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@cwicseolfor fixing this requires going after the root causes that *lead* to Equifax and Deloitte being in this position in the first place.

And the root cause that leads to them is means testing.

@cwicseolfor @codinghorror@infosec.exchange exactly - part of the reason why it's "worth it" for the government to pay Equifax so wastefully is because the service Equifax is providing is not efficiency, the point is to be a punitive gatekeeper in front of aid for struggling Americans.

Inefficiency is if anything a benefit to multiple political actors, who can use the cost of Equifax to justify slashing programs.

The end result: a program that dehumanizes people who need help - is intentional.

"Don't abolish means testing, reform it" makes about as much sense as the slogan does in other contexts.

The purpose of a system is what the system does. And means testing consistently leads to these outcomes - it is not a problem with one or two companies, it is a perverse incentive structure for the government that systematically leads to abuse and financial waste.

Equifax is just one particular manifestation of that outcome.

It is not accidental that means testing results in these inefficiencies (and the inefficiencies are not the primary problem anyway). The outcomes you're seeing are the natural result of forcing struggling Americans to prove that they deserve care.

This is the end-state of over-broad means testing. It will always be the end-state of over-broad means testing.

@codinghorror@infosec.exchange means testing is the *reason* why the state is paying Equifax and Deloitte.

If means testing didn't exist, Equifax and Deloitte would not be paid to verify income.

And there's every indication that large swaths of the government are *happy* with this arrangement, because the purpose of means testing for those parties is to punish struggling Americans who are trying to get help. Inefficiency is acceptable to them if the system is punishing enough.