no longer necessary and my savings have been depleted I work 2 jobs totaling 60 - 70 hours per week to support myself and my children, and it still isn't enough. I still must rely on food stamps (FS) to have enough food and Medicaid/Child Health Plus to make sure my kids remain healthy. If I were to be drug tested it would not bother me one single iota - I had to take one for both of the jobs I have now - just to inform all you people who say it is a RARELY used mechanism. And also, just so you know, every fast food restaurant, every gas station, every merchandise store, every bank, every grocery store, and many other businesses must be on the brink of bankruptcy and closing down because they are run by stupid people who apparently don't know how to run businesses - this is, of course, if many of the comments I have read here are true because NONE of them pay "livable" wages to their employees.
I 100% agree that if you are receiving government money for your ongoing maintenance and support then you should be tested to be sure you're not using the funds inappropriately. As I said, I work and collect FS, I see several people every time I go to social services that are either high or drunk or both - sometimes they are passed out in the seats to sleep it off. If they can afford to get high or drunk they can afford to pay for their own food. Sometimes I even see people smoking pot in the parking lot before or after they go in - usually when they happen meet a friend of theirs that is also collecting. At my work I hear people talking about how they need to call in sick 1 day this week because they have too many hours, their assistance will get cut. 3 of my co-workers advised me to work less so that I could get more assistance. 1 person told me to stop paying my rent and wait for an eviction notice so that I can take it to social services and get emergency housing payments. Another one explained to me how they work "off the books" at another job so that social services doesn't cut their FS. EVERY ONE of these people also told /tells me stories about how they drink, smoke pot, hit acid, and/or pop pills as they "party" on the weekends.
I am not saying that everyone on FS does drugs or abuses they system, but there a LOT and something needs to be done about it. Drug testing is, to me, a very good place to start. Not only will it catch some abusers of the system but it will also deter countless more.
The bureaucracy: the new fourth branch of government. The bureaucracy is permanent, unaccountable, unelected and choking us like a weed. The bureaucrat exists, generating nothing of value, using perceived problems to justify his existence.
"I am not saying that everyone on FS does drugs or abuses they system, but there a LOT and something needs to be done about it. Drug testing is, to me, a very good place to start. Not only will it catch some abusers of the system but it will also deter countless more."
I couldn't agree more. Since they literally live in OUR "houses" and are free to move out and pay their own rent and buy their own food anytime they want,it's not even a violation of their rights. If they aren't willing to take the tests,they are free to leave.
Why is democracy held in such high esteem when it’s the enemy of the minority and makes all rights relative to the dictates of the majority? (Ron Paul,2012)
Heh..they are giving food stamps to people who no longer need them. Trust me. I know someone who needed them for a couple of months and when they called to have them stopped..they didnt stop them. I would worry more about people who are getting them and dont need them.
The food stamp program gets money to advertise for more people to join on. They don't want to eliminate people from the rolls. It would mean that a govt' program would be getting smaller and that is a mortal wound to Progressivism.
North American Lambada Dance Champion 1988, 1989, 1991.
RIGHT'S RIGHT 
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Thu Sep 19, 2013 1:03 am
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