Chuck Grimes comments on Brad re:welfare reform remind me of the boondoggle from Lockheed-Martin, which is angling to get the contracts for job search, for welfare to work. Remember an article in Harpers or In These Times, on the disaster this has been in Texas. The California program is called, "GAIN, " which was passed by a liberal (Art Agnos) -conservative coalition by the Ca. state legislature back in the late 80's, if memory serves. Fred Block write a piece on this for Socialist Review? (He teaches at U.C. Davis, maybe Michael Perelman has his e-mail address? Davis and Chico arenot that far apart, no?) Anyway, and I hope I'm not mixing this up with another Lockheed-Martin scam (chasing "dead beat Dads" to collect child support- the stories in the papers portray that as horribly overbudget and full of computer snafus. Watch the House Republicans recommend them for "instant" background checks for firearms purchasers!), lots of formerly welfare state functions carried out by case workers and social workers have been farmed out to non and for profit orgs and businesses. With even less accountability than before.
Michael Pugliese