Partly. As an example, well-intentioned midcentury relief workers did a lot of damage to minority communities (like you see in Malcolm X's autobiography). Elimi

Partly. As an example, well-intentioned midcentury relief workers did a lot of damage to minority communities (like you see in Malcolm X's autobiography). Eliminating means testing and data collection saves money and is significant for the people involved in the program. There are a lot of labor market benefits as well; one of the big problems with means-tested programs is that they screw up the tax structure at the low end of the income scale. If your options are being jobless receiving welfare or getting a job that forces you out of welfare, there's a large disincentive to seek work. You would be paying an effective tax rate of ~100% by losing that payment.