Friday, January 30, 2009
House Bill 830: Messing with Kids, It’s the Christian Thing To Do
posted by Forrest Wilder at 10:51 AM
You gotta hand it to certain – yes, we’re fixing to name names - Texas politicians. They never fail to come up with new, creative ways to stick it to poor kids. One wonders if there isn’t a think tank somewhere staffed with Cruella de Vil clones cranking out white papers for Texas pols.
Anyway, this year’s prize goes to Rep. Wayne Christian, a Republican from East Texas. Christian is the proud father of House Bill 830, a lovely piece of legislation filed on Wednesday that would require all Texas welfare applicants to be drug-tested. Test positive for marijuana, cocaine or any other “controlled substance” and you and your kids are ineligible for benefits for at least six months.
Christian could have avoided punishing children for the sins – or addictions - of parents. But in fact he went out of his way to make sure they were included:
Each adult applicant, including an applicant applying solely on behalf of a child, for financial assistance benefits must submit to a drug test to establish the applicant’s or the child’s eligibility for those benefits.
“Anything that punishes the kids for the acts of their parents is something that we would think is bad for kids,” said Jodie Smith, of the aspirationally-named Texans Care for Children.
This isn’t the first time Christian has sought to punish kids on welfare. In 1999, our inestimable Bad Bills reporters took aim at Christian’s HB 1430, a bill that would have denied financial assistance to any child born to a mother who had started receiving financial assistance in the previous ten months.
On his Capitol bio, Christian describes himself as a “consistent conservative voter” and brags about his “sponsorship of family and faith favored legislation.” If and when Rep. Christian calls us back, we’ll update this post.
Comments
I propose Rep. Wayne Christian be subject to random drug and alcohol tests. I also propose investigating his finances. He sounds like he has guilty conscience syndrom. Where the the one finger pointing at others really has the other three pointing right back at himself: incriminating. Maybe HE is a cokehead. How does that song go? 867 5309 (repeat a few times) Baby I got your number..I got it…
I don’t think faith based people would call him one of their own-ever.
What a violation of a persons civil rights especially when everyone is getting pink slips and losing jobs and not even having money to cover COBRA payments.
Posted by 867-5309 on 02/06/09 at 10:40 PM
People will always find a way to feed their addictions. I don’t want my taxes to feed someone’s meth problem, ESPECIALLY if they have kids. If someone came in applying on sole behalf of the child and then failed a drug test, they would be a prime candidate for child abuse. If you are spending money YOU DON’T MAKE on drugs instead of your children, you deserve to have them taken away.
Posted by WildCard on 02/11/09 at 08:49 AM
This is somewhat consistent with his previous bills and votes.
Single mothers and public education get a lot of blame for the state’s problems, people have told me after having conversations with him.
I’ve heard him proclaim that he is “a right wing radical and proud of it” on his radio show, “Money Talk and More”,
after Palin was picked for the Republican ticket.
He also has a bill to allow public entities to invest in annuities, a type of investment he sells.
Since government entities don’t pay taxes on their investments the only person to benefit from this type of investment it seems to me would be the seller.
Posted by Kenneth D. Franks on 02/15/09 at 09:51 AM
Wildcard seems to have a fixation on separating poor children from their parents and guardians. Perhaps he’d recommend the TYC?
Posted by texun on 02/19/09 at 07:50 PM
Anything that punishes the kids for the acts of their parents is something that we would think is bad for kids,
http://www.ihackr.com
Posted by Visitor on 03/27/09 at 10:22 AM
Perhaps Texun would like to see the kids abused by their own drug-addicted parents. And who said these kids are going into a correctional facility? Do you even know what you’re talking about?? In fact, most kids who go to TYC come from - you guessed it - households with DRUG ABUSE. Why? Because if mommy and daddy are shooting up, guess how easy it is for kids to learn to use a needle, and that’s a good way to end up in a juvenile correction facility. Maybe when Texun pulls his head out of the clouds (or smoke) he’ll stop fighting for druggie rights.
Posted by WildCard on 05/03/09 at 11:26 AM
Wildcard is making a statistical argument without data: “most kids who go to TYC come from….” Provide it if you want to be taken seriously. You might also try avoiding ad hominem arguments, unless that’s what really turns you on. Turning my argument into a defense of “druggie rights” shows just how weak your position is.
Posted by Texun on 05/03/09 at 03:05 PM
Here’s a stat for you Texun, I have worked for CASA for the past 2 years, and I (as opposed to you) actually have first-hand experience with abused children coming from drug ridden homes. Your ‘ad hominem’ remark is as juvenile and simple-minded as your first post attacking me (isn’t that ad hominem in itself?). I could easily have let your snide comments slide, but as it pertains to my career I feel that you need to be put in your place.
You obviously have no idea what TYC does or you wouldn’t have included it in an argument about child custody. TYC has nothing to do with custody. Congrats on reading a headline from a few months ago and trying to sound intelligent on the subject. Advice: next time try harder.
Posted by WildCard on 05/03/09 at 04:00 PM
I’m still waiting for statistics to back up this poster’s claims. In place of them, I get “juvenile,” “simple-minded” and “snide” in response. There is hardly any point in exchanging comments with Wildcard, who does not understand the basics of civil discourse.
Posted by Texun on 05/03/09 at 04:27 PM
You guys who oppose this bill… Are you kidding? If I have to pass a drug test to get my money that I work my butt off for, welfare recipients should certainly have to pass a drug test to get my money handed to them!
I understand the addition issue and that the kids should not be punished for their parents’ problems. I agree with that. However, if you’re going to sit around doing nothing but having babies and collecting government money, the least you can do is take a drug test.
Posted by Stephanie Nalls on 05/05/09 at 10:51 PM
Comments