Georgia Passes Drug Testing for Welfare

Eric Cantor has nothing to do with this story, but sort
of epitomizes the "meanness" I'm talking about.

I've been saying for a long time--at least as long as the life of this blog--that one of the most prominent aspects of conservative/Republican policies is meanness. There seems to be a competition between Republican legislators to see who can be the meanest. Vaginal probes. Voter restrictions. Stand your ground. Often, they have very reasonable sounding justifications for their policies. Which is understandable, since they are focus tested and word sculpted by think tanks, ALEC and Frank Luntz within an inch of their being.

But Voter ID laws didn't arise from public outcry or the specter of voter fraud. They were engineered to limit certain segments of the voting public from voting. Vaginal probes aren't necessary medically or for any other reasons. They're mandated to shame women who'd dare go through a (legal) abortion. And these "drug tests for welfare" laws have nothing to do with the actual percentage of recipients who are drug users. It's another shaming technique. It's mean. You think we'd have learned our lesson from the Tom DeLay/Karl Rove/Dick Cheney era of politics, that Republicans given power are just f***ing mean.

[Excerpt]


Georgia signs welfare drug-testing bill into law

Georgia’s Governor Nathan Deal has signed House Bill 861 into law, a controversial measure which will require drug testing of all applicants for public assistance, according to the Associated Press. The Social Responsibility and Accountability Act was passed by the state’s deliberative bodies in votes that broke down along party lines, then signed by Governor Deal on Monday night. . .

Read more at: Raw Story