Posts Tagged “unemployment”

A lot of people moan about jobs going overseas in spite of the fact we’re living in a global economy. Well, we were until Obama came along, and up north in Canada they’re plenty upset.

From WaPo:

Ordered by Congress to “buy American” when spending money from the $787 billion stimulus package, the town of Peru, Ind., stunned its Canadian supplier by rejecting sewage pumps made outside of Toronto. After a Navy official spotted Canadian pipe fittings in a construction project at Camp Pendleton, Calif., they were hauled out of the ground and replaced with American versions. In recent weeks, other Canadian manufacturers doing business with U.S. state and local governments say they have been besieged with requests to sign affidavits pledging that they will only supply materials made in the USA.

Makes you wonder how much more we spent ripping them out of the ground? Canada is firing back.

Outrage spread in Canada, with the Toronto Star last week bemoaning “a plague of protectionist measures in the U.S.” and Canadian companies openly fretting about having to shift jobs to the United States to meet made-in-the-USA requirements. This week, the Canadians fired back. A number of Ontario towns, with a collective population of nearly 500,000, retaliated with measures effectively barring U.S. companies from their municipal contracts — the first shot in a larger campaign that could shut U.S. companies out of billions of dollars worth of Canadian projects.

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I read an article on Fox News this morning that shows several states considering random drug testing of recipients of food stamps, unemployment benefits and welfare. If you think about it, why not? It’s no different that getting drug tested at your place of employment, as pointed on below.

“Nobody’s being forced into these assistance programs,” said Craig Blair, a Republican in the West Virginia Legislature who has created a Web site — notwithmytaxdollars.com — that bears a bobble-headed likeness of himself advocating this position. “If so many jobs require random drug tests these days, why not these benefits?”

Blair points out on this web site, “Nowhere in our state or U.S. constitutions is it mandated that financial assistance is a right.” He also points out that employers pay unemployment insurance in West Virginia, just as they do here in Indiana. The fact is, if you’re unemployed and looking for work, you have to be drug free to get most jobs, so why not unemployment benefits?

From Fox News

On Wednesday, the Kansas House of Representatives approved a measure mandating drug testing for the 14,000 or so people getting cash assistance from the state, which now goes before the state senate. In February, the Oklahoma Senate unanimously passed a measure that would require drug testing as a condition of receiving TANF benefits, and similar bills have been introduced in Missouri and Hawaii. A Florida senator has proposed a bill linking unemployment compensation to drug testing, and a member of Minnesota’s House of Representatives has a bill requiring drug tests of people who get public assistance under a state program there.

The Kansas bill passed on a vote of 99-26. If you fail a drug test it doesn’t mean you get kicked to the curb. From Kansas House Bill 2275, (PDF) which covers people who receive financial aid through the Child Care Assistance Programs, Temporary Assistance to Families and General Assistance:

If a recipient of assistance tests positive for using an illegal substance they could be required to complete an educational or treatment program, and then would be subject to additional screenings. In the event of a positive test, if a person did not complete a treatment program or if the person failed subsequent drug tests, they would no longer be able to collect the assistance.

Of course the ACLU has to jump in to defend drug users.

“It’s an example of where you could cut costs at the expense of a segment of society that’s least able to defend themselves,” said Frank Crabtree, executive director of the West Virginia chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union.

Least able? They’re able to milk the system for welfare, section 8 housing vouchers and food stamps so they don’t have to work. All the while, still being able to rustle enough cash for drugs. I’d say they’re very “able”.

In doing some research on this subject I found that Cindy Noe, Indiana State Representative in District 87, introduced House Bill No. 1717 in January of this year and it is currently in committee.

DIGEST OF INTRODUCED BILL

Drug testing as a condition of benefits. Requires the division of family resources to develop a drug abuse testing program for applicants for and recipients of assistance under the federal Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program and the federal Food Stamp Program. Provides that an individual who tests positive for a controlled substance or a legend drug without a prescription is ineligible to receive TANF assistance and food stamp assistance unless the individual attends a drug treatment program. Requires an individual who: (1) tests positive and attends a drug treatment program to be tested a second time within two months; (2) tests positive a second time to be regularly tested; and (3) tests positive a third time to be ineligible for TANF and food stamp assistance. Provides that the results of a drug test may not be disclosed in any legal proceedings or elsewhere unless the individual has tested positive a third time for drugs. Provides that an individual who is ineligible for TANF assistance and food stamp assistance as the result of testing positive for the presence of illegal drugs is ineligible for assistance under the Medicaid program. Requires the office of Medicaid policy and planning to apply for an amendment to the state Medicaid plan to limit Medicaid eligibility for individuals who are ineligible under the TANF program and food stamp program as the result of testing positive for the presence of illegal drugs.

I think it’s a move in the right direction, but I’m certain my liberal friends will disagree. What do you think?

AWB