Re: Here you go...Lawmaker wants drug tests for welfare recipients Archived Message
Posted by Liberal on January 21, 2011, 11:34 am, in reply to "Here you go...Lawmaker wants drug tests for welfare recipients"
i can only imagine what kind of crazy conversation this thread created... i only know that many unintelligent people who do not think things through probably went on a rant or two about welfare... being a liberal - i obviously support a safety net for the extremely poor in this country, i do think that no american should starve and could starve regardless of their efforts or abilities. i just wanted to say...i think the drug testing welfare recipients is a good idea in theory...but from a policy standpoint i see some potential problems with it... 1 - drug tests cost money. drug testing everyone on welfare regularly would cost us taxpayers more money. 2 - drug tests are easy to trick. they have synthetic urine you can buy in the store, there are pills that can strip toxins from fat cells (where drugs are stored in the body in most cases) and basically there is a science to passing drug tests. so not only will the tests cost taxpayers more, but it is far from fool-proof, meaning the people who this aims to remove from government assistance will still find ways to cheat the system. 3 - if someone is addicted to drugs, and spending their welfare money on drugs (by exchanging it for food money etc.) - they are buying drugs instead of food for their children. that is terrible. but this solution does not remedy this. if a mother fails a drug test...do you take away her children? that would be extreme - but the alternative is taking away government aid - which in turn means cutting off any groceries that DID get purchased... see what i mean? you took a mental illness (addiction to drugs) and used it to justify breaking up a family and/or starving them. i think the proper approach would be to treat the addiction as an illness and get help for the mother...but do not let those kids starve. NO AMERICAN SHOULD STARVE. for many of you tea party folks - wouldnt this kind of policy contradict your desire for less government intrusion? or does that privacy you feel entitled to only apply to people with money? i think i posed some interesting questions and i have a hard time making up my mind about this issue. welfare is necessary. no discussion. but public policy should aim to resolve societal issues. i fear how little this policy will resolve - and what NEW problems it will bring about. i think a BETTER reform of welfare would be to focus more on putting people to work rather than finding ways to remove people from it. cutting into these benefits has 2 adverse effects... 1 - crime will go up. when people are starving and desperate they do whatever they have to in order to survive. 2 - you may only trim the budget by a small amount. the fact is, even if you eliminated welfare altogether, the states that are choosing to drug test those on welfare would STILL be running a massive deficit. the problem is that money is not coming in like it did at one point in time. industry is gone in this country - and thus so are those taxes. and the truth is, AND REPUBLICANS WOULD RATHER IGNORE IT... TAXES HAVE NOT GONE UP IN A LONG TIME - AND DUE TO THE BUSH TAX CUTS BEING EXTENDED THEY STILL WILL NOT FOR MANY WEALTHY AMERICANS. the sad truth is, americans need to stop being greedy and think about the community, the culture, the society as a whole. we just got out of a long expensive war that we have not paid for yet, and industry is dead in this country; our infrastructure is out-dated. i fear that those begging for tax cuts and a reduction in government spending might someday get their way...when the only action necessary is increasing taxes. ill gladly pay my higher share of taxes to help the less fortunate and downtrodden people of this nation. i am not a religious person - but i think that is the christian thing to do?
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Message Thread: | This response ↓
- Here you go...Lawmaker wants drug tests for welfare recipients - busymom January 17, 2011, 5:26 pm
- Re: Here you go...Lawmaker wants drug tests for welfare recipients - gcbilliardclub January 17, 2011, 5:35 pm
- Re: Here you go...Lawmaker wants drug tests for welfare recipients - gcbilliardclub January 17, 2011, 6:15 pm
- Re: Here you go...Lawmaker wants drug tests for welfare recipients - 3Dee January 18, 2011, 10:19 am
- Why should welfare programs exist? - Dr. Ray Langston January 18, 2011, 11:03 am
- Re: Here you go...Lawmaker wants drug tests for welfare recipients - machine January 18, 2011, 12:20 pm
- Re: Here you go...Lawmaker wants drug tests for welfare recipients - granitegurl January 18, 2011, 2:34 pm
- Re: Here you go...Lawmaker wants drug tests for welfare recipients - catching12 January 19, 2011, 10:19 am
- Re: Here you go...Lawmaker wants drug tests for welfare recipients - dogwhisperer2003 January 20, 2011, 11:38 am
- Re: Here you go...Lawmaker wants drug tests for welfare recipients - Liberal January 21, 2011, 11:34 am
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