Taking a break from the 2016 election, let's turn to an amusing twist on the everyday craziness of how American government works: Wisconsin Rep. Gwen Moore wants to treat the richest recipients of government largesse the same way we treat the poorest by forcing them to submit to drug testing before giving them taxpayer benefits.
"We’re not going to get rid of the federal deficit by cutting poor people off Snap," said Moore, referring to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or food stamps, "But if we are going to drug-test people to reduce the deficit, let’s start on the other end of the income spectrum."
Specifically, Moore's bill would force wealthy individuals with over $1,000,000 in annual income who are seeking more than $150,000 in itemized deductions to send a clear drug test to the IRS along with their tax forms. Individuals wishing to avoid a drug test can take the lower standard deduction.
Moore's bill, the Top 1% Accountability Act, is very unlikely to pass. But, Moore hopes, it could help people see through the stigmatization of poor people. As she writes on her congressional website:
As I’ve said time and time again, the notion that those battling poverty are somehow more susceptible to substance abuse is as absurd as it is offensive. If anything, our nation’s opioid crisis continues to underscore how substance addiction knows no social, racial, or economic distinctions. The time has come to stop vilifying vulnerable American families for being poor and start focusing on the policies that will help create an economy that works for everyone.
In fact, the poorest members of society use drugs at lower rates than middle- or high-income individuals. This might seem counterintuitive until you remember that drugs cost money, and poor people generally tend to do things that cost money at lower rates than people with money.
In fact, the seven states that currently drug test recipients of welfare (formally known as Temporary Assistance to Needy Families, or Tanf) found that less than 1% welfare recipients were drug users, compared to 9.4% of the general population. Welfare recipients are literally almost 10 times less likely to use drugs than people who can afford drugs. "We might really save some money by drug-testing folks on Wall Street," said Moore, "who might have a little cocaine before they get their deal done."
Furthermore, she says, the discrepancy in the amount of money given to rich citizens dwarfs poverty assistance programs. "The benefits we give to poor people are so limited compared to what we give to the top 1%,” Moore told reporters, "It’s a drop in the bucket." The mortgage interest deduction, probably one of the most popular, costs roughly the same as the food stamp program—about $70 billion a year—and is skewed towards the top of the income spectrum to people with large and multiple houses. "Even Oprah gets the mortgage interest deduction," said Moore.
Moore has long been an advocate for de-stigmatizing government assistance, emphasizing her own story of using food stamps and welfare to help her work her way out of poverty and off of assistance.
Currently, federal law prohibits drug testing as a requirement to receive food stamps. There are lawsuits pending from several Republican governors to overturn this and allow them to force Snap recipients to submit to testing.
