I have been researching a lot on welfare and governmental services throughout the United States but I wanted to see some numbers at a local perspective.

http://www.coloradodaily.com/ci_20038794

I found this website and the title or the article said:

 

Welfare drug tests: Plans get momentum in Colorado, other states

 

 

The article touched similar points to a lot of the information I have encountered on the topic of welfare, currently the 2 most popular topics talking about welfare are "drug use" and "dependency on welfare with out the incentive to find a job" and this seems to be pursued more by the republican party...

 

"Conservatives who say welfare recipients should have to pass a drug test in order to receive government assistance have momentum on their side.

The issue has come up in the Republican presidential campaign, with front-runner Mitt Romney saying "it's an excellent idea."
I'm not very well educated on this entire topic yet but the way I see it is that American tax payers are tired of "taking care" of welfare recipients especially the ones that are abusing this help, President Obama being a democrat (it is known that democrats are more liberal and lenient where republicans are driven to harsher laws) has supported the welfare system. So it is no surprise that Mitt Romney is supporting drug testing welfare participants.

"Driving the measures is a perception that people on public assistance are misusing the funds and that cutting off their benefits would save money for tight state budgets - even as statistics have largely proved both notions untrue.
"The idea, from Joe Taxpayer is, 'I don't mind helping you out, but you need to show that you're looking for work, or better yet that you're employed, and that you're drug and alcohol free,'" said Wyoming Republican House Speaker Ed Buchanan on Friday. "
So if statistical studies have proven that most of the people that are using public assistance really need it why is it that certain individuals (most of American tax payers) believe that welfare is being taken advantage of by the lazy?
I think that the idea behind this is that "EVERYONE PAYS THE PRICE FOR THE ACCTIONS OF A FEW"

"This legislation assumes suspicion on this group of people. It assumes that they're drug abusers," said Wyoming Democratic Rep. Patrick Goggles during a heated debate on the measure late Thursday. "
At the beginning of my research on welfare and its issues, I cannot deny, that I was one of the individuals that presumed most of the welfare participants take advantage of the system but when I see statement like the one above it makes me realize that this is inhumane to judge a group of people because of their social status in a way. But at the same time I keep going back and worth with the idea that if people are calling out welfare participants for being drug users why not prove them wrong, in the end they are being helped out by the government the least they can do is "Pee in a cup" to prove everyone wrong. And as previous information that I have already mentioned before it has shown that only a few percentage of welfare participants have been under the influence of drugs, SO WHY KEEP PERSUEING THIS ISSUE?

"But as lawmakers seek new ways to fight off the effect of the recession on state budgets and Republican politics dominate the national discussion as the party seeks a presidential nominee, the idea has sparked political debates across the nation. "
Perhaps this ongoing debate is hitting the light even more now because of the future presidential debates, every person that wants to become president wants to fix what he or she thinks that the current president hasn't been able to fix ( or at least hasn't dealt well with).

"The biggest piece that has held up action now and in the past are the constitutional questions," said Rochelle Finzel, the Children and Families Program manager at the NCSL. She said some states are trying to avoid court challenges by requiring drug tests only in cases where there's reasonable cause to believe there's substance abuse, instead of requiring everyone to take a test.
One such state is Missouri, which last year also passed legislation requiring drug testing for welfare recipients, if there is reasonable cause to suspect illegal drug use. "
The idea that you can only drug test people who are being suspected of drug use is CONSTITUTIONALY SAFE but in reality I personally know many people that you could never imagine use drugs, and in another topic how many children are being abused behind closed doors and many professional child care people cant "reasonably" guess who is truly being abused.

SO WHAT IS HAPPENING LOCALLY WITH THIS DEBATE?
"The Colorado plan is expected to fail because Democrats who oppose it control the state Senate. But Republicans have succeeded in starting a conversation on to the issue. "

So it is a battle of what democrats believe and what republicans want to pursue