Republican Supply-side pseudo-Christians (the exact opposite of authentic Christians) love to parrot how their faith motivates everything they do. But the Bible could not be more clear that we have an obligation to meet the needs of the poor among us. Here is how Republicans respond to this Biblical imperative.
At the beginning of July, a new restriction will go into effect for recipients of welfare in Kansas that will only allow them to withdraw $25 in benefits a day. As Max Ehrenfreund pointed out, given that ATM withdrawals come with a fee and are usually limited to multiples of 20, families will end up losing much of the money they normally receive to paying those charges — money that will go to financial institutions instead. It also restricts where they can withdraw that money, barring transactions at places like pools, liquor stores, and cruises. The restrictions are so harsh that the state is at risk of losing its federal funding.
But it’s not the only state that has been looking for ways to make life harder on the poorest. Others have imposed drug tests and harsh limits without evidence that the policy changes would do much good.
Drug testing
Drug tests for people who apply for benefits in the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program, better known as welfare, have become increasingly popular. States screen applicants with a questionnaire on drug use and test those who answer in the positive; if they fail the test, they and their families can eventually lose the benefits. Maine and Michigan are some of the newest states to start drug testing regimes, joining seven states that were already doing it. But the lesson from those states is that the testing costs money — they’ve spent nearly $1 million collectively — but doesn’t uncover widespread drug abuse. In fact, while 9.4 percent of Americans use illegal drugs, all states but one had a positive drug test rate of less than 1 percent and none were as much as that national rate.
That evidence hasn’t stopped some from going even further. Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R) has put forward a plan to drug test everyone who receives food stamps and unemployment insurance, which the state senate advanced this week. But while states have a lot of power to set the parameters of TANF, the same is not true for these two programs, and Walker would need approval from the Obama administration for the plan to become reality. It would also come with a price tag, costing at least $1 million a year to drug test unemployed people alone…
Inserted from <Think Progress>
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14 Responses to “More Hatred for the Poor”
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Florida does drug testing. Rick Scott's wife owns the testing company. Really.
I read about Arizona's lifetime cap in Daily Kos, and I believe it also applies to the disabled.
I am so glad my friend who had food allergies that made mine look like a walk on the beach has passed on before she could be subjected to this "You can only buy what we tell you" nonsense. I'm not glad that she died so young (although she exceeded by over 20 years the life expectancy she was told when she was diagnosed), nor am I glad that she died of (I believe hospitsl-induced) septicemia following surgery for a broken leg, but but I am glad she will face no more humiliation.
Sorry about your friend.
Thank you. It has been a good while but something like this brings back all the humiliation we have subjected the poor and disabled to since Reagan. She was allergic in some degree to everything humans eat except fresh pineapple. Well, you can't live on that, and if you are that fragile you would develop an allergy to it too if you tried. She had a strict, doctor-ordered, eight-day-rotary diet where if, for example, she ate something today, she couldn't eat anything that was genetically related until the 8th day after today. (It was actually even more complidated, but that gives the general idea. Fortunately for her, her father was a professor of biology specializing in taxonomy.) So obviously sometimes she had to have fish and seafood for protein because all other animal protein was off limits on certain days. She got a lot of dirty looks at grocery stores even then. She was completely disabled by food and non-food allergies so couldn't work. As far as anyone knows, she was completely healthy until whe was about eight, when some kids a few years older trapped her under a wire garbage can and sprayed her generously with industrial strength pesticide to see if they could kill her. People jump to conclusions when thay have absolutely no idea what another person may be going through or have gone through.
What does the republian/tea party think that there crap don't stink? It amazes me that people with money believe they are above all and need more money and power. "I think it is called "Insanity"
Good saying – another good one is "do they think their a$$ is dipped in chocolate?"
I remember reading a while back that one state banned SNAP recipients from buying fish, not shellfish, but cod, halibut, tuna etc. If you forget for now the toxins like mercury in fish, these Republicanus/Teabaggerum are disallowing healthy food, something that should be encouraged.
What's that biblical verse that pseudo Christians should be familiar with but aren't: When you do this for the least of your brethren, you do it to me.
The appellation "hypocrite" is too good for these Republicanus/Teabaggerum fools!
Didn't I also read within the past week or so that a state spent over $1 million for drug testing but only saved $4,000. Now that is real fiscal conservatism . . . and wasteful spending!
You did.
All elected politicians, or anyone getting paid with tax payer money should then have to be drug tested. These guys are nuts!
The people who make these sadistic laws are vile. God help the poor and sick for the GOP will NEVER do so.
Thanks all. Hugs Pooped!
You are correct Joanne that Rick Scott made those collecting benefits to take a drug test and that his wife owned the Company…..like he wasn't going to financially benefit….lol
However, if the people came up negative the State had to reimburse them for the test they had to pay themselves first. Well it cost the State a lot of money and for those who tested positive, it was like a drop in the bucket. Few, very few people.
In any case the court threw it out saying that it violated their rights and so we don't have it any longer. Should never of been there to begin with, but that is this Republican logic. Kick em' while their down and punish the taxpayers in the process.
I'm so glad to hear it is thrown out now in Florida. I'll bet Rick's wife's company didn't have to reimburse anyone though. I'll bet that came straight from the taxpayers.
I read an article recently that said many of the nearly poor like to feel that they are superior to the really poor and that is how these pseudo Christians get them to go along with such rulings. The sad reality is that we will always have poor people and will always have people who need help and it is not up to us to judge them. Too many of our politicians have never been poor and have no idea of what it feels like to need assistance. They should all be required to live on SNAP or TANF before they make a ruling.