TOWN HALL: Test welfare users for drugs (poll)
Bill would require it by law
Those darn welfare people have our country more than $200 trillion in debt. Make them pee in cups so we can test their urine for drugs.
That’s where we’re heading, as House Bill 1046 works its way through the Colorado Legislature. The bill, sponsored by Rep. Jerry Sonnenberg, R-Sterling, proposes drug tests for anyone applying for benefits under the federally funded Temporary Assistance to Needy Families program (TANF). Each applicant would pay $45 for the test. Mike Krause, director of operations at Colorado’s Independence Institute, said “it’s big government in a small bottle.”
The bill passed the House Health and Environment Committee on Thursday.
“If you can spend money on drugs, why do you need the government’s check?” Sonnenberg asked the committee.
That’s a perfectly reasonable question. In a perfect world, each of us would live only on money that we earned and few would give a darn how we spent it.
We, of course, do not live in a perfect world. A majority of Americans live off of other people’s money, subjecting themselves to external controls.
With that in mind, we can get behind a law that forces welfare applicants to give a little urine. We support it with a caveat. We want urine from anyone in Colorado who receives federal or state assistance of any sort, whether it’s a hundred dollars or hundreds of millions.
Before Boulder County’s Abound Solar receives another $400 million check, we want the board of directors, the CEO and the CFO to give urine. Before Colorado Springs spends another dime on new clean coal technology, we want urine from the developer. Want a community development block grant, or tax rebates for creating jobs? Prove your purity.
Taxpayers have spent hundreds of billions of dollars in recent years giving money to corporate executives who lacked private capital. That makes them a lot like the folks who get public assistance in order to feed children and keep the heat on. Some corporate welfare recipients make horrible use of the money and leave taxpayers holding the bag. It is likely that some of the CEOs, CFOs and board members use drugs.
“In this challenging economic environment, more and more CEOs are under fire — meaning that more will look to escape or cope with their stress through the use of illicit substances,” says an online ad for a consortium of rehab clinics.
Should applicants for Temporary Assistance to Needy Families bet tested for drugs? Vote in poll to the right. Must vote to see results.
We need to know who they are. The recipient of corporate welfare manages millions of our dollars at any given time; a welfare parent on TANF manages a few hundred bucks.
If we’re going to test household and corporate welfare recipients, we must also test members of the state legislature. They are responsible for a state budget of more than $20 billion, and we know some of them misuse alcohol and drugs.
So pass this bill and test for drugs. But make sure it includes all who receive and manage public funds.
That's our view. What's yours? Please initiate or join in a Facebook discussion below, and vote in poll to the upper right.
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