Monday, March 2, 2015

Drug Testing for Welfare Benefits

Drug Testing for Welfare Benefits is Back?

Despite several prior unsuccessful attempts to pass legislation in this regard, the GOP are putting this issue back on the table.  The logic behind this bill is that we should not have taxpayers pay for peoples drug habits.  While no one can argue with this premise, their logic is flawed.  It does not necessarily follow that because someone is testing positive, that they are misusing the state benefits for thier children.  And even if they are positive, what happens to thier children.  Is the state going to designate a third party to purchase food and other items for the children of otherwise eligible parents.  I am not against drug testing, I just dont think its a fix.  Instead of drug testing, there should be more restrictions of the method of payment or the items that can be purchased.  Sodas, chips, and ice cream are items that are currently available for purchase.  Yet you wont see these items restricted due to the deep pockets of the lobbyists for the companies producing these products.  This shows legislators true intentions of punishing a social economic class rather than trying to fix the problems with the program.

Tuesday, January 20, 2015

State of the Union

I am glad to hear the discussion of the need for affordable day care.  I have been screaming about this for years.  The family structure is falling apart due to low wages , increased cost of living, the need of both parents to work to get by.  This is also related to the type of jobs families are relying on to support themselves.  Working at retail stores and fast food restaurants is not enough to live off of. Parents are forced to work more hours while at the same time trying to raise their children.  Our youth are being affected by this parental absenteeism.  We are relying too much on public schools to raise our children.   We need to crack the whip at big corporations, bring jobs back to America, allow families to rely on one parents earnings, and get back to raising our kids at home. Oh and a civics class or two won't hurt either.