New Bill Will Force Politicians to Get Drug Tested

It's about time.

 
February 7, 2016 5:52 pm·

  We previously reported that the majority of Americans support drug testing politicians. But at the end of last year, that’s exactly what was proposed by lawmakers in West Virginia.

Politicians had previously unveiled a bill to drug test applicants for the state’s welfare program.

Advocates of such legislation claim that they will save money by getting those “evil drug users off of the government doll, thereby reducing the expense of the welfare system.”

All sounds great, but there was only one problem… It doesn’t work.

As we reported last year, where these tests have been instituted, only a tiny percentage of applicants were disqualified. This proved to be a monumental waste of tax-payer dollars, costing twice the money that it saved.

So now, state House Delegate Shawn Fluharty has decided to listen to the will of the people and introduce legislation to drug test state lawmakers.

Legislators would not have to take a drug test before every voting session. Those who fail will be banned from casting their vote.

“I think the public expects us to adhere to the rules that we try to legislate,” Fluharty told local WTRF. “There’s no reason we shouldn’t do it. It’s not going to cost the taxpayers any more money because we’re going to pay for it ourselves.”

He commented that, “there’s no reason why state legislators should get a pass, simply because we wear suits.”

While Congress pushes for drug tests for food stamp recipients, most Americans like the idea of drug testing members of Congress even better.

A YouGov poll found that 78% of U.S. citizens are in favor of requiring random drug testing for members of Congress. A full 62% said they “strongly” favor this, compared with only 51% who feel the same way about food stamp and welfare recipients.

The support for this move was bipartisan, as 86% percent of Republicans, 77% of Democrats and 75% of independents support the mandatory drug tests for members of Congress.

It would seem that more Americans aren’t worried about drugs, they are upset with the hypocrisy of U.S. lawmakers, who carry on this charade of a “War on Drugs” while using the very things they pass laws against.

A cargo ship which has been linked to anti-drug Kentucky Senator Mitch McConnell was stopped and searched before departing from Colombia recently, with approximately 90 pounds of cocaine found on board by the Coast Guard. But now, Senator McConnell is doubling down on his reputation as an “Anti-Drug Senator” by railing against legalized marijuana.

The Senate Minority Leader said that he is firmly “against legalizing marijuana,” even while this has put him at odds with his Democratic challenger Alison Lundergan Grimes.

McConnell acknowledged that marijuana is “not in the same category as heroin,” even if it is treated as such by the DEA. Still, he said that legalizing the plant could “completely transform your society in a way that I think certainly most Kentuckians would not agree with.”

“I don’t think an answer to this, honestly, is to go in a direction of legalizing any of these currently illegal drugs,” McConnell explained. “This whole movement in various parts of the country is a big mistake.”

This is rather ironic, as back in November that drugs found on the ship, the Ping May, were carried by the vessel operated by The Foremost Maritime Corporation. That’s a company owned by Mitch McConnell’s in-laws, the Chao family.

Free Thought explained that “this connection is not only relevant because of the family connection, but also because the Chao family has often made large donations to McConnell’s campaigns.”

“In fact,” they continue, “the Chao family has been funding McConnell since the late 1980's. Years later, in 1993, McConnell married Elaine Chao and secured the Chao family as one of his primary sources for investments.”

A gift worth somewhere between 5 and 25 million dollars from the Chao Family made McConnel one of the richest senators in the country in 2008.

The Foremost Maritime Corporation is currently operating 16 dry bulk cargo ships, most of which are currently still in service.

What makes this case even more interesting is that McConnell is well known as a staunch prohibitionist. In 1996, McConnell sponsored “The Enhanced Marijuana Penalties Act”, a bill designed to increase the mandatory minimum sentencing for people caught with marijuana.

Luis Gonzales, an official with the Colombian Coast Guard in Santa Marta told The Nation that the Ping May’s crew were questioned as part of the investigation, but that they have yet to file any charges in the case.

Do you think there is anything strange about McConnell’s war on weed, considering his family’s link to smuggled, black market cocaine?

Perhaps those who deal in black market, unregulated drugs are trying to keep drugs illegal to make sure they maximize their black market profits?

Whatever the case may be, the majority of Americans are fed up with U.S. lawmaker hypocrisy and are ready to hold them to account. Do you think mandatory drug testing for members of Congress is a good idea?