Americans are becoming more and more dependent of the federal government. By this I mean a larger use of government funded programs. One in five Americans now depends on Uncle Sam for assistance, according to research done by the Heritage Foundation.

This growing dependency has two major causes: 1) increased government spending on dependence-creating programs, like SNAP 2) a shrinking number of taxpayers who pay for the programs.

“Not only did the federal government effectively take over half of the U.S. economy and expand public-sector debt by more than all previous governments combined, it also oversaw a second year of enormous expansion in total government debt at the federal level. Much of that growth in new debt can be traced to programs that encourage dependence,” according to the Heritage Foundation.

America must take drastic measures. By adding drug testing to the requirements of programs like SNAP it will be used, as it should to be used. Hopefully it will encourage those using the program to wean themselves off of the government aid and work to support themselves.