A Ray of Sunshine: Rick Scott Drops Welfare Drug Test Appeals

In the midst of the depressing news about growing scandals and abuses, here's a ray of hope showing that if you put Rick Scott's back to the wall, he'll fold like a house of cards. Scott has declined to further press his appeals on the case regarding drug testing of welfare recipients.

The whole effort was a joke by Scott for several reasons:

• It was a clear violation of the Constitutional provision against unreasonable searches.
• It stood to gain him some personal profit, since he owned a company that did drug tests. (He got caught at that one, though.)
• While it was in effect, it only found a tiny number of drug users. Sure, probably a few drug users just didn't apply for welfare knowing they would test positive. But the state has spent so much on legal fees, and on tests for those who didn't come up positive for drugs, that the expense has outweighed the savings. (The state had to reimburse those who didn't test positive.)
• Scott once justified the program on the grounds that he was worried about children in families of drug users. For some reason he didn't seem concerned about children in well to do families.

Take it to heart: Rick Scott can be taken down. You just need to find the right tools. With any luck, we'll find one that will earn him an orange jumpsuit wardrobe.