Texas advances bill to require drug screening for welfare

[mookiemookie]

http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013...r-welfare?lite

First off, the Fourth Amendment says the government can't search you without probable cause. So now we're saying that if you're on welfare, that's a criminal behavior that opens you up to governmental search?

So now you say I'm a bleeding heart liberal with a soft spot for welfare queens? Ok, let's talk about it in terms that the Tea Party loooooves to harp on. Government spending.

Let's talk money and math. How many drug addicts do you think you're going to catch here out of all the welfare recipients tested? 20%? 10%? 1%?

Let's look at Florida, where a similar law was put into place:

For a cautionary tale, just look to Florida. In 2011, the state passed a law requiring all welfare recipients to be tested before they received help. Applicants had to come up with the $30 to $35 for the test; only those who passed would be reimbursed.

It turned out that of the 4,086 who took the tests, only 108 — just 2.6 percent — failed, most for marijuana. That’s far below the 6 percent state average of Floridians who use drugs. (An analysis by the state showed that the drug testing requirement didn’t tamp down applications.)

Not only was Florida left with mud on its face; it also had a small hole in its pocket. At about $35 per test, the state had to reimburse $118,140. After deducting the “savings” from the 108 who did not receive benefits, Florida lost $45,780.

http://www.dallasnews.com/opinion/ed...das-lesson.ece

And not to mention that a federal appeals court struck down Florida's law.

Waste of my taxpayer dollars.