Drug Testing Welfare Recipients

http://www.nola.com/politics/index.ssf/2012/05/welfare_drug-testing_bill_appr.html

 ...Sounds like a great idea right?? At first I was all for this, but after doing my research, I think this is a BAD idea, and I'll tell y'all why....

Read the bill. It calls for drug testing only 20% of those that receive the Family Independence Temporary Assistance Program. That's it. Not food stamps, not WIC, not TANIF, nothing else.  FITAP is a temporary program in its self(max 60 months), and if you look at the Louisiana DSS website, they are ALREADY required to participate in drug screening-it says so on their checklist:
http://www.dss.state.la.us/index.cfm?md=pagebuilder&tmp=home&pid=139

Once again, our useless Louisiana politicians are attempting to put a band-aid on a gushing dam, and ignoring the real problems.  What are the real problems? You got about an hour?  This is how I see it...

They are going about this the wrong way. We live in a broke ASS state...Louisiana has some of the highest oil royalty payments, yet we are one of the poorest states, with one of the highest welfare rates, but also some of the richest politicians. Anyone see something incredibly alarming about that? We are a state of waste. A state of lying, and cheating, and robbing legislators. Representative so and so's brother is an electrician, so he gets a contract to install street lights, yet takes the money and never gets the job done....Senator blah blah has a cousin who is an attorney, he gets contracts to review things that he never reviews and still gets paid...And nobody does a damn thing about it. This state has rampant, and BLATANT disregard for doing the right thing and doing what you are paid to do. And everyone just looks the other way. Like it's accepted, expected, and ignored. That is WRONG. All of this money flows into our state, yet none of it gets to where it's supposed to go-our elected officials, appointed officials, all of them....are robbing us blind. Meanwhile, we have an education system hanging on by a thread, and no end in sight.

Drug testing to get welfare should be mandatory. If you want the tax payers to pay your way, you should be drug free and making an effort to get off of it ASAP.  Not just 20%. And not just those getting FITAP. Because that's not really where the problem is.

The cost alone to attempt to do the 20% that they are aiming for is going to be astronomical-that $45k figure is bullshit and we all know it. Then you open yourself up to legal issues with the hows and whys of WHO gets tested. Civil suits will be rampant. All the more reason to test them ALL. And then, if you fail the test, you don't lose your benefits, you go to rehab. Anyone have any idea how much that costs??? A LOT. Like A LOT. So in our broke ass state, we will still pay for you, but we will also pay for rehab. That makes sense...spend more money.

Where is all the money for this coming from? We can't pay our teachers, we are closing schools, cutting education programs left and right, and laying people off. We drive on roads that eat your tires. Down in New Orleans, we are living in a war zone. How is there money for drug testing and rehab but not for quality of life issues? Why are we trying to waste money on this program instead of investigating the reasons why we have SO many depending on the system and fixing it? Where did this gimmee, gimmee mentality come from?? We have enabled people to be lazy and dependent on others to do what they are supposed to be doing. I get it if you need help, and you should get help, but there are hundreds of thousands of able-bodied people out there using the welfare system as their main source of income, instead of hustling to make their own way.

This bill is aimed in the wrong direction. We need to be focusing on education, and throwing money at THAT. Not some dumb, useless bill that will do NOTHING but cause problems. Test them all or none of them. Spend money on fraud investigations, and the very obvious abuse of the system that goes on here.... and all our politicians look the other way. Because noone wants to offend anyone.

Well, I don't care if anyone finds what I'm about to say offensive, because it's the damn truth...it's not a race, class, or status thing, it's a doing the right thing thing:

If you have two arms, two legs and aren't sick or hurt, your ass should be working. If you have a fancy car, jewelry, and expensive clothes and shoes, your ass does NOT belong on welfare. And you should be ashamed of yourself walking into a store covered in designer everything, and whipping out a food stamp card that I, as a tax payer, helped pay for. As I stand behind you counting my coupons and panicking if I have enough money for what's in my cart, and then load it all up in my 12 year old van, with my payless on my feet, and  no jewelry on. But I have to pay for you to eat. That's not fair.
You know why I don't have much jewelry? Because I sold most of it. I did what I had to do for my family. It's just stuff....I'll get new stuff one day maybe, but my family's well-being comes first, and it's my and the hubs job to make sure our kids have what they need. Sometimes that comes with having to sell things, or pick up extra shifts, pay bills late, whatever it takes. We do whatever it takes to make it. Because we were raised properly.
 Nobody should be standing in a welfare office until they have exhausted all other options. Shit, we exhausted all of ours and still can't get help, but we make it.  Can't quite make the light bill this month? Go sell those rims and use the ones that came with the damn vehicle. Can't make the gas bill? Go sell some of that jewelry. Can't quite make rent? Go sell that sound system. Ask for an extra shift at work, go cut some lawns, wash cars....you are supposed to do for yourself, not expect someone else to do it for you.
On the Louisiana general application, there are areas where you are supposed to list all of your assets, major purchases, cars, etc....that are in your name or available to you. So the Escalade that you have in your grandmother's name is most definitely an asset, because it is available to you. That bank account you have full of money is an asset. All of that jewelry is an asset. So many people check that "none" box. People walk into these offices lying their asses off and nobody says a word. Our social workers are so overworked and understaffed, that they can't even get through all the applications, much less start questioning the answers on them. If it looks good, it's approved...on to the next one.
It's almost like a joke in this state. Or a point of pride. Yeah I got food stamps, and the car and the clothes...yeah me! Walking into Wal Mart, I hear all kinds of joking around between cashiers and customers about how much people lie on their applications...extra kids, sharing kids, telling them you take care of your grandma who actually lives in another state....all things I have heard with my own ears. Again, as I sit there with my coupons, ears burning because I know I have to contribute to that.
I see it in New Orleans a lot....kids are raised to work the system. They don't know anything else. They are told that you have babies, you get money...you have more, you get more. There is no sense of responsibility. No work ethic. Nothing. They aren't going to work, why should they? That's the attitude that is killing us. This mentality that the government is here to take care of you has to go. You are supposed to take care of YOURSELF and your children...YOU ARE. You are the one in charge of your life-you are the one who had these kids, you take care of them. It's nobody else's job but yours. I don't understand how we have gotten to this point.Nobody is entitled to SHIT...you work for it. You earn it. This bullshit entitlement mentality is ridiculous.
Wake up Louisiana! Get on your representatives and senators to push for change, to start spending money in the right places. We need to get a grip on waste in general, and I think it starts here.