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96% of Florida welfare cash recipients pass drug tests.Follow

#1 Aug 27 2011 at 2:07 PM Rating: Excellent
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2% failed, 2% did not apply and pay for the drug test in order to receive benefits.

So far the costs of administering the tests are almost equal or more than the costs saved by not paying the 4% no longer receiving benefits at the moment.

some random internet page wrote:

Florida’s new drug-tests-for-welfare-applicants program just yielded its first batch of results: 98 percent passed.

Florida Gov. Rick Scott, who rode his own fortune and the tea party’s adoration to office last year, has stated publicly several times that people on welfare use drugs at a higher rate than the general population. So at Scott’s urging earlier this year, the legislature implemented a policy requiring all temporary cash assistance applicants pass a drug test before getting any help.

The Department of Children and Families says about 2 percent of applicants are failing the test; another 2 percent are not completing the application process, for reasons unspecified, according to the Tampa Tribune.

The Tampa Tribune did some simple math and found out how much the governor’s assumptions about poor people going to cost the state:

Cost of the tests averages about $30. Assuming that 1,000 to 1,500 applicants take the test every month, the state will owe about $28,800-$43,200 monthly in reimbursements to those who test drug-free.

That compares with roughly $32,200-$48,200 the state may save on one month’s worth of rejected applicants.

Net savings to the state: $3,400 to $5,000 annually on one month’s worth of rejected applicants. Over 12 months, the money saved on all rejected applicants would add up to $40,800 to $60,000 for a program that state analysts have predicted will cost $178 million this fiscal year.

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Update on 8/26: Reader Alex M rightly points out that our original lede was at best misleading. As stated in the quote included from the Tampa Tribune, the cash assistance program costs an estimated $178 million a year. The full cost of the drug testing program has not yet been calculated, but it is likely to be higher than the meager savings of denying benefits to 2 percent of applicants who tested positive for drugs.

Update @ 6:45pm ET: Thanks to reader Vashti Brenda Fletchall for pointing out another dimension to this story. Gov. Scott held economic interests in the drug testing company that was awarded the sole contract for drug testing. In April he sold off his stock valued at $62 million in the company he founded in 2001, according to the St. Petersburg Times.
LINKY

Edited, Aug 27th 2011 4:09pm by Aripyanfar
#2 Aug 27 2011 at 2:12 PM Rating: Excellent
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Smiley: lol

Stick that in craw, classist asshats.
#3 Aug 27 2011 at 2:15 PM Rating: Excellent
Why would people think that people who have no money would be able to afford drugs?
#4 Aug 27 2011 at 2:21 PM Rating: Excellent
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That's where the Dealin, Pimpin and Hoing comes in, homie. Mo Fo.
#5 Aug 27 2011 at 3:10 PM Rating: Excellent
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Sounds good. Now to just expand the tests and make sure anybody getting a check from the government (like the governor, congressmen, and other lawmakers) is drug free as well.
#6 Aug 27 2011 at 3:39 PM Rating: Good
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xantav wrote:
Sounds good. Now to just expand the tests and make sure anybody getting a check from the government (like the governor, congressmen, and other lawmakers) is drug free as well.


Drug test the wealthy? That'd be a violation of their rights.
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#7 Aug 27 2011 at 3:55 PM Rating: Excellent
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Vestal Chamberlain Lubriderm wrote:
Why would people think that people who have no money would be able to afford drugs?

Why do you think they have no money, duh.
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#8 Aug 27 2011 at 5:08 PM Rating: Excellent
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Well hell... Now what is Thiefx going to make his weekly whine post about? Way to steal his thunder.

Edited, Aug 27th 2011 6:08pm by Jophiel
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Wow. Regular ol' Joph fan club in here.
#9 Aug 27 2011 at 5:30 PM Rating: Good
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I don't know what he'll rant about this week, but he better step up and fill the crazy gap left by varus...
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#10 Aug 28 2011 at 1:04 AM Rating: Decent
These stats fail to show how many Florida welfare recipients are baby killers.
#11 Aug 28 2011 at 1:24 AM Rating: Good
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Vestal Chamberlain Lubriderm wrote:
These stats fail to show how many Florida welfare recipients are baby killers.

Teen birth and abortion rates, 1996 
per 1000 women  
Country 	bithrte	abortn 	total 	%aborted 
Netherlands 	7.7 	3.9 	11.6 	33.6 
Spain 	        7.5 	4.9 	12.4 	39.5 
Italy 	        6.6 	6.7 	13.3 	50.4 
Greece 	        12.2 	1.3 	13.5 	9.6 
Belgium 	9.9 	5.2 	15.1 	34.4 
Germany 	13.0 	5.3 	18.3 	28.9 
Finland 	9.8 	9.6 	19.4 	49.5 
France 	        9.4 	13.2 	22.6 	58.4 
Denmark 	8.2 	15.4 	23.6 	65.3 
Sweden 	        7.7 	17.7 	25.4 	69.7 
Norway 	        13.6 	18.3 	31.9 	57.4 
Czech Republic 	20.1 	12.4 	32.5 	38.2 
Iceland 	21.5 	20.6 	42.1 	48.9 
Slovakia 	30.5 	13.1 	43.6 	30 
Australia 	20.1 	23.9 	44 	54.3 
Canada 	        22.3 	22.1 	44.4 	49.8 
Israel 	        32.0 	14.3 	46.3 	30.9 
United Kingdom 	29.6 	21.3 	50.9 	41.8 
New Zealand 	33.4 	22.5 	55.9 	40.3 
Hungary 	29.9 	30.2 	60.1 	50.2 
United States 	55.6 	30.2 	85.8 	35.2
#12 Aug 28 2011 at 1:39 AM Rating: Good
US teens: We know how to fuck.
#13 Aug 28 2011 at 1:46 AM Rating: Excellent
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Vestal Chamberlain Lubriderm wrote:
US teens: We know how to fuck without contraception.

#14 Aug 28 2011 at 5:07 AM Rating: Excellent
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Vestal Chamberlain Lubriderm wrote:
US teens: We don't know how condoms work.

#15 Aug 28 2011 at 7:09 AM Rating: Excellent
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Those liberal social policies in Sweden apparently encourage every woman to have dozens of welfare babies.
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Wow. Regular ol' Joph fan club in here.
#16 Aug 28 2011 at 7:47 AM Rating: Excellent
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His Excellency Aethien wrote:
Vestal Chamberlain Lubriderm wrote:
US teens: How is babby formed? How girl get pragnent?



Edited, Aug 28th 2011 9:48am by Spoonless
#17 Aug 28 2011 at 9:48 AM Rating: Good
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Jophiel wrote:
Those liberal social policies in Sweden apparently encourage every woman to have dozens of welfare babies.

Don't worry; God will care for the children.
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publiusvarus wrote:
we all know liberals are well adjusted american citizens who only want what's best for society. While conservatives are evil money grubbing scum who only want to sh*t on the little man and rob the world of its resources.
#18 Aug 28 2011 at 10:38 AM Rating: Default
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All this proves to me is that you can test clean if you know in advance when the test will be. (Oh, I'll be tested when I apply. Well, I'll go clean for a while before I apply, then.) People on welfare should have to have random drug tests, like jobs do. Fail the test or don't show up and you lose your benefits.

Oh, and before you come with all the "that's racist" or "that's classist", let me just say that I think this:

Quote:
Now to just expand the tests and make sure anybody getting a check from the government (like the governor, congressmen, and other lawmakers) is drug free as well.


Is also a plenty fine idea. Anybody paid by the government in any capacity, from the President to the Congress, down to the poorest welfare recipient, should be randomly drug tested. At least once a year. And they should foot the bill. None of this reimbursement ********* sorry. $30 a year isn't that much.
#19 Aug 28 2011 at 11:57 AM Rating: Excellent
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Leaving aside some drugs take over a month to pass out of a body to pass a test... they could move to testing hair, which has a PERMANENT record of the drugs you've been taking (for the duration of the time equal to the length of the hair). And you could be shocked, shocked all over again when 96% of recipients still passed.

And what the **** happened to innocent until proven guilty? No one should be required to pay up front to test for something that if they were guilty of it they should be charged and trialed for. It's totally illogical. It's even breaking the rule that people have a right not to convict themselves. They have a right to silence, both outside of a trial and during a trial.
#20 Aug 28 2011 at 12:15 PM Rating: Default
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Ok, maybe the whole "make them pay for it" was wrong. Nah, **** maybe, it is wrong. k?

I think maybe illicit drugs aren't the real problem. Here's what frustrates - the legal addictions - I see people in the "poor part of town" around here, most of whom get some type of government assistance, all the time buying beer, cigs, and lotto. Granted, none of those things are illegal and so there's no way to stop such irresponsable behavior. Still it frustrates me and countless others to know that my tax dollar is going to these people who waste their money on these addictions. If they spent that money on things they needed, they might not need as much assistance.
#21 Aug 28 2011 at 12:36 PM Rating: Excellent
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That's why food stamps are such a good idea - they can't be used for cigarettes, booze or lotto. A gov't check is another matter - once you cash that in you're free to spend it as you wish, even if it's for crack.
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publiusvarus wrote:
we all know liberals are well adjusted american citizens who only want what's best for society. While conservatives are evil money grubbing scum who only want to sh*t on the little man and rob the world of its resources.
#22 Aug 28 2011 at 12:39 PM Rating: Excellent
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I hear Labcorp is hiring Lobbyists Shador. You should apply.
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#23 Aug 28 2011 at 1:24 PM Rating: Good
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Food stamps (or that card thing they use now), at least, can only be used on approved items as far as I know. And I'm pretty sure housing assistance goes straight to your landlord/bank/utilities.

If they are able to buy that stuff while collecting, it's probably because they have off-the-books income. Or they are driving themselves even deeper into the hole using credit cards.
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#24 Aug 28 2011 at 2:13 PM Rating: Good
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idiggory, King of Bards wrote:
Food stamps (or that card thing they use now), at least, can only be used on approved items as far as I know. And I'm pretty sure housing assistance goes straight to your landlord/bank/utilities.

If they are able to buy that stuff while collecting, it's probably because they have off-the-books income. Or they are driving themselves even deeper into the hole using credit cards.
I've heard of numerous ways people use(or have used) food stamps to secure drugs and especially booze around here. Like buying things on an approved list that can be sold for cash or traded for drugs. I think I recall hearing that baby formula of all things is one of the big ones.
#25 Aug 28 2011 at 3:04 PM Rating: Default
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The One and Only Poldaran wrote:
idiggory, King of Bards wrote:
Food stamps (or that card thing they use now), at least, can only be used on approved items as far as I know. And I'm pretty sure housing assistance goes straight to your landlord/bank/utilities.

If they are able to buy that stuff while collecting, it's probably because they have off-the-books income. Or they are driving themselves even deeper into the hole using credit cards.
I've heard of numerous ways people use(or have used) food stamps to secure drugs and especially booze around here. Like buying things on an approved list that can be sold for cash or traded for drugs. I think I recall hearing that baby formula of all things is one of the big ones.


Yep, stores around here lock baby formula up. I think it's used to cut with crack or something.
#26 Aug 28 2011 at 3:23 PM Rating: Good
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O_o
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IDrownFish wrote:
Anyways, you all are horrible, @#%^ed up people

lolgaxe wrote:
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