New legislation is headed for a vote in the Michigan state house that would require recipients of welfare to be tested for drugs. The ACLU is against the legislation.
Detroit Free Press
The bill approved Wednesday by the House Family and Children Services Committee would allow the Family Independence Agency to require a drug test if one of its employees has probable cause to suspect a recipient of substance abuse.
...
a number of Republicans on the committee argued that it's an important way to get low-income adults on the path to self-sufficiency.
OK, if welfare
has to exist then you should
have to go by the rules in order to get your
free check. Granted there are some who truly need it to bounce out of some seriously messed up financial situations, but I don't think that anyone can argue that there is a large part of society who are just taking the free money so they don't have to work.
Some would argue that welfare needs to go away all together. I am not one of those people. I do believe that anyone receiving welfare should have to abide by the rules set to receive it, including drug testing, limitations on the period of time you can receive it and maybe even an investigative service that can monitor someone if they are suspected of welfare fraud.
Food stamps don't work for those on drugs, they simply sell them for real money at .50 cents on the dollar or some reduced rate. California has attempted to combat this by issuing "food stamp credit cards" that use the same atm/credit readers in grocery stores that normal credit cards use.
Giving people straight cash with no limitations is just a horrible way to ensure that the money goes where it's supposed to. I don't have all the answers, but there has to be a better way.
I really hope this legislation passes and that it spreads throughout the country as well. Something has to be done so that working people aren't fitting the bill for, not only illegal activities, but widespread fraud in general.
ACLU lobbyist Shelli Weisberg said the proposed legislation doesn't reflect the state's deal with the group because it would allow any FIA employee to require a drug test.
"FIA employees do not have training to know probable cause," Weisberg told the committee.
Well that's an easy argument to beat, hire a professional. You could easily offset their salary every year with the number of cases of fraud and drug use that are surely out there.
The ACLU has turned into such a joke. If that's their strongest argument it just proves that they have no argument.
Hat tip: Fark
