To get jobless benefits should you have to take a drug test?

  I check the polls on CNN from time to time. Their quick vote polls.  Now sometimes, often, you can not count on them to be correct.  If the question is something that excites the right or left wing then a bunch of people will mess up and screw up the vote.
  If you had the question is Ron Paul going to be elected President of the United States the vote yes might be 80% because his supporters would just go fucking crazy to screw the count.  If you asked should everyone carry a gun the NRA and the gun nuts would screw the vote.
  But some questions, I THINK, you can get a real idea of what the American people or the CNN site viewer think.  Because the pro and anti people are not going to screw with the voting and if they do then both side screw with it an equal amount.

  The current question/vote is “Should applicants for jobless benefits have to pass a drug test?”
  The current vote “Yes” is 69% and the “No” vote is 31%.
  I got a feeling that the is pretty much how the American people feel.

  I would be a “No” vote.
  When you are working a small amount of money is paid by your employer into their fund.  It is an insurance policy and a fully funded account for them to pay for when people are unemployed.  So it is like a saving or insurance policy that you have for you.
  If you have to have a drug screen because you are unemployed it is like if your house burned down that the insurance company could make you take a drug screen.  Or it like if your husband or wife died and you had an insurance policy on them that you would have to take a drug test before the insurance company would pay you.
  Plus the state of FL started this drug testing for people that want to get state welfare assistance.  The state of FL started it because the Republicans were sure that lots of people were on drugs.  The Republicans also wanted to save money.
  Well it turns out that almost no one is on drugs.  Plus the testing is costing the state of FL tons and tons of money.  The state is losing big bucks.  That money is, of course, money that should be going to help those that need help in the state.
  And OF COURSE on top of that drug testing corporations are making tons of money in the state.  AND, of course, guess what business the Republican Gov. (Rick Scott) co-founded?  A company called Solantic.  Yes, of course, a lab corporation that does DRUG TESTING and is making tons and tons of money.

  The last time I heard 98% of Florida welfare applicants pass the drug test.
  By the way that 98% is higher than if you tested the general population of the American people or the people that voted in the CNN poll.
  I would bet money that 98% is higher than if you tested the Republicans in the state of FL that passed the law.
  Has Gov. Rick Scott taken a drug test?  Have the employees of the Solantic labs taken a drug test?

  If we are going to do drug testing then do it on members of Congress.  Do drug testing on state employees and city employees.
  Well truth is I would be willing to just have it done on elected employees.  Since they are the people that start shit like this.

  I do not have have a problem with a company testing, for drugs, a new employee before they hire the employee.
  I do not think a company that has already hired an employee should be allowed to test them unless certain conditions exist or they are certain type of employees.

Comments

[Jeep]

Jim,

I think you make some very good points against drug testing for unemployment insurance beneficiaries. However, I think you overlook one important point. In typical private insurance, the collected premiums are used to pay the benefit. An underwriter will determine how much the premiums need to be to fund the money that will be paid out.

Like with many government programs, no great effort seems to be made to balance the input and output of unemployment funding. And the numbers involved are quite large. According to the Council on State Governments, the Labor Department estimates by the fourth quarter of 2013 the states involved may need to borrow more than $90 billion to fund their unemployment programs. So the real question is: Where does the $90 billion come from? Should the premium which is taken out of other workers' paychecks be raised? Should the benefit to unemployed workers be reduced or shortened? Or, should all taxpayers subsidize the benefit with higher taxes?

Some have seized on the drug testing issue as a way to reduce benefits. Others think it's the right thing to do.

As a fiscal conservative, I think these issues need to be laid out and discussed. There is no free lunch.

[Jim Howard]

Good points.
I hope someone is keeping books. I think that businesses over a certain size should have to pay back the amount that tax payers are helping out the unemployment insurance fund with now that it is in trouble.
The unemployment fund is not like SS or Medicare. A business puts in a certain amount and then does not have to add to it unless they have employees that they let go. I am sure there was no planning for a big hurt like this one. So the fund for each business runs out of money and the feds step in. But I think that money should be repaid.
But I think small business should just put in what they did in the past. Major corporations that are making big profits should have to make up what the government put in. Maybe the way to fix it would be that from now on big businesses keep putting into their account and when it is funded they keep putting in for funds to go to pay back the government and to setup a fund for when something like this happens down the road. Sort of like the highway fund.
But this is way over my head. Plus I got a sick feeling that no one is keeping any books.