Urine Trouble

"Anyone who can walk to the welfare office can walk to work." Al Capp

Warning! Though I am a hard-core card-carrying commie-pinko bleeding heart liberal, I have been known to espouse some conservative ideas. Here comes one.

This particular Eureka! moment came courtesy of a reasoned rant by Toronto talk-radio host John Oakley:

Like a lot of folks in this country, I have a job. I work, they pay me. I pay my taxes and the government distributes my taxes as it sees fit.

In order to get that paycheck, I am required to pass a random urine test, with which I have no problem. What I do have a problem with is the distribution of my taxes to people who don't have to pass a urine test.

Shouldn't one have to pass a urine test to get a welfare check because I have to pass one to earn it for them?

Please understand, I have no problem with helping people get back on their feet. I do, on the other hand, have a problem with helping someone sitting on their butt and using drugs.

Could you imagine how much money the state would save if people had to pass a urine test to get a public assistance check?

Yes! (And think of the lives saved if a urine test was required for a drivers license. Or a gun license.)

Before you start howling about other people's "civil liberties," think about your own. Much of the drug and alcohol epidemic in this country is enabled and subsidized by our tax dollars.

Our welfare system hands over millions to healthy people who've figured out they can make more money working that system than toiling at a tax paying job.

As Mr. Oakley said, this isn't about those who truly need help. This is about those who don't give a damn. Who cash welfare checks not to buy milk or pay rent but to get high.

The money saved could be spent on health clinics, daycare, parenting classes, school supplies, teachers ... benefiting not only those who truly need help, but society as a whole.

The next time you gossip about Britney and Lindsay and other drugged out celebs, think about this: only their fans pay for their irresponsible indulgences ... the working public isn't legally required to buy their records or go to their concerts.

So each time they self-destruct, we don't have to bear the cost.

The crackhead on the corner gets his check directly from our tax dollars, whether we like it or not. And perpetuates a cycle of crime and poverty that effects us all.

That might not sound very PC, but tough. It's the sad truth.

I'm tired of mouthing liberal platitudes while drugs and drug violence make my city unsafe and kill my fellow citizens -- literally at my expense.