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Story Archives: Drug testing welfare recipients is another government program


Drug testing welfare recipients is another government program
by Chad Rogers - posted Friday, April 23rd, 2010 @ 11:44 pmE-mail Story E-mail Story | Print Story Print Story 
In politics, there is what's called the "Ratchet Effect." It's a term used to describe the government's inability to scale back huge government programs once they are established. With most bureaucracies, this has certainly been the case, and with few exceptions, government growth has led to more government growth.

Here's one example of how this works. People are employed by sitting U.S. congressmen to provide something called "constituent services." What do people in "constituent services" do? They help constituents cut though government red tape when they are trying to claim some government benefit. The senior prescription drug benefit plan passed on President George W. Bush's watch is an example that comes to mind.

Let's say a little old lady is in need of coverage for some prescription drug and knows that she is eligible for it, but she isn't sure how to go about getting said coverage. What does she do? She picks up the telephone and calls her local congressman, whose constituent services personnel takes care of the problem.

In short, our tax dollars pay government employees to "solve" problems created by government. It's a vicious cycle and it's an expensive one.

Rep. John Labruzzo has proposed a bill to require welfare recipients take a drug test to remain eligible to welfare benefits. He's received accolades from many on the Right. "They have no right to spend my tax dollars on illegal drugs!" That's the logic, and it completely misses the point.

The problem is the welfare state itself. It's built upon the notion that government has the right to take what one person earns and give it to someone else who has not earned it. Such a notion was not in the vision of our Founding Fathers, and the welfare state should not exist.

Mr. LaBruzzo's bill ignores this fact and chooses to concentrate on the welfare state's abuses. The current welfare state allows recipients to spend other peoples' tax dollars on drugs. The common sense thing to do is eliminate such a program.

Rep. Labruzzo, though, doesn't want to eliminate it. Instead, he wants to create another program. For that's exactly what drug testing for welfare recipients is. It's a government program, just as the welfare state is.

If LaBruzzo gets his way, not only would we be paying welfare recipients to be indigent, but we also would pay them to get drug tests. Those who passed the taxpayer-funded drug test would continue to receive welfare benefits. Those who failed most likely would receive taxpayer-funded assistance for their problem, or rehab(yet another government program). So it's likely that drug testing would ultimately cost more money than the current status quo.

Who gets to do the drug testing? What if the process of choosing the "drug testers" ends up being corrupted? Do we create another agency to deal with that problem? Where does it end?

Any and all welfare reform should be about saving the taxpayers money. LaBruzzo's bill would not accomplish it.

Chad Rogers is publisher of The Dead Pelican, a news web site. The site can be read at www.thedeadpelican.com.
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