I do a lot of things on this blog (mostly a “lot” of complaining) but I try not to mention politics, religion, or “No No” topics like that. I also try not to re-post stupid stuff on facebook that my “friends” tell me to re-post, you know...”BLANK died in a crash today and if you don’t re-post, leprechauns will steal your pet…and if you don’t have a pet, they will buy you one…wait a few weeks for you to get attached…then steal it” you know stuff like that. But I saw a post that really spoke to me yesterday.
“Here...let me tick some people off...Did you get drug tested today? Thank you Florida, Kentucky, and Missouri, which are the first states that will require drug testing when applying for welfare. Some people are crying and calling this unconstitutional. How is this unconstitutional? It's OK to drug test people who work for their money but not those who don't?… Re-post this if you'd like to see this done in all 50 states. I just did!! I totally agree it should be mandatory!!”
*IMPORTANT DISCLAIMER* (Me being a responsible Army Public Affairs person I want to make sure this statement is in here just in case more than my usual 6 or so readers look at this) THE FOLLOWING STATEMENT IS MY OPINION, IT IS NOT AN OFFICIAL OPINION OF THE ARMY, MY UNIT, MY FAMILY, MY WIFE, MY KIDS, OR MY TWO PET FISH THAT I HATE…IT IS MY OPINION. I WILL NOT TRY TO FIGHT YOU IN AN ABANDONED WAREHOUSE IF YOU DISAGREE; I WILL NOT SECRETLY MAKE A VOODOO DOLL OF YOU TO POKE EVERY NIGHT UNTIL YOU AGREE WITH ME…I JUST FOR ONE TIME WANT TO STRESS MY OPINION ON THIS SUBJECT.
I will start by responding to that post by saying… Actually Yes I did have a drug test today. (not today, but the day the post was sent to me) In fact…yesterday was my 3rd “random” drug test in about 30 days. But…I am not getting welfare, I AM getting paid by the government…I just am a Soldier in the United States Army.
MY OPINION is that if my tax money is going to you (which I have no problem with that) then technically you are a “government employee” you know like me…we get our paycheck from the same guy…good ol’ Uncle Sam. So since we are both “government employees” we should be held to the same standard. In the Army the standard pretty much equates to one mandatory test a year…and subject to a random test at anytime. I stress the ANY part because like any good Soldier story starts…One time, when I was deployed to IRAQ….
So MY OPINION is YES!!!! I think all states should have this. If you NEED help, we NEED your pee (wait that didn’t sound right.) So suck it up, learn to pee while people are watching (that also doesn’t sound right.) and learn a joke to tell the observer to make them feel really uncomfortable for having to watch.
I see your point, but I wanted to clarify a few things.... I'm not totally sure unemployment benefits come from other people's tax money. The amount of benefit you get is based on your past earnings in the past.. year or so (it's kind of a complicated formula). So basically, the more you've earned recently, the more you get. I'm not sure if taxpayer money is needed for administration of this stuff - probably.
ReplyDeleteAnother way to look at it is, you pay so many taxes when you do work, that when you need help through unemployment, it's like your money is coming back to you. Maybe people on certain other government programs get help even if they haven't worked in the past, but that's a different discussion. (If we're referring to that as "welfare" though maybe I'm addressing the wrong issues.)
Also - contrary to what some people think, unemployment is not given to you without any effort. They require you to apply three job applications a week, and can audit you and call you up and ask many questions about your situation. It's not unreasonable, but just trying to explain for those not familiar with the process that they don't just give you money and that's that.
Some civilian jobs I have been in required a drug test at the beginning, around when you get hired. I think that's reasonable, so maybe getting drug tested once when you first start unemployment might be reasonable, too. I think random tests throughout the time you're on it might be a bit much. For some occupations, if you're working with dangerous machinery or something, it might be reasonable to do more frequent randomized testing. The U.S. Army is... special, and I won't get into why here. But comparing it to the civilian sector, once at the beginning of getting benefits might not be unreasonable.
Bettina,
ReplyDeleteFirst off let me put this out there, I DO!!! think welfare is important, I know friends and family who have or are currently on it. I think it is a really great feeling to know that our society will try to help each other if they need it.
But,,,, for the people that say that its uncostitutional...it makes me think "you want to follow by the laws when they protect you...but what about that ONE law we have in the great old U.S. of A that says unless prescribed to YOU...DRUGS ARE ILLEGAL!!!"
I know most people dont agree with that, but you cant just decide to only follow the rules you like, (if thats the case I would drive all over the grass to avoid Highway traffic here in hawaii)