Tennessee state representative G.A. Hardaway said his bill to test lawmakers was inspired by constituents annoyed with a Republican welfare-drug-testing bill. “They said to me, ‘how do we know y’all aren’t on drugs?’” Hardaway told local TV station WMC-TV. “I thought, well, you don’t.”
Few things have sickened me more during this recession than the Republican predilection for piling on the poor and unemployed. It’s not bad enough that large swaths of the American populace is suffering from the greed, avarice, and immorality of corporate greedheads. No, Republicans from coast to coast are not above doing everything they can to remind the poor and the unemployed of their second-class status.
From a moral standpoint, the idea of drug-testing welfare recipients and the unemployed is offensive, pure and simple. There’s no evidence to indicate that drug use is a significant problem among those receiving public assistance- except for those willing to invent a problem out of whole cloth. Except for being a boon to drug-testing labs (and you’d have to wonder if Republicans hold stock in these companies), drug-testing accomplishes little except to shame those who’ve already suffered more than their fair share of bad luck. Republicans will couch it in terms of protecting the public interest and making certain that tax dollars aren’t being used to support lazy, shiftless drug addicts. In reality, it’s just another opportunity for Republicans to twist the knife…because they can.
Now some Democrats have figured out that turning the tables on Republicans can be a great opportunity to embarrass those who pass on few opportunities to embarrass, shame, and belittle the poor and unemployed.
Think about it…how do we know that the very same legislators claiming the imprimatur of protecting the public interest against the scourge of illegal drugs aren’t on drugs themselves? The truth is…we don’t. If Republicans are willing to subject those without a voice to drug testing, then they should be willing to undergo the same testing themselves. After all, what are they hiding? If Republicans are as concerned about illegal drug use as they claim, and have nothing to hide, then shouldn’t they be setting an example for the rest of us?
Or is this really little more than a scheme to embarrass and demean the poor and unemployed while also providing increased business for drug testing labs?
