.....For Everyone Who Receives Government Benefits.
Oh yes I do! Here's Why
The Republican noise machine has done a splendid job of creating low-low-low information voters for the last 40 years, and the graph in this excellent post from yesterday is clear proof that Americans don't understand what government assistance is.
And that's the small stuff, that's the stuff that isn't adding Billions to the deficit.
People are waking up, however, and they're actually willing to learn, to understand, to quit voting against their own best interests. I credit President Obama and OWS. The 99% are in the mix, for the first time in my lifetime.
Mandatory drug testing for recipients of government benefits won't reduce our deficit (note that there's about a 3% level of fraud at the basic survival levels) unless we start at top income levels and gradually work our way down.
Just as a side note, this could be the Jobs Program to end all Jobs Programs!
Let's start with the larger government assistance programs I'm aware of. (Please feel free to add your favorites)
Starting in January of 2013:
....every top level executive and all board members from all oil, gas, and coal extraction companies who receive subsidies of some kind (tax subsidies, drilling rights on public lands, tax credits, etc.) will be subject to mandatory monthly drug testing. (Powder cocaine IS a drug, guys, not a condiment.)
....everyone benefiting from the Capital Gains tax loophole is subject.
....every pharmaceutical company that benefits from research funded by government entities, or from tax breaks for R & D investment is subject.
That's enough for 2013, it will take a while to get up to speed. That's a lot of pee in a lot of cups. Anyone care to hazard a guess regarding employment possibilities in this suddenly booming industry?
January 2014:
....All Top Executives and Board Members for every major corporation showing earnings of more than $25,000,000 annually.
July 2014:
Phase in companies earning between 7.5 and 25 million.
January 2015:
....All executives and board members of all companies earning over 7.5 million from defense contracts.
That might keep us busy throughout 2016.
January 2017:
,,,,,Any Civil Servant earning more than $250,000 annually.
Somehow I suspect we could get to 2025 before we start drug testing the people who are luxuriating in their $250 food stamp benefit, or people barely surviving on disability payments.
Oh, the consequence of one person in your organization failing one drug test? Lose all your subsidies and tax breaks, pay the same tax rate Warren Buffet's secretary pays.
The main reason for pushing a bill like this through the long, messy congressional process is the education of the citizens of these United States.
People at Tea Party rallies demanding the government stay out of their Medicare aren't simply infuriating or mind-bogglingly stupid. They're victims of a damaging, dishonest and destructive propaganda campaign that has kept them ignorant, fearful, and angry for decades.
The ground for educating them is fertile. We need someone in Congress to add these provisions to the Republican bill, while loudly extolling the idea of cutting Welfare Fraud and balancing the budget. People need to become aware that Welfare Fraud is the near-exclusive purview of the wealthy and their political minions.
When we get to drug testing Congress, can we add alcohol testing? I'd be interested in the daily intake for some of these jokers. Cognitive impairment starts with the first drink, after all.