Media Research Center: Forget Facts on Welfare Recipients and Drugs Use

The mindset of the Media Research Center (MRC) and its affiliate CNS News seem to be that it's better to believe something and never look at facts than it is to actually know the facts. They demonstrated that again by posting a Youtube video titled "Dem Lawmaker Questions Drug Tests For Unemployment". In the video, Rep. Gwen Moore (D-Wis.) questioned if the lawmakers who created the drug testing provision of the Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2011, read the Constitution. The point the video tries to make is that the congresswomen supposedly said something outrageous. Outrageous as in what? Was something she said factually incorrect or out of touch? Only in the MRC and CNS wing of the conservative movement would you think such criticism of the program is just a bunch of liberal hocus pocus and gibberish. I wonder if they missed  Fox News' Megyn Kelly already debunked the right wing claim.

  

This is the hallmark of the crack pot way of conservative thinking. When you are a self described fiscal conservative, what does that mean? Do you use evidence based economics or what a lot on the right wing call "common sense"? When I say "common sense" I don't mean that if most scientists say the earth revolves around the sun, that's probably the science. The kind of common sense I'm referring to is put out by someone who would say "I'm not a scientist, but I see the sun around revolve around the Earth everyday." In the case of the MRC and CNS News, that's how they think on every issue. They act as if its a religious duty to  propagate (not prove) why their version of conservatism works.The propagate instead of prove because as I pointed out in a previous post, MRC is about bias and not accuracy. That is their fundamental difference between their progressive counterpart Media Matters for America. Demagoguery is one of their core principles. They demagog anyone they think is in on the "liberal media" conspiracy and attack anyone who goes after their fellow conservatives. Even if it's simply factually correcting a right wing claim they scream LIBERAL MEDIA! If your not with their team all the way, your against them. 

Megyn Kelly Debunks Claim that Welfare Recipients are Drug Using Mooching Monsters

I don't usually cite anything from Fox News if I want to present factual information, but I will if that's what it take to get through to a right winger. I already detailed this absurd policy my current Florida governor Rick Scott thought would save money:

Drug Testing Welfare Recipients before they receive welfare benefits.

I was especially surprised when Fox News host Megyn Kelly did a report showing the so far failure of Rick Scott's welfare policy. I take my hat off to her on this one.

Myth: Welfare Recipients are Drug Using Mooching Monsters



Florida Governor Rick Scott

 

Here in my home State of Florida, my insane Governor Rick Scott has signed a bill for mandatory drug testing of welfare recipients. In his world welfare recipients are drug using mooching monsters and we need to treat them like they are.

Rick Scott: "Well, what you have to think about is you have to think about the children in those families and those households. When-when there's drug abuse-drug abuse in those households, you know, if you go in and you find that, those kids, you know, are, are having problems. And so, basically, on top of the fact that we'll save money because, uh, you know, we'll make sure these, you know, recipients don't use drugs-because my experience is, if you do test people they generally do the right thing. But on top of that, if you do find a problem, those children will be taken care of and we'll find those problems early rather than late, so I think it's the right thing to do."

Before he imposed such radical actions based on his personal belief about welfare recipients, Scott should have considered the cases the ACLU has won against this draconian policy.

The reasons they've won the cases are fairly relevant.

• Welfare recipients are no more likely to use drugs than the rest of the population.
• 49 States Rejected the program for fiscal and practical reasons. (I don't know if this is Florida's first time trying to implement the policy)
• The average cost of a drug test is about $42 per person tested, not including the costs of hiring personnel to administer the tests, to ensure confidentiality of results and to run confirmatory tests to guard against false positives resulting from passive drug exposure, cross-identification with legal, prescription drugs such as codeine and legal substances such as poppy seeds."
• Most types of drug tests fail to detect alcohol abuse – the most commonly abused substance among Americans.
• The policy is opposed by the American Public Health Association, National Association of Social Workers, Inc., National Association of Alcoholism and Drug Abuse Counselors, American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence, Association of Maternal and Child Health Programs, National Health Law Project, National Association on Alcohol, Drugs and Disability, Inc., National Advocates for Pregnant Women, National Black Women’s Health Project, Legal Action Center, National Welfare Rights Union, Youth Law Center, Juvenile Law Center, and National Coalition for Child Protection Reform

Read more:

http://www.aclu.org/drug-law-reform/drug-testing-public-assistance-recipients-condition-eligibility
http://www.niaaa.nih.gov/NewsEvents/NewsReleases/Pages/welfare.aspx

Ron Paul Asked on Legalizing Heroin During Republican Debate

Definitely the most memorable part of the first Republican Presidential debate. Congressman Ron Paul was asked about his position on legalizing drugs. When asked about legalizing drugs such as heroin, Paul  gave a humorous and  important point about how ridiculous our drug laws are.

Why Paul is Right