States consider **** tests for welfare recipients
By TOM BREEN – API
CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — Want government assistance? Just say no to *****.
Lawmakers in at least eight states want recipients of food stamps, unemployment benefits or welfare to submit to random **** testing.
The effort comes as more Americans turn to these safety nets to ride out the recession. Poverty and civil liberties advocates fear the strategy could backfire, discouraging some people from seeking financial aid and making already desperate situations worse.
Those in favor of the **** tests say they are motivated out of a concern for their constituents' health and ability to put themselves on more solid financial footing once the economy rebounds. But proponents concede they also want to send a message: you don't get something for nothing.
"Nobody's being ****** into these assistance programs," said
