Wednesday, April 1, 2009
Legislature / Woods Another Compassionate GOP Idea: Let's Force Poor People to Take Drug Tests
Posted by Jeff Woods on Wed, Apr 1, 2009 at 6:27 PM
"Taxpayers are concerned. They're concerned that their tax dollars might be funding the monster of drug addiction, and they don't want that. We know that children are not as safe in homes where parents are using drugs but yet we're subsidizing that behavior through federal programs."Nashville Democratic Rep. Brenda Gilmore responds:
"I don't think we need to prey on poor people anymore than what they already have to be subjected to. I would really like us to use this money that we're going to use for testing in the way of education and in the way of getting services where they can get help and then we can get people off of drugs."OK, Gilmore makes a decent point. But let's not be hasty here. Pith thinks Lynn may be on to something. So that the whiny poor aren't suing us for discrimination, why not expand her idea? How about forcing real-estate tycoons to take drug tests in return for their FONCE tax breaks? Pith also would favor drug tests for state legislators. Judges, prosecutors, the governor, members of Congress ... the sky's the limit! In fact, let's give drug tests to every single person who takes a dime of public money. h/t Kleinheider Update: Not to be outdone in the compassion department, Rep. Stacey Campfield is pushing a bill to make it illegal for people on public assistance to win the lottery.
Comments (21)
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I totally agree! If you've never had a gun in your mouth from some bastard on welfare, then you're probably a proud member of the Obamanation, anyway! Remember, there's always one, big fat Mama ready to scream how she's the victim, when a citizen puts one of her gang-banging sons in the ground!
You guys are just getting pathetic...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yellow_journalism
"How about forcing real-estate tycoons to take drug tests in return for their FONCE tax breaks?"
I see Woods is again mouthing off about something he knows nothing about.
People on food stamps are getting a handout of SOMEBODY ELSE'S MONEY.
People who get tax "breaks" are KEEPING THEIR OWN MONEY.
They are the ones who made it in the first place.
Big difference.
Woods,
You really don't know much about Real Estate Tax. It's a pretty simple tax issue that you don't understand. The FONCES were created to give small real estate investors a level playing field when they are in teh same marklet as REITS and other large Real Estate investment Corps that pay out most of the income and their are excempt from Franchise Tax.
These people in FONCES pay income and property tax. How is a tax break not paying Corporate Tax when are not? A mom and her son that own family real estate should pay the same corporate tax as Walmart?
Do you really think that? Do you fully understand what you are talking about?
I have read two articles by this writer and in that short time, he has managed to prove himself a complete idiot. So it is OK to humiliate the workers who work and pay taxes that are given to these "poor" people with pre - employment and / or random drug tests at work but not OK to humiliate the people who take these stolen funds and lay around all day? What is wrong with you Jeff Woods? No, seriously, WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?
So they are proposing to drug test everyone whoe receives any form of Government aid? So are they going to test the entire hosuehold including the children or the elderly or infirm? How are we going to pay for it? How will it be administered? Where will the testing take place? Who will make a profit off this? What kind of appeal process will be in place for false positives due to eating poppyseed dressing? Will it be randomn testing or scheduled? Is this going to be a urine test or blood test? What if someone is unable to urinate or has poor blood vessel that make it difficult if not impossible to get a sample? There are lots of questions that need to be answered.
You're right, Fox. They'd have to set up a pretty big statewide bureaucracy to make this happen, and it would be very expensive administering and sending out all those tests to a lab. There's no way the state can afford this when it's already making monster cuts.
This headline defines yellow journalism. People seeing it in passing with think that people are actually wanting to force arbitrary drug tests on "poor" people but really, all they want to do is make sure food stamps aren't being distributed to crack addicts.
What is the problem here, exactly? No one is "forcing" anyone to do anything. You want free money? Then there are some conditions. Not using them to buy crack is one of those conditions.
What a joke.
Why are our legislators suddenly so terribly interested in how those receiving public assistance are spending their money? Are they afraid that someone's giving the poor more of the taxpayers money?
Okay, they can't play the lottery if they receive food stamps. Can they smoke cigarettes? Can they buy junk food? Can they--I have an idea, why don't we just put all these nasty drug addicted people who are having so much fun while spending "our tax dollars" in a holding pen, feed them what we deem appropriate, allow them out to work on chain gangs or at really miserable menial jobs, after all they're almost all illegal immigrants anyway, aren't they? The things people will agree to are truly scary. I saw a bumper sticker, "It's okay, I wasn't really using my civil liberties anyhow!"
After working in the system, I agree, there are some low-life people getting public assistance. But there are also many people who are unable to do better, and who are not low life scumbags, and we should be glad we live in a country where we support these people, even on a minimal level. Why don't our legislators figure out how to govern the state, fix the infrastructure, balance the budget, rather than worry that people who are getting $175 a month on food stamps are going to buy a lottery ticket and win a million dollars on a scratch off?
I would have a helluva lot more confidence in Rep. Susan Lynn if only her legislation required that all candidates for public office in Tennessee (you know, like Republican U.S. Rep. Zach Wamp) would be required to pee in a cup for drug testing!
I henceforth propose that such aforementioned pee cup benamed the Lynn Cup...the good people of Mt. Stupid need to elect someone else to conduct their state business within the Tennessee General Assembly.
re: Rep. Campfield and his pushing a bill to make it illegal for people on public assistance to win the lottery
Tell me Woods, is there just some sort of legislative proposal competition (or maybe a pool) within the TNGA Republican House Caucus to see which lawmaker can be the biggest dickhead in 2009?
The way to fix the whole thing is to get rid of all the government handouts for anybody across the board.
Government never had any legitimate authority to mandate charity from one group of citizens to another in the first place.
"Why are our legislators suddenly so terribly interested in how those receiving public assistance are spending their money?"
Did you read the article? These legislators have these little things known as constituencies. Do you approve of crack/meth addicts selling their free money to obtain crack/meth?
"re: Rep. Campfield and his pushing a bill to make it illegal for people on public assistance to win the lottery
Tell me Woods, is there just some sort of legislative proposal competition (or maybe a pool) within the TNGA Republican House Caucus to see which lawmaker can be the biggest dickhead in 2009?"
What is "dickhead"ed about it? Why are people begging for free money buying lotto tickets? You think playing craps with food stamps is ok?
If you guys want to piss your money away, so be it, but I shouldnt be forced to do the same.
To even suggest such a thing only proves that these people are sick in their souls infested with hate. If you were to cut them open they would be filled with pus and maggots where their hearts are suppose to be. In place of a soul there would be nothing but a hard black stone. they have no humanity, no care or concern for others, they are devoid of compassion and have abandoned all common sense. It is a travesty that they are our elected officials and whoever voted for them should hang their heads in shame. Yes Ms. Lynn is sick in her soul and for that there seems to be no cure.
...selling their "free money" for crack/meth..?I think you should check the stats here. Unemployment and food stamp numbers are very high right now. Duh, check the unemployment rate! Aid for Dependent Children, TANF, all these sort of programs are remaining stable.
People who are receiving unemployment receive checks NOT based on need. This is not general taxpayer money, this is a fund created from employer taxes. They receive unemployment insurance which comes to them for a specific amount of time, max of about $300 a week in TN. Not very many are going to get much crack or meth on that. Paying rent and car payments is tough enough. Violators of some sort of "drug free unemployed people" agenda are not numerous enough to benefit the state to put together a massive testing system. Food stamp credits are put on your personal card. Unless your local crack dealer has an account and takes your debit card, you're not gonna get many drugs with food stamps, either. Guess you can sell your bread and milk for them, huh? In any case, it's certain that if we find out we've got drug addicts (with one test? Sure!) we don't have any place to put them, lack of treatment facilities in Tennnessee is spectacular, and they probably don't have insurance to pay for it, even if they can get admitted to rehab facilities, so we have just created an immense state snafu. For what, so you can say, "We need to let these so and so's starve!" and "Not with MY tax dollars!" and feel good about it. Until, of course you are unemployed or need benefits of some kind yourself, at which time it becomes a different situation altogether. After all, you've paid in taxes all your life, right?
Reps. Susan Lynn and Stacey Campfield are hoisting these two strawman issues (i.e: poor people peeing into the Lynn Cup for random drug testing and confiscating lottery winnings poor tax paying Tennesseeans) in order to distract thier own constitiuents back home in Mount Stupid and Knoxville that they are incapable of putting together real legislation tackling real problems facing their district constitiuents, such as unemployment and business closings.
According to a Wikipedia article on the subject the "...success of EBT enabled Congress to rename the Food Stamp Program to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, as of October 2008, and update all references in federal law from "stamp" or "coupon" to "card" or "EBT". This was effectuated by H.R. 2419, The Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008 (a.k.a. "2008 Farm Bill") passed into law as Public Law No: 110-234, over President Bush's veto."
Lynn and Campfield (and perhaps the TNRP higher-ups as well) are painting the false picture in Tennessee that the U.S. Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (a.k.a. "food stamps") benefits are still transferred to low income Tennessee residents via federal paper coupons or "stamps" - this is not the case as Tennessee utilizes Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) cards to allow Tennesseeans to obtain food items.
Only a dickhead would assert that poor Tennesseans are using their EBT cards to either "play craps" in non-existent Tennessee casinos or to use EBT cards to somehow purchase Tennessee Lottery tickets or cards.
On the other hand, if Reps. Lynn and Campfield were wanting to enact legislation that would improve the nutritional value of the foods that Tennesseans purchased with EBT (e.g.: excluding soft drinks, confectionery items, refined grain bread and pasta purchases) I would actually support such positive efforts to improve Tennessee EBT.
By the same Campfieldian Logic, the Tennessee General Assembly should enact legislation preventing state residents receiving state and/or federal assistance from tithing to a church or other religious entity as not to endorse religion and to insure that these low income people are actually spending their 10% tithes to purchase food and heakth care services for their families...
I am sick of people feeling sorry for the poor. Poor is not the American standard of poor anymore it's poor because low-income housing has become a business place for the drug dealer to profit on lazy poor women that don't feel they have to work because they can profit better selling drug out of their apartment take it from someone who live in a nice tax credit apartment which was designed for middle-class people or the working poor we have to deal with drug dealer taking over and preying on lazy drug addicted women. Please someone comment on this.
Boy, some of you people are totally jaded! Not make them take a drug test? Are you crazy! YES! It's their JOB to suck the taxpayers out of their hard earned dollars so why not make them EARN it? How in the world can that be considered 'unethical' or 'unfair'? If that were the case, decent people, who manage to take care of their kids without parading them in front of the welfare office, would say it's unethical for their employer to drug test them at their job!
The whole purpose of welfare is to provide temporary assistance to those in need. Note: TEMPORARY, not "let's just keep on a havin younguns and we'll get us a government check for' em. And that basically what welfare has become. A lot of lazy people who have managed to sucker me and other hard working people into to paying for kids that aren't our responsibility. While I'm at the grocery store, counting my change for MY kids needs, I see those 'poor unfortunate souls' fill their buggies with steak and high dollar items that are a luxury for me and then pay for it with an EBT card and then crawl into their Lexus or Cadillac Escalade in the parking lot and drive back to the housing project I keep them up in!
So yeah, make them EARN my tax money by making them submit to a drug test. If they haven't done anything, well then it's not a big deal, now is it? Wake up and smell what you're shoveling people! That's why welfare continues to be screwed up. Stupid bleeding heart liberists who say "it ain't their fault'. It is because we have allowed it! I say test them all! I would rather my tax dollars go toward paying for drug tests to make sure MY money isn't going to some crack head with a bunch of babies they can't take care of than to continue to fund their habit for life!! Get over it!!
