The nonpartisan Congressional Research Service estimates that there are currently over 80 federal programs that provide food, housing, healthcare, job training, education, energy assistance, and cash to e Americans. How do they fit together to serve the poor?

During a hearing on Tuesday about better coordinating welfare programs to serve families in need, the chairman of theHouse Ways and Means Human Resources mittee provided the following chart (click to enlarge).

Confused? You’re not the only one. As Rep.Charles Boustany (R-LA) says,

What it shows is, in short, a mess. This system may have started out with good intentions, but it has e a confusing maze of programs that are overlapping, duplicative, poorly coordinated, and difficult to administer. I defy anyone to say this is the best way to address the human tragedy so many of our fellow citizens experience.

(Via: AEI Ideas)