Texas advances bill to require drug screening for welfare

@haplos comment.

A simple reading of the text would have shown you better - unless of course you are out to merely argue for arguments sake. That would explain you quoting tribesman and bringing up the Bible instead of arguing the points.

If someone brings their religion into the topic the literature of that religion is naturally brought into the topic.
I see your problem with that though as your scripture doesn't support your views.

@ Aramike

I would be inclined to agree, accept that I don't see how drug testing would hit the most needy, unless of course they were using drugs, in which case there's a whole different case for change.

I know, that was a general comment about how the usual populist approaches to a solution pan out.
However on the drugs issue, how does the new system differentiate between abuse of illegal drugs and illegal abuse of legal drugs?
Is there to be a medical panel to screen every applicants medical history and ongoing condition to ensure that the hillbilly heroin or mummys little helpers they got on script is for a genuine medical need rather than as a recreational feel good or an addiction?
Increasing costs again isn't it.

Personally, I would put recipients on an accountability program, requiring them to show where the benefits are going. Even if you're looking for a job, if you're not working I find it hard to believe that you wouldn't have the time to itemize your spending and learn the value of money and budgeting.

So that would be an ends testing as well as a means testing. Not a bad idea, but then again you are talking more costs and means testing alone already usually adds significantly more cost than it is able to save and must still be maintained when it makes no savings at all to stand aginst its expense.