Wisconsin Floating Drug Testing for Aid Recipients
There is absolutely no question I am going to take some heat for this blog from my liberal friends. So let me just make a couple of comments upfront and then they can twist my words later.
I am not opposed to federal and state aid for people who need it. I’m talking about the elderly and the sick and the mothers who have been abandoned by the fathers of their children. And I’m also talking about our men and women who have been injured while serving their country in the armed forces.
But I am completely, totally, 100 percent AGAINST people receiving aid who refuse to work for a living when they are physically and mentally capable of holding a job. I do NOT want any of my tax dollars going to people who take drugs and hang out with their friends instead of looking for a job, and then go and collect their government checks.
And that’s why I love what the Wisconsin governor is proposing for his state. Scott Walker has recommended that drug testing be required for those applying for or receiving benefits from a variety of state aid, including unemployment insurance and FoodShare, Wisconsin’s food stamp program.
Walker added that those who fail the drug tests would be given the opportunity to participate in a free drug abuse program and receive job training. Now, that’s nicer than I would have been about it, but the liberals still have problems with Walker’s plan because they feel it’s biased against lower income people.
As with most liberal arguments, the opposite is true. Drug testing for state aid and food stamps is EXACTLY what is needed to ensure that the right people are getting the aid they require and not having to receive a smaller share than they need because people who don’t really need it are taking advantage of the system. But trying to be logical with a liberal is like trying to explain calculus to a baby. They just don’t get it.
How do you feel about what Walker is trying to accomplish in Wisconsin to make sure only the deserving are receiving state aid and food stamps? Do you wish that same type of plan would be proposed in your state? What about nationally? Hope to hear from you about this important topic.
It looks like you didn’t get the latest news on how few people are actually caught by these laws. The position that those who get any kind of welfare are all a bunch of drug using slackers is typical of conservatives, and has been proven to be untrue. In Florida, my state, about 3% tested hot, and lost their test fee. The other 97% got their money , $35, back. This cost the state thousands more in refunds, than it saved. And FL’s experience has been pretty much the same across the board……In the non-elderly or disabled population of recipients, 77% of those households have one or more person who is employed.
Here’s the biggest abuse of food stamps I’ve seen. I worked for a company that sells and delivers high quality frozen food door to door. We accepted food stamps. It seems our best customers were those on food stamps. Each driver knew the day each customer got her food stamps–they would spend the whole month’s worth on our highest priced items, like shrimp and steaks. Took me a while to figure it out, but here’s what they were doing. They had a guy, usually living with them but not reported, who may or may not be the father of one or more of her children. She was either getting subsidized rent or welfare benefits to pay the landlord, and he was buying the groceries. Then, when she got her food stamps it was considered an extra bonus, to be spent on indulgence and luxury items. The guy also often provided the car and gas, using her as a chauffeur because his license had been revoked.
There’s no rule that says what the benefits must be spent on, Joe, so your argument is bogus. If they want to splurge on steak and shrimp and subsist on rice and beans the rest of the month, that’s their decision….And, of course, your example, questionable as it may be, by no means represents anything like a majority, does it?
The governments should not be in the welfare business. That becomes vote buying. Well run charities like “The Salvation Army” should be provided ways of doing this type of social service. Well designed laws should be passed to make sure that they are run well and are fair. Politics must be kept out of this whole thing. Christian Churches already have this kind of mission if they truly follow Christ.
I have a question that I ask myself all the time regarding a similar topic and would like to hear the opinions of tax payers on my situation.
I broke my spine ten years ago while doing squats at the gym (1 broken vertebrae,1 torn disc,1 ruptured disc,& 1 herniated disc) none of my medical treatments (traditional & non, acupuncture, chiropractic, tap therapy) lots of different meds daily, but I still can’t stand, walk, or sit for much longer than 20 minutes before needing to lie down sometimes in embarrassing places. I had to apply for SSDI and was approved. It took 3 years before It was difficult to finally signed a paper that states I’m pretty much useless.
I started washing dishes at 14 and have had 2-3 jobs while I was younger. Worked overseas for the military. Drove tractor trailers then concrete trucks. Volunteered with a team that helped Marine Corps PMO for 8 years while working full time. I was fortunate enough to never need unemployment in my 40+ years of work.
Now that I can never work again do you feel it was right or wrong for me to start collecting SSDI. I never thought I’d be in this situation and feel guilty even though my Drs and family tell me it can’t be helped but I still see such strong opinions about anyone on the “dole”.
Am I one of the people that needs to be taken off an “entitlement” program?
Is SSDIBan entitlement program?
I look forward to positive or negative replies.
Thank you for your time.
G
Side note: I can pass an illegal drugs test anytime as I don’t use them. (no desire to & no extra money to waste)
Positive reply. Gary, SSDI is designed for you. 40 years of working and paying the government and other people is more than enough service. You have paid your dues, so you should not feel guilty. The article’s writer is talking about so many who can work but don’t simply because they don’t want to do it. And you would easily pass every test Governor Walker has proposed to make receiving SSDI possible. You jumped through all the hoops (3 long years) to qualify.
It wasn’t always so easy for able-bodied folk to get food stamps and other government assistance, which in my opinion should be available only to people in dire straits, for a limited time. The emphasis should be on tiding people over until they can find work, which used to be the case. There was kind of a stigma associated with being on the dole.
In 1980, I was living in an area that had become economically depressed due to the virtual demise of a local industry (that’s another subject) and a bunch of us were laid off. Our employer had filed our unemployment applications and made an error so that we got ZERO. Since I needed to eat for the indeterminate time it would take for the state to correct the mistake and/or I found another job, I rather grudgingly applied for food stamps. Social Services was obviously trying to weed out people who would cheat the system, so I had to jump through various hoops to prove eligibility. As it turned out, I didn’t use them for long, because I chose to move to another area, where I found a job almost immediately.
Drug testing for food stamps? You get drug tested when applying for a job anymore, so why not? But the big problem is that the current system encourages fraud and abuse, ever since the government got rid of welfare reform and any requirement that able-bodied people look for work in order to receive assistance. This helps perpetuate the mentality that it’s perfectly OK to game the system and suck up benefits indefinitely…
…Which is what the big-government powers-that-be want anyway: a huge contingent of dependent voters who expect free everything, so that they can remain in office and the government social service agencies can justify their existence. What a racket!
Chronic pain patients are get drug tested and paying for two doctors and test can’t afford to pay for the rest of the country to be drug tested either way middle class will pay
They tried this in Florida, I think it was. They spent hundreds of thousands of dollars and caught less then five people.
Why don’t we test everyone for gsr while we are testing them for drugs that way we can know who’s shooting guns in this country. Its just a nice slippery slope that we all get to walk down fear the slippery slope. Once they start asking you to do stuff to get something else then thats just another way for the government to get its claws into you. What if you need medical marijuana for some reason and you go into to Wisconsin to get your benefit check and surprise you can’t get it because you failed your drug test this is just too scary for words.
There is a distinction here. You do not have to apply for government welfare. It is entirely voluntary. If you voluntarily participate in someone’s program, that they are paying for, you have to comply with their rules. To me this is Walker being a good steward with the taxpayer funds. Trying to reduce and minimize our money funding someone’s drug habit. They are helping people to get off of drugs, Get a job, become productive members of society, caring for their children and keeping families intact. Good that we stop being the co-dependent enablers.
There is so much cheating going on you would not believe all of it.People are selling their stamps at half price so they can buy whatever they want,and their family be damned.This test should be a national law!Testing for illegal drugs and alcohol and abusing legal drugs!
Yea u r RIGHT
There is alot of chrating going on and from both sides not jist welfare recipients. Try the government too.
Simple , take the cost of one drug screening out of their benefits , give them a voucher date and address of testing facility ,ie. local hospital etc.. Now if they don’t use the voucher by the date on it , TOO BAD SO SAD – NO MORE HELP !! And stick to the guidelines set fourth , let them know the tax payers mean business.
Seems like you have all the answers. Now the same should go fot government employees as well. They are taking thr majority of the tax money for their greedy ass selves.
A drug test is much cheaper than 20 -30 years of welfare cheating.
Private businesses are allowed to drug test their employees as a condition of employment.
Welfare recipients are basically the employees of taxpayers and should be held to the same standard.
OK you want drug testing. Just remember it ain’t free and comes out of your tax dollars. Tell me what fat cat corporation is going to ride the government gravy train on that one? When the bill gets too big nobody is going to say a thing and you the tax payer will have to keep on shoveling out more. Just remember the real freeloaders are the corporations who latch on to government for a never ending supply that that sucks the government dry.
Absolutely lets put something in place to get rid of the freeloaders. Dont get me wrong I am not against giving a helping hand when its needed but we also need to get rid of the fraudsters! Those who are truley in need need to be trained so they are not in the system generation after generation. There is ABSOLUTELY NOTHING wrong with having these folks do something of value to compensate for the benefits they receive..
And nothing wrong with denying illegals benefits, at least u til they take the necessary steps to becoming legals
You have liberal friends? What’s the matter with you?
I must add that the initial 6 months of unemployment does NOT come out of anyone else’s taxes but the recipient of the unemployment and the company he was working for period. Beyond those first six months though does come from our taxes.
Frank,
As always the Liberals cannot stand commonsense administration of the methods they use to buy their voting base …
Here in Colo they had a big deal hit the news. With pot being legal, but dope stores cannot accept anything but cash … they put ATM’s in all the head shops.
Immediately, the welfare crowd began drawing cash using their EBT welfare cards; money intended for rent, kids needs, med etc. EBT cards were being used to draw almost a million a month from ATM’s in marijuana stores!!!
So YES!!! Walker is on the right track and testing should be nationwide. We already lose of $38 billion on taxes to welfare fraud no one will investigate. Let’s not have to finance their users, losers and abuses drug habits, too!
God Save America,
Orrin
I am all for lighting the freeloader lode from the government tit. But to have the government do a drug test – hell no. Why would I want the government in my life in such a manner? It is opening a can of worms that will never cease. Why not include an alcohol test while we are at it. This way we can identify all the drunks and make sure that they are not in positions of importance or potential danger. Don’t you see how absurd it is? all the drunks, all the drug users and so on???
The food stamp program is design for people that don’t have enough food to survive. They may be poor, they may be physically unable to care for themselves or work. They may be unemployed or under employed. What ever the reasons the bottom line is this, they need help. So lets give it to them. Find out why they need help. See what can be done to get them to be self-reliant. Maybe they need job training – give it to them. Maybe they need job assistance – give it to them. Maybe they need a better place to live – give it to them and so on. What is needed is people to slow down and take the time to fix the problem. Give them the tools that they need and the resources. Have these people learn to help themselves by helping others. The cost of volunteering is very cost effective. Pay back or paying it forward should be the mantra. Failing this then these people will be on their own to find their own way. This should not only go for food stamps but any government assistance program. Then there should be a 3-5 year gap before they can receive any more government assistance unless there are extenuating circumstances. The number of children in a given family should not be the main reason for government support.
Over all having the government regulate the lives of its citizens is not the way to be free. If the government can give a helping hand to foreigners that arrive into this country then they should also give a helping hand to the poor that are already live in this country. Make them all pay back what they use so that the resources are renewed for the next person in line that may need them.
At last a breath of fresh air and common sense regarding curtailing the freeloaders that we tax payers have to support. This should become a national “new deal” since it certainly is a national problem and disgrace. When those who are able to work are allowed to sit home like they’re on a permanent paid vacation and often make more money than the guy working two jobs something is definitely wrong with this country. It’s way past time for our bleeding heart, gutless politicians to quit buying votes and spending the “workers” hard earned cash.
the only thing I would modify is the last sentence and it would be “It’s way past time for our politicians to sort the freeloaders from the truly needy and quit spending the “workers” hard earned cash.
I’m not sure, but are you telling me this opinion still needs more modification?
I also support Mandatory Drug Testing for Welfare Cheats. But, I want to start with those Welfare freeloaders who have the most impact on the taxes we pay for there Welfare.
1) Corporations like GE. Secretary’s tax rate 25%. GE’s Federal Income Tax paid the last sevveral years -11% as in minus.
2) Corporations and individuals who ILLEGALLY offshore Trillions of $$$ ($46 Trillion is one estimate I read) so as to avoid paying LAWFUL taxe to the US and other governments.
3) Those rich and powerful who unlike average people employ powerful lobbyists and have specific special tax loopholes written into law not available to us.
Now the idiots who read this are now thinking that these are the “Job Creators” who get a free pass. But, that is is propaganda repeated by Fox “news” and AM talk radio. They say it all the time and the clueless parrots repeat the lie.
I;m all for drug testing of Welfare cheats, free loaders. Do the math.
I also would require testing for all lawmakers , as a majority of them do nothing for their compensation .. They also are taxpayer funded and some decisions they make suggest some serious mental defects..
Drug testing for handouts should be required in every State.
I LOVE THE GOVERNOR’S PROPOSAL!!! WE ALL KNOW THAT SO MANY PEOPLE ABUSE THE SYSTEM AND IT’S TIME TO SHUT THE FRAUD DOWN! I PRAY THIS BECOMES LAW FOR EVERY STATE IN OUR NATION. IMAGINE HOW THIS COULD CHANGE THINGS! I HOPE MR. WALKER FIGHTS FOR THIS (and doesn’t cave in to those who oppose this). THIS LAW IS LONG OVERDUE!!!
Thanks for your post and for Governer Walker trying to get aid to the people who need it instead of societies free loaders.
I think we are all sick and tired of the free loaders!