Michigan to Test Welfare Recipients for Drug Use

Michigan Governor Snyder. Ain't he a peach?
Image from source, Think Progress

There are reasons why Republicans have a reputation for being both tight-asses and just flat mean. Here's one, in fairly bold letters. There is no particular evidence that welfare recipients are larger than average drug users as a population (in fact some studies show the opposite). So, what is the point of this kind of legislation, exactly? Shaming? And hey, where are all of the conservative "values" people when the children of those found to be using drugs are denied food and medicine? What about the children?

And of course, I'd like to know if any government assistance should require drug testing of recipients? Corporate welfare, perhaps? Why not?

[Excerpt]

Michigan Governor Signs Bill Requiring Drug Testing Of Welfare Recipients
 
Welfare recipients in some Michigan counties will soon be tested if they’re suspected of using drugs, under a set of bills signed into law by Gov. Rick Snyder this week. The Senate and House bills, which were signed into law Friday, will create a yearlong pilot program in three counties that will screen welfare recipients and applicants to determine whether or not they’re suspected of using drugs. If they are, the applicants or recipients must submit to a drug test. If the test comes back positive, they will be referred to a treatment program, and if they choose not to enter the program, they will lose their welfare benefits. Applicants and recipients will also lose their eligibility for welfare benefits for six months. . .

Read more at: Think Progress

Michigan Gov. Snyder: "Right to Work" Law is Not Anti Union

Image from source, Mediaite

By now, we're so used to politicians lying to us, we barely notice anymore. We can watch while Newt Gingrich flips from skewering Mitt Romney in the primary, to being one of his biggest (no pun intended) supporters just weeks later. And in many of those instances, he was flipping to an opposite position. Somewhere he was lying. We'll shrug our shoulders while President Obama "evolves" on gay marriage, knowing all along that he was most likely for it all along, but being politically careful with his answers. Still a lie. This is one area where we can probably safely say, everybody does it in politics, and quibble about who does it worse.

But when it gets ridiculous is when they lie brazenly, obviously, stupidly. How Michigan's Gov. Snyder could pretend that the "Right to Work" law he signed--after it being rammed through the legislature--is pro-union, pro-worker? It's just insulting.

[Excerpt]

Morning Joe Panel Stunned As Gov. Rick Snyder Asserts ‘Right To Work’ Is Not ‘Anti-Union’

Gov. Rick Snyder stopped by Morning Joe on Wednesday following Michigan’s passage of controversial “right to work” legislation and defended the state’s move. It’s not anti-union, he said; it’s “pro-worker.” Not everyone on the panel was convinced, pressing Snyder on his assertion. . .

Read more at: Mediaite