welfare

From the Wall Street Journal:

Families were more dependent on government programs than ever last year.

Nearly half, 48.5%, of the population lived in a household that received some type of government benefit in the first quarter of 2010, according to Census data. Those numbers have risen since the middle of the recession when 44.4% lived households receiving benefits in the third quarter of 2008.

The share of people relying on government benefits has reached a historic high, in large part from the deep recession and meager recovery, but also because of the expansion of government programs over the years.

Uncle Sam sure likes to play Robin Hood and "spread the wealth".

According to Oklahoma House Representatives John Bennett (R-Sallisaw) and Guy Liebmann (R-OKC), requiring drug testing for welfare recipients in Oklahoma would save taxpayer money.

"Last year when I filed this bill as a freshman lawmaker, we were told that the Department of Human Services stood to lose federal money if we imposed drug test at the state level," said state Rep. John Bennett, R-Sallisaw. "Officials in Florida weren’t as timid and it is clear the program has been a huge success in just its first two months. As a result, we will try to advance this common-sense reform in Oklahoma again during the 2012 session."

However, this directly contradicts the reports from Florida which say that this mandatory drug testing is costing the state more.

At the risk of sounding too cliché... it's about damn time!

If you're like the majority of employees both in Oklahoma and throughout the United States, your employer likely subjects you to drug testing as a condition of your employment.  As it stands right now, if you are on welfare you are not required to submit to a drug test.  While I am all for freedom of choice as to whether someone wants to shoot their veins or snort coke, I'd much rather not be paying for it out of my taxes.

Senator Anthony Sykes has introduced a bill in the Oklahoma Senate to require all applicants and recipients of assistance through the state's Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program to submit to regular drug testing by the Department of Human Services.  The bill is introduced as an amendment to 56 OS 2001, Section 230.52, adding the following paragraph: