Tennessee just wasted a lot of money drug testing welfare recipients

Kids, your conservative representatives might be on drugs

Tennessee's new policy of drug testing citizens who have applied for public assistance is going great!

Out of more than 16,000 applicants from the beginning of July through the end of 2014, just 37 tested positive for illegal drug use. While that amounts to roughly 13 percent of the 279 applicants who the state decided to test based on their answers to a written questionnaire about drug use, the overall rate among applicants is just 0.2 percent.

How awesome has this policy been? Ask a Republican!

“That’s 37 people who should not be receiving taxpayer subsidies, because they are not behaving as they are supposed to,” said state Rep. Glen Casada, a Republican from Franklin. “If the taxpayers are going to support you there are certain criteria you need to adhere to. This is a good use of taxpayer money.”

Super good use of tax payer money. For what it's worth, Tennessee is already not spending much on helping out its citizens that need the most help.

The state with the lowest benefits package in 2013 was Mississippi, at $16,984, followed by Tennessee ($17,413), Arkansas ($17,423), Idaho ($17,766) and Texas (18,037).

This is good news all around as Tennessee continues to grow its poverty levels while the rest of the country tries to lessen them.

Employment also improved across the mid-South. But poverty rates in Tennessee, Georgia and Alabama remained above the national average. In Tennessee and Georgia, one of every six residents was in poverty during the most recent 2012-2013 survey by the Census Bureau. The share of persons living in poverty rose to 18.4 percent in Tennessee, up 1.9 percent, and to 16.4 percent in Alabama, but it fell slightly in Georgia to 17.2 percent.

Tennessee: Not as bad as Mississippi.