No Test, No Check Ronald Reagan said, “We should measure welfare’s success by how many people leave, not by how many are added.” People should find a way not to rely on the government for assistance unless it is truly needed. Welfare is defined as a program designed to help those in financial need or the unemployed by distributing goods or money. Welfare is made for those who need assistance for a short amount of time and is not meant to be long term. It is a privilege for those who are not financially stable enough to support themselves or their families. Currently, a portion of those granted with this government aid tend to abuse it by taking advantage of taxpayer’s money. Although many people believe that government aid should be given …show more content…
Welfare should be given where it is need. One argument for not drug testing is that welfare is a cross walk that provides support and relief for those with true need. It is intended to revive individuals to get back on there own feet but not to have a long term relationship with the government and feeds off of it’s dependency. A second argument for not allowing drug test to be done is that parents will not be able to support for their children. Over 50% of the students attending a public school from the Pre-K to 12th grade in the state of North Carolina are either receiving free or reduced lunch. How do parent not make enough money to feed their children when the government is giving them two meals a day for a week, for an average of one hundred and seventy- eight days? A third argument for not testing recipients is that the day-to-day needs such as food, Healthcare, and clothes will not be met for them. The purpose of a drug test is to see if a recipient is using drugs. If they test positive on that drug test, then one simply must ask where do they get the money to purchase these narcotize? If one is using drugs, it is assumed that they could also be buying alcohol and finding other addictions such as gambling. If a recipient is found positive, they should be removed from welfare and placed into a program of therapy for the drug abuse. Once they’ve recovered, hopefully for the better, they can enter society and the workforce with a positive
In Why Drug testing Welfare Recipients Is a Waste of Taxpayer Money, Darlena Cunha works to persuade that drug testing welfare recipients feeds the stereotype stigma towards those asking for the extra assistance and is actually wasting the taxpayer’s money. As soon as the page opens, there is a large image of two gloved hands holding a drug test. The picture is dark and the light is focused on a blue urine test for Cannabis and an Anatomical Therapeutic Chemical (ATC). As a result, the image automatically gives the reader a serious and eery tone.
The Welfare Reform Act of 1996 was a landmark legislation that drastically altered how the U.S. government approached poverty. Passed during Bill Clinton's presidency, the reform aimed to decrease the dependency on state support by promoting self-reliance and employment among the populace. This initiative gave birth to the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program. However, despite the seemingly positive intentions, the Act arguably created a plethora of issues. In fact, many have criticized the reform for its unrealistic assumptions about the reality of poverty in America.
That is not what welfare should be used for though, it should be used as an extra last resort support system for an individual until they can get back on their feet. This is why there are so many people on the street and in homeless shelters, because the government is giving them free money. This is why it should in the end be up to private organizations and charity. This is because if it is a small group of people working with the less fortunate they can get to know them individually and try to help them off of welfare or the support that they are getting. Granted there are some things that the less fortunate should have the opportunity to have and that is health care.
But, considering you are receiving government aid that is supplemented to you by taxpayer’s dollars, Larry should consider being more open. As a taxpayer, I would feel better knowing that those receiving benefits were housed, insured, well fed, and actively seeking employment. Given that they are essentially handed these things that many Americans have to work so hard for, the least they can do is submit a drug test every once in awhile so they can maintain their benefits that they hold so dearly to them. Question 2 addresses the thoughts and opinions of Russell Mendelson.
This is definitely not the case, public assistance is only given to those who are in desperate need of help. This is able to be controlled by the current welfare model which looks into who applies for and receives public assistance ensuring
This is not a waste of money, and should instead be considered a responsibility of the federal and state governments. Employers who test their workers foot the bill for the expenses of drug screening. Therefore, the federal government should pay the expenses of drug testing their welfare recipients, since most people on welfare receive assistance in place of a job. Also, supporters of drug testing would much rather pay to make sure people are living productive, and healthy lifestyles (“The Pros and Cons…” para 3). It is unfair for those who work hard everyday to support their families, to have to support those who are not taking the necessary steps to be
Close to $1,000,000,000 is used on drugs and alcohol, out of the $1,000,000,000,000,000 we spend on welfare. Since 2008 the welfare system has increased an extreme amount, we need to decrease this with one solution. Background check and drug testing are a necessary part of the welfare system due to using the taxpayers money. We need to reinforce our welfare system,inform people where their money is going, ensure that the taxpayers money is not being used on drugs and alcohol, and make sure we are not providing criminals or drug users with money; however we need to limit the spending by background checking. The American welfare system is broken and unconstitutional and we need to make it great
Welfare recipients should not be required to complete a drug test if other people receiving government
One side to this controversy would be that because of the screenings it would lower and prevent the use of drugs in poverty struck households. Many law officials believe that if a user had to submit to drug test they would get clean because the need for the government assistance would be of greater priority than abusing illegal drugs. Though this may be true in some situations, poor social classes are not the only citizens abusing drugs. It is well known that drugs are abused by people of all social classes. America needs to broaden their view point on this social matter because it effects everyone, not just those who live in poverty.
In the beginning, welfare was intended to help those suffering from an economic collapse during the Great Depression, but has since turned into a long term commitment for some (Besonen). In similar terms to Rep. Liebmann, Robert Rector, a Senior Search Fellow in Domestic Policy at the Heritage Foundation said, “Taxpayers should provide support to those in need; recipients, in return, should engage in responsible and constructive behavior as a condition of receiving aid.” It should be reasonable to expect the recipients to take pride in their earning instead of not understanding the standards set before them (Besonen). Drug tests have been set forth to uphold the responsible behavior of those receiving financial assistance (Besonen). While drug tests will probably be argued for many years to come, they are fair (Besonen).
According to statisticsbrain.com, their are 110,489,000 Americans who are on welfare and more and more Americans are applying for welfare each year. Many Americans rely on welfare for their families and for individual needs. Welfare recipients should not be permitted to take a drug test because drug testing is expensive for states and the country, drug testing is unconstitutional and welfare recipients do not do drugs any more than people who do not receive welfare. Drug testing is expensive and cost states a lot of money one drug test cost averages to about 42 dollars, not including the cost for equipment and hiring people to conduct the test. States start programs that require welfare recipients to take a drug test and the programs end up costing them up to 1 million or, even more, depending on the number of welfare recipients that reside in that state.
One of those reasons being, drug testing welfare recipients could waste taxpayer’s money. The government would use tax money to administer drug test (Cunha, par. 3). Many taxpayers do not feel like they are obligated to pay for a person’s drug habit (“Editorial: Drug Testing Welfare Recipients Doesn’t Add Up,” par. 1). In Tennessee, only one person to the 800 who applied for government assistance tested positive for drugs. In Florida, during four months of drug testing , only 2.6 % of welfare recipients tested positive, which was under Florida’s illegal use of 8%, which meant that fewer people using government assistance used drugs.
Drug testing individuals is not worth the money in the end because most people will not test positive. Most people tend to forget that most people receiving aid also are taxpayers. In 2010, nearly half the poor mother or near poor mothers were at least working part time (Cunha). If the people receiving aid are paying for the drug tests to they would probably rather keep that money then have it be wasted. Drug testing recipients is a waste of money since the government would be wasting more money on giving the tests then they would be
The government already pays the disabled money whether they work or not, so they shouldn’t be receiving any more welfare money. Welfare is keeping some families alive. However, some people are not even working and are receiving money from the government to support their families. Over twenty million Americans are unemployed, but no one should be able to say that they’re not working because they can’t find a job or because no jobs are available.
Most importantly, a disadvantage to beginning mandatory drug testing for Welfare Aid/Public Assistance is that it can be seen as very degrading toward the applicant. There is an image being put out that everyone who needs Welfare Aid/Public Assistance is most likely a drug addict who can’t get a job. Making them take a drug test just to be able to provide for themselves and family can be seen as degrading. Drug-testing may make the applicant feel like a criminal or like they aren’t human because they are a low class citizen. Contrary to the belief that if someone isn’t on drugs shouldn’t have anything to hide or feel degraded, having to have your body essentially observed or tested is not something that makes anyone feel right.