For me the trap is the hours worked. I’m not at work long enough to be eligible for most federal programs, but if I found an employee who offered 40 hours of work per week at my rate, I would be above the income thresholds.
Means testing is the most expensive way of doing the least good. It also means they can exclude people who don’t know about the program. An income check requires specific approval to access IRS data. Without means testing they can just mail a check to the people who need it. With means testing, the feds pay for billboards to tell people about the form they could fill out in order to be denied help on a technicality.
For me the trap is the hours worked. I’m not at work long enough to be eligible for most federal programs, but if I found an employee who offered 40 hours of work per week at my rate, I would be above the income thresholds.
Means testing is the most expensive way of doing the least good. It also means they can exclude people who don’t know about the program. An income check requires specific approval to access IRS data. Without means testing they can just mail a check to the people who need it. With means testing, the feds pay for billboards to tell people about the form they could fill out in order to be denied help on a technicality.