Rep. Gwen Moore of Wisconsin is so fed up by Republicans “criminalizing” poverty that she has proposed drug-testing the “top 1%” earners before they can receive tax deductions.
The Democrat introduced Thursday the Top 1% Accountability Act, in response to “several nationwide efforts by Republicans to drug test social welfare recipients,” according to a press release. Ms. Moore said she was particularly inspired to propose the bill after listening to a speech last week by Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan, the current House speaker, who unveiled his plan to combat poverty using a drug treatment center for a backdrop.
“When he stood in front of a drug treatment center and rolled out his anti-poverty initiative, pushing this narrative that poor people are drug addicts, that was the last straw,” Ms. Moore told The Guardian.
She said she is “sick and tired, and sick and tired of being sick and tired, of the criminalization of poverty.”
“We’re not going to get rid of the federal deficit by cutting poor people off [the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program]. But if we are going to drug-test people to reduce the deficit, let’s start on the other end of the income spectrum,” she said. “We might really save some money by drug-testing folks on Wall Street, who might have a little cocaine before they get their deal done.”
The Top 1% Accountability Act would force taxpayers with itemized deductions of more than $150,000 to submit to the IRS a clean drug test, or else take the much lower standard deduction when filing their taxes.
The bill stands little chance of advancing in the Republican-controlled Congress, Fox News noted.
Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker last month issued new administrative rules to implement drug testing for some people seeking unemployment benefits in the state, The Guardian reported.
• Jessica Chasmar can be reached at jchasmar@washingtontimes.com.
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