Drug Test for Welfare

[snatchel]

Florida is going to start requiring random drug tests for those on welfare in July. Of course some folks have already started calling for blood--I see no reason why. A lot of folks who work for their money are required to drug test, I don't understand what the fuss is about. The big problem is that these screenings are based on a "stereotype," that all folks on welfare are drug users.... whatever. It's money given by the government, and just like any investment the government makes I think that they should check on where there money is going from time to time.

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[pbwalker]

I think there should be more to it. Of course, this is one of the areas where I can make Ann Coulter look like a Commie...

Drug test...random and frequent. A monthly review of their finances. You must work for the government while you are receiving benefits, or be in some kind of vocational education course. Mandated personal fiscal responsibility courses to continue benefits. If you have more kids, benefits stay the same. You better be driving a piece of garbage car...none of this Lone Star Card user who drives a $40,000 car. No more than one year of benefits, in a LIFETIME! You must prove your citizenship before you receive one penny. And to add icing to the cake, any benefits you use are deducted from your social security balance.

[snatchel]

I think there should be more to it. Of course, this is one of the areas where I can make Ann Coulter look like a Commie...

Drug test...random and frequent. A monthly review of their finances. You must work for the government while you are receiving benefits, or be in some kind of vocational education course. Mandated personal fiscal responsibility courses to continue benefits. If you have more kids, benefits stay the same. You better be driving a piece of garbage car...none of this Lone Star Card user who drives a $40,000 car. No more than one year of benefits, in a LIFETIME! You must prove your citizenship before you receive one penny. And to add icing to the cake, any benefits you use are deducted from your social security balance.

I will be voting for you to take Rick Perry's place when he leaves Texas to run for Prez.

[Jasonw560]

All of the above, and, since this is state issued, hey MUST shop in grocery stores only for recipients. The kicker....no sodas, potato chips, or oher junk food. They have to buy wholesome healthy food.

No Tommy Hilfiger, Aerpostale, or Nike shoes. For women, no Coach purses. If Walmart and Target are good enough for me, it's good enough for them. If they can afford the exprnsive clothes, then they don't need assistance.

[USA1]

Drug test...random and frequent. A monthly review of their finances. You must work for the government while you are receiving benefits, or be in some kind of vocational education course. Mandated personal fiscal responsibility courses to continue benefits. If you have more kids, benefits stay the same. You better be driving a piece of garbage car...none of this Lone Star Card user who drives a $40,000 car. No more than one year of benefits, in a LIFETIME! You must prove your citizenship before you receive one penny. And to add icing to the cake, any benefits you use are deducted from your social security balance.

What he said.

[Texas10X]

re: all the above.

[snatchel]

Nice. Think we have enough to make a recommendation to our representatives yet? LOL

[fulano]

I doubt they'd be smart enough to pass the test.

[flb_78]

If I were King, there would be no W.I.C., no Lonestar card.

After one provided all their financial information and proved they needed assistance, they would be given a 5 gallon bucket of beans and a 5 gallon bucket of rice for the month.

[SQLGeek]

I'm all for it. I have to pee in a cup and submit to a breath test at the whim of my employer or I'm out of a job. They should have to do the same.

Andy, it's all about the entitlement mentality. I have a friend that just got married and she is currently out of work while she is caring for her dying grandmother (and receive no state aid either). Her jackwagon of a husband is a substitute teacher by profession and just told her she needed to get a job this summer. He, however, will not be getting a job because he can draw unemployment...

[texanron]

Its just stupid to give these folks money without drug testing. I wonder if alcohol consumption would cause them to test positive? If it doesn't it should be part of the test as well. To let these folks simply sit around and do nothing is absurd. They could at least pick up trash on the side of the roads. How about a government subsidized car wash that they work at? Everyone who shows up with a current pay check stuba and valid state ID gets a free carwash!

[Purplehood]

If I were King, there would be no W.I.C., no Lonestar card.

After one provided all their financial information and proved they needed assistance, they would be given a 5 gallon bucket of beans and a 5 gallon bucket of rice for the month.

I gave out 55 kg bags of beans, rice and sugar in Afghanistan on the taxpayer's dollar. Why can't we do that at home?

As a side note: There is no incentive for the current administration to bite the hand that feeds them. Every individual that is on welfare voluntarily and wants to stay there is a sure-vote for the current administration. Why annoy a voter with silly-things like drug-testing? They might sober up, get off welfare, get a job and vote for the wrong candidates. Heaven forbid!

[The Annoyed Man]

I seriously don't get that mentality at all - have these people no sense of ethics or even some pride?

Uh... No, they don't.

Now, regarding Unemployment Insurance, I don't have a problem with it, so long as it doesn't drag on too long. Employers are already paying for it, and the legislature isn't going to get rid of it. Some people A) do not have the benefit of a second family income, and B) were not earning very much money to begin with, so they don't have any other income or savings to coast on while looking for another job. So since the unemployment insurance system is already in place, I want people to use it so they can keep paying their rent and bills and buying food while they look for a job.

That said, the tracking system that keeps track of where people have applied should include data about what the starting salary offered is for each open position that the unemployed person "applied" for. Then, when a job offers $45K and the applicant demands $80K, the TWC can eliminate that particular job application from the job searcher's list of jobs applied for so that they don't get credit for it as part of their search. Also, job applications where the level of education and experience required are not commensurate with the applicant's resumé should be eliminated from being credited. That way, only realistic applications will be considered as valid to the applicant's search.

The system ought to help a jobless person replace what they have lost with something in kind. It shouldn't be used for a worker to take a sabbatical and get paid while he sees what he can do to better his lot in life. That kind of betterment needs to happen on his own nickel, not on his former employer's or the taxpayer's.

For the record, after my former employer committed suicide and the company closed its doors, I applied for unemployment benefits........about two months after I lost my job and had had a so far fruitless job search. Nobody wanted to hire a 55 year old person with my job skills at anything close to the salary I was earning. I'm not just talking about just a cut in pay, I'm talking about a 50% cut in pay. By the time my first "payment card" arrived from TWC, I had already taken such a underpaying job out of desperation. In fact, I sold the guy on hiring me at a little over half of what I had been earning. After two months, he had buyer's remorse and let me go.......from a position for which I was vastly over-qualified. 2008 was a tough year for the printing industry, and it hasn't really gotten any better. That is when I made the decision to start my own business, and I haven't looked back since. It's been a rough time to start a business, and my income nets out to less than I was earning at that last job, but at least I don't have to put up with someone else's crap. Anyway, that first card had something like $300+ on it, which I took my sweet time to spend because I had that other job by then, and I never got another payment from the TWC.

Really, dealing with TWC was more trouble than it was worth—which is how it should be so that only the most desperate take advantage of it. It takes a special kind of lazy to actually make the effort to try and game that system, and you have to be willing to receive pennies on the dollar of your actual value as an employee—which is fine if you were a minimum wage employee to begin with, but is unacceptable if you had built a lifestyle based on considerably more income than that before you lost your job. Actually working is easier and less hassle. What really sustained me during that time, and continues to help out today as I grow my business, was savings, and interest on investments; but you couldn't pay me to deal with TWC again. I don't know how anyone else can stand it.

[RoyGBiv]

As a side note: There is no incentive for the current administration to bite the hand that feeds them. Every individual that is on welfare voluntarily and wants to stay there is a sure-vote for the current administration. Why annoy a voter with silly-things like drug-testing? They might sober up, get off welfare, get a job and vote for the wrong candidates. Heaven forbid!

That is NOT a side note.... That is EXACTLY the problem.