Well, we all thought it. And some of us said it. But she did it.

She being Oletha Faust-Goudeau, the Democrat senator from Wichita who introduced an amendment requiring lawmakers to be subject to drug tests.

This came as a result of a bill requiring Kansas citizens to take a drug test in order to be eligible for welfare/government assistance. If they failed, they would be cut off.

And now, the same could apply for government lawmakers; after all, they are beneficiaries of government funding, too. Faust-Goudeau believes the poor are being unfairly targeted. So…

“What’s good for the goose is good for the gander.”

Also in the proposed amendment: business owners who accept goverment funding would need to be tested. But that suggestion didn’t fly either; both were ultimately voted down. Opponents basically minimized or blew off the suggestion to add lawmakers and business owners into the bill. Jeff Melcher, R-Leawood, called the suggested amendments “political theatrics.” (Nice silencing tactic, but I don’t think it will work with Senator Faust-Goudeau.)

There is quite a bit at risk for those who do not pass the drug test mandated by the new bill. The first failure would require drug treatment and job skills programs. That’s not too bad. If you fail a second test, however, you would lose benefits for a year. A third failure would cause you too lose welfare or unemployment benefits for life. Pretty steep, especially for someone caught in the grip of addiction. It might take several attempts to get on the road to recovery.

Senate Vice President Jeff King, R-Independence, said the basic bill is an attempt to help people with addiction to get help — and prevent state tax dollars from being used to buy illegal drugs. That sounds fair – as long as the same applies to lawmakers and government assisted business owners. All for one, one for all. It’s the only fair thing.

I will do a happy dance if drug testing for Congress becomes a federal law. A lot of the country would celebrate, just for the fairness of it all. And how refreshing to see more and more mighty and brave politicians like Faust-Goudeau, Elizabeth Warner, Bernie Sanders and Al Franken buck the system and status quo by taking on Goliaths like big banks and the U.S. government. Here’s to those rabble-rousers… this is what ‘for the people’ looks like.

The author, Leslie Salzillo, is an activist, political commentator, diarist and visual artist. Salzillo often writes diaries in Daily Kos, and began contributing to AddictingInfo.org in March 2013.)

Source: The Kansas City Star