Wisconsin governor and Republican presidential candidate Scott Walker apparently doesn't believe the state should be required to have a reasonable suspicion before drug testing someone who applies for food stamps.
Walker signed the state's terrible budget into law yesterday but not before vetoing a provision would have limited drug testing.
Walker removed a provision that would have limited the tests to applicants with “reasonable suspicion,” saying the administration shouldn’t have limits on who it wants to screen. [...]
The presidential hopeful’s original proposal also planned to pay for free drug treatment and job training for those who tested positive, but another change he made on Sunday eliminated the free treatment.
While Walker aims to drug test as many people as possible for the crime of being poor, it's more likely his actions will result in a lawsuit that will reverse the entire policy.
Other states have already implemented similar drug testing programs and those programs have been ruled unconstitutional when challenged in court.
For his part, Walker made it clear why he vetoed the drug testing provision.
"I campaigned on this last year, and we said we're going to make sure people not only get the employability skills they need to get hired, we're going to make sure they're free of drugs," Walker said. "Because we know if they're free of drugs and they know — or they have basic employability skills — we can find a job for anyone in the state of Wisconsin."
According to Walker, if you don't have a job you're probably on drugs.
I suppose it is true that Walker campaigned on fighting a losing battle in court over the state's right to inflict maximum shame and embarrassment on poor people. To that end, you can give him credit for following through.
Scott Walker formally launched his presidential campaign today.