leadership can be a model for the nation. we re the poster child for good budgeting. and i wish washington would look at us. now the poster child for good budgeting wants to spend taxpayer money drug testing poor people. governor snyder just signed a bill into law to start drug-testing welfare recipients. the pilot program is going to cost michigan $500,000. and governor snyder, the poster child for good budgeting can t argue it s an effective use of taxpayer money because history shows these programs don t work. in florida, only 2.6% of welfare applicants tested positive for drugs. in utah it was just 0.25%. and only 0.12% in tennessee. but in the entire country, 10% of people use drugs last year.
or working for low wages, these conservatives want the government on their front, back, top, bochlt bottom. there s no ideal logic whatsoever and this is a huge big government waste of money that the conservatives are supposed to be against. i want to back that up. about florida s drug test thing since the state began to test welfare applicants 2% have tested positive preliminary data shows. 96% drug free leaving the state to reimburse the cost of their test. the other part that strikes me besides it is blatant violation of federal law and they cannot do it under federal law. let s say you had a parent on drugs, what good would it do their kids to take away the food stamps for them to get food? i m having a hard time how that is a net positive policy for anyone. it would do no good for anyone. you ll recall one of the congress people from florida,
rich karlgaard, elizabeth macdonald, john tamby, rick unger and mike ozanian. how do we get back on track? cut welfare benefit not out of cruelty but out of compassion. there is nothing more life affirming than having a job but if you know the federal government will send you a check either way, less urgency to go out and find a job or adjust your wage demands to new realities. it s ultimately welfare serves as a work deterrent in the antieconomic growth after that. emac, the point is after the reforms, in the clinton era, the republican and democratic reforms we had a massive decrease in the number of welfare applicants and the case load plunge from 12 million in 96 to 5.9 million. more than half. good effect. we re going in the opposite direction. i hear you. i don t like what the administration is doing in terms of the band aids because
maria, because one of the things that struck me about this case is the plaintiff in particular has such an interesting story as a navy veteran, a young father. he s in school. i would say, you know, doing all the right things and just essentially needs assistance, which is supposed to be the social safety net, that s supposed to be part of our values as americans, and as a veteran he understands drug testing and yet essentially now that he is just asking for help the state of florida is saying no, you have to be drug tested before we help you. right. louis lebron really blew the old and persistent stereotype of welfare applicants and recipients out of the water. he s a veteran, a single father, a law student at the time, and takes care of his disabled mother. no different from you or from me. one of the things i read,
and now a federal judge has struck down one of his pet programs. drug testing poor people. in 2011, scott signed the law to drug test all welfare applicants in florida. and this is how the governor explained his reasoning. studies show people on welfare are higher users of drugs than people not on welfare. studies show that people on welfare are using drugs much higher than the population. i don t know which studies governor scott s referring to, but his math just doesn t add up. in florida only 2% of welfare applicants failed rick scott s drug test. 2%. but nationwide, the percentage of americans who use illegal drugs is nearly 9%. scott also claimed his program would save money. but florida lost money when it