Perry to Sign Unemployment Benefit Drug Testing Bill:
Governor Perry today will sign a bill that mandates that recipients of unemployment benefits pass a drug test before receiving them, 1200 WOAI news reports.
This is a good example of how a lot of people feel about the accomplishments of the regular session of the Legislature, as neither Democrats nor Republicans like the measure Perry is about to sign.
Democrats point out that to receive unemployment benefits, a person has to have been working, and if that individual is fired for failing an employer-mandated drug test, the worker is not eligible for unemployment benefits anyway.
If this isn't a complete waste of money, I don't know what is. The Democrats are 100% right on this one--if you're fired for drugs, you already can't get unemployment. And the chances of someone being fired and then deciding to use their much-lessened money on drugs is, I would imagine, pretty fucking slim. And even if they do, I really don't give a fuck whether they receive unemployment benefits
The linked article talks about a similar program in Florida, which cost $175M and disqualified a whopping 2% of possible recipients. Look, I realize we've got a projected surplus. That doesn't mean we need to be wasting money.
This is just one more thing aimed at dividing the public in order to better control them. And I include Republicans' desire to test those applying for any government 'benefit' program in that. They want us to be so worked up over the woman with the Lone Star card maybe, just maybe smoking pot--and her so concerned with the assholes making assumptions about her based upon a piece of plastic in her hand--that we let politicians gallivant around and do basically whatever the fuck they want just so long as they have the right initial after their name.
And most of us are so stupid we fall for it.
3 comments:
There remains this urban legend of the Lone Star card carrying black person (or in San Antonio, brown person) who buys a bunch of steaks at tax payer expense, then tips the HEB bag-person a fiver, hops into the new Cadillac and is off to party at our expense. I've been to HEB and I've seen people use Lone Star. I've even mentally questioned the quantity of junk food versus healthy steaks. But for the life of me, I have yet to find this pot smoking, Caddy driving, steak eating welfare person living anywhere near me.
Just another waste of money to make people who think they pay real taxes happy.
You make a good point on unemployment. But I'm all for welfare recipients being tested for drugs...and alcohol, and nicotine. These things are not necessities, and we're not going to provide them for you. If you live on my dime, you live by my rules.
Don't like it? Get a job and buy your own beer and smokes, just like I have to.
If you take a closer look at the bill it only applies to people looking to work in fields with state mandated drug issues, such as aviation or truck drivers.
You can't use welfare to purchase alcohol or tobacco. I assume illegal drug dealers don't have a card machine tied to the Lone Star system. But I could be wrong on that last one.
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