You Want to Drug Test Welfare Recipients?

[Okeefenokee]

Welfare is voluntary. No one has a gun to anyone's head to take money from other taxpayers and spend it on drugs.

[SuburbanFarmer]

Welfare is voluntary. No one has a gun to anyone's head to take money from other taxpayers and spend it on drugs.

So begging on the street to feed your kids is a valid option? Living in your car as well?

Consider: Once you've paid them their welfare, you've provided the opportunity for them to support themselves. If they choose to ruin their lives anyway, then you can be morally free of any obligation. It doesn't matter what they do with it, you did your part already.

Besides, drug testing on that scale loses ridiculous amounts of money anyway - defeating the stated purpose of 'saving federal money'. Indeed, the more you 'save' anyway, the more will be spent on something else. Your taxes aren't going down any time soon (ever), so what does it matter?

[K@th]

The ROI on drug testing welfare recipients just isn't there. We're spending hundreds to save pennies. Turns out a vast majority of welfare recipients aren't spending their days getting high.

It's an effort to remove agency from fellow citizens because they're too poor to achieve full citizenship rights.

Nah... it's a good premise, if it was bearing fruit and saving us money. It's not, though.

A few years ago, a suburb in Illinois increased the parking meter fees. As a result, they had to hire more people to empty the meters because they were filling up faster. The new employees cost more than the increase. Did they reverse it? No.

Not one person in government understands ROI.

[SuburbanFarmer]

Not one person in government understands ROI.

This is absolutely true. And the cause of many of our problems.

[pineapplemike]

Beyond the argument of 'it costs more to drug test them then it's worth,' I think drugs aren't the only irresponsible way to spend welfare money. I worked at a gas station for several years and the people with food stamps and welfare cash would abuse the hell out of it. No sense in trying to upsell to get more bang for their buck or offering a similar product at a cheaper price, so what if Coke is on sale, I want Pepsi. And a bag of chips too. Fuck going to the supermarket down the street where everything is half the price, throw another bag in there. And this candy bar. Ok now let me get a pack of smokes with my actual cash. Oh shit you've got the new scratchers in? Let me get some of these too, let me get 20 of the $1 tickets even though you're telling me the single $20 card has much better odds, etc etc.

In many cases the money is being wasted regardless

[Okeefenokee]

Welfare is voluntary. No one has a gun to anyone's head to take money from other taxpayers and spend it on drugs.

So begging on the street to feed your kids is a valid option? Living in your car as well?

You could always, you know, not blow money on dope while you're fucking broke and getting assistance from other taxpayers. That's another option.

This fucking entitlement mindset is ludicrous. You're talking about the government taking your money at the point of a gun and giving it to someone else so he can buy dope. It's asinine.

I've read about the ROI Kath's talking about. It could be true. I'm skeptical as it's mostly been small scale pilot tests that could easily have been nudged in the right direction to keep the bennies coming.

[Okeefenokee]

Beyond the argument of 'it costs more to drug test them then it's worth,' I think drugs aren't the only irresponsible way to spend welfare money. I worked at a gas station for several years and the people with food stamps and welfare cash would abuse the hell out of it. No sense in trying to upsell to get more bang for their buck or offering a similar product at a cheaper price, so what if Coke is on sale, I want Pepsi. And a bag of chips too. Fuck going to the supermarket down the street where everything is half the price, throw another bag in there. And this candy bar. Ok now let me get a pack of smokes with my actual cash. Oh shit you've got the new scratchers in? Let me get some of these too, let me get 20 of the $1 tickets even though you're telling me the single $20 card has much better odds, etc etc.

In many cases the money is being wasted regardless

Now now, don't you go tryin' to remove their agency.

[K@th]

Well, it is pretty ridiculous how welfare money is allowed to be used, in general. However, I'd argue that corporate welfare is far more expensive for us and we impose NO restrictions on corporate welfare recipients. I'm always a fan of sorting the Excel spreadsheet in descending order and tackling the most expensive problems, first.

[SuburbanFarmer]

Welfare is voluntary. No one has a gun to anyone's head to take money from other taxpayers and spend it on drugs.

So begging on the street to feed your kids is a valid option? Living in your car as well?

You could always, you know, not blow money on dope while you're fucking broke and getting assistance from other taxpayers. That's another option.

This fucking entitlement mindset is ludicrous. You're talking about the government taking your money at the point of a gun and giving it to someone else so he can buy dope. It's asinine.

I've read about the ROI Kath's talking about. It could be true. I'm skeptical as it's mostly been small scale pilot tests that could easily have been nudged in the right direction to keep the bennies coming.

It's no longer my problem what they do with it, and what they suffer, once the opportunity has been provided. I don't have to watch people starve and feel bad for not doing anything, because I know that they've been given a small piece of my taxes, to provide. If they fuck up anyway and live in hell, it's not my problem.

And for every piece of filth blowing his checks on lotto tickets, there are a dozen families that have food in their bellies. Looking at the extremes does not paint a balanced picture, no matter how righteous your anger. Get over it.

[Hanarchy Montanarchy]

Why don't we just stop wasting money on morality policing all together. Legalize all drugs, and take the money we save and invest it in rehabilitation so people who want to get better actually have a chance to get healthy and off the dole.

For people who want to starve, and then OD, not my problem.

Seems better than slapping onerous, wasteful and invasive tests on the poor who need help just to make sure some of them aren't partaking in minimal luxuries we disapprove of.