Gov. Rick Scott orders random drug tests for state workers

[Bozita]

Source: Miami Herald

Gov. Rick Scott orders random drug tests for state workers

BY AARON SHAROCKMAN AND MARC CAPUTO
HERALD/TIMES TALLAHASSEE BUREAU

TALLAHASSEE -- — On the same day a bill was filed to make good on Gov. Rick Scott’s pledge to require people receiving welfare to pass drug tests, he signed an executive order that would make state workers take them, too.

Sen. Paula Dockery, R-Lakeland, offered legislation on Scott’s behalf in the Criminal Justice Committee Tuesday to require that all cash-assistance welfare recipients over the age of 18 pay for and receive a drug test. One official estimated that this would affect about 58,000 people.

The governor’s executive order requires all prospective hires under his direction to take a drug test and orders that all current employees be subject to random drug screenings, affecting potentially 100,000 people. If tests cost the state $35 each, it could add up to $3.5 million.

The ACLU says the random testing proposal was ruled unconstitutional in a 2004 ACLU case against the state Department of Juvenile Justice.

Read more: http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/03/23/2130397/gov-rick-scott-orders-random-drug.html#ixzz1HSaPWQDI

[plumbob]

1. I assume he'll take the first one, right?

Hey guv, nothing to hide, nothing to fear, right?

[struggle4progress]

31. Maybe he'll do it as a campaign ad

[villager]

2. Ah, GOP getting government off people's backs again?

Vicious, merciless karma cannot come to these people soon enough....

[Taverner]

3. What. An. Asshole.

Let's impeach his ass already!

[hedgehog]

4. Wonder how much the drug testing companies donated to his campaign....

[QC]

6. Scott owns a chain of clinics that do drug tests, among other services.

In fact, his company is the only one in Florida authorized to do physicals for commercial drivers licenses.

One hand washes the other, as the old mobster in the movies always says.

[RKP5637]

10. Yep, mobster is right on, we just call it something different these days, like gov. Many have

found operating under a guise as legit politicians to be far more profitable.

[ekelly]

22. So instead of directly pocketing taxpayer money...

it gets washed first by passing through the drug testing clinic he owns?


Edited to replace "company" with "clinic".

[lutefisk]

28. He took care of that little conflict of interest problem before issuing the executive order

He transfered his stock into his wife's name. Problem solved. From an article on the matter:


Scott's efforts to distance himself appear to be designed to meet the letter of Florida ethics laws, if not the spirit.

They may not succeed if challenged, warned legal and ethics expert Marc Rodwin, a law professor at Suffolk University who is the author of several books on health care and conflicts of interest.

"Placing his ownership in the name of his wife is not an effective way to control for conflicts of interest and not generally accepted because they are personally related," Rodwin said.

http://www.palmbeachpost.com/money/gov-scott-shifting-clinics-to-his-wife-raises-1317326.html

[QC]

32. Yep. Transparent sleaze, which is Scott's trademark. n/t

[quaker bill]

16. What ya wanna bet his wife owns one?

If Solantic does not do testing now, they will soon be in the business.

[QC]

5. I'll take a drug test if Scott will take a lie detector test. n/t

[onethatcares]

13. I'll take two if he answers the questions to the depositon concerning

solantic.

[Newest Reality]

7. Ming the Merciless approves.

I can't wait for this sociopath, dunderhead to be recalled, along with the rest of his malevolent ilk.

Imperial Walker is like feces that has floated to the top of the septic tank. We don't need anything he has to offer and all he does is for vested interests.

[lutefisk]

8. How long before Michigan, Ohio, and Wisconsin governors do the same thing?

No doubt they have already been given the draft by ALEC or whoever the hell is orchestrating things for them.

[L0oniX]

9. Oh they have the money for that huh.

[Journeyman]

12. They'll either require the employees to pay for it, or. . .

they expect to discharge enough high-paid employees and replace them with low-end wage earners to offset the cost of these state-wide tests.

[lutefisk]

20. Hey, your bug's movements are a little erratic.

Maybe you should have it tested for illegal substances. I test mine every three months.

[polichick]

11. This guy is a piece of shit.

[Frank Cannon]

33. That is an offense to excrement

I still can't believe that fucking criminal was elected governor. WTF, Florida?

[polichick]

34. I just visited Florida (my home state) and spoke with several Republicans...

...who weren't foolish enough to vote for him - that's something, at least.

[rzemanfl]

14. That was the last straw for me. I took my diplomas off the office

wall today and packed them in bubble wrap. My letter of resignation is signed.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=145x13482

[nbcouch]

15. Voldemort strikes again

Oh, but there's no need for public employee unions anymore, right?

[quaker bill]

17. Because

apparently people become civil servants to hide their drug habits....

[rzemanfl]

18. Nah! We pay for our habits with that handsome state pay. n/t

[rzemanfl]

19. Hey folks! Two more recs and I'll make the Greatest Page with

a post in the Florida Forum. That'd be a first for me.

[onethatcares]

21. I guess we're all guilty

and have no need for that pesky 5th amendment he used 75 million times during his deposition concerning Solantic healthcare.

or is it the 4th? ahhhhh, fug it, who needs that bill of rights thing except for the 2nd anyway?

[jmowreader]

23. Let's order random drug tests for the people who voted for him...

I think Rick Scott is grooming himself for a 2012 presidential run, which would be entertaining beyond belief.

[Citizen Worker]

24. Drug testing has never been about impairment on the job because current testing methods do not test

for impairment. Rather, they test of use. What drug testing is really about, aside from adding significantly to the bottom line of the companies, is off the job control. An alcohol breathalyzer tests for impairment, a piss test does not.

[DinahMoeHum]

25. Why don't we all pee in a beer growler (64 oz). . .

and send it to the Big Dope in Tallahassee? As a token of our appreciation?

:evilgrin:

[lobodons]

26. Don't like random pee tests?

Then go get registered ot vote and participate in our democracy!! Way too many people sit at home and think politics do not effect their lives. This is what happens when people stay at home on election day.

[Exultant Democracy]

27. smaller government conservatives right...

[lbrtbell]

29. Make all GOP politicians pee in a jar EVERY DAY. n/t

[MJJP21]

30. HOW?

How did this guy even get elected? He was forced to resign while serving as CEO of Columbia/HCA in 1997 as the result of a scandal involving fraudulent billing practices and mediare. The company admitted to the fourteen felonies and paid $600 million dollars in fines according to Wikipedia. I am willing to bet this never came out in his election campaign. Now is a good time to get it out.

[Blue Owl]

35. There's your small-government fuckbag

What a POS.

[okieinpain]

36. then all of the people in his staff should take the test too. n/t.