I know you aren’t the other guy, but it’s a really interesting argument that despite spending more and more money every year to solve this kind of problem, and seeing that the problem is getting worse (quality of life and economic security for uneducated people, in this case), one can still argue that the government is actually efficient and competent. It seems obvious to me that they are not successfully solving this problem with spending. I know a natural reaction is to blame one political party or the other for being especially bad, but you can see a lot of examples of failures to improve outcomes despite increasing spending at the state and local levels for both parties in the US. So if a politician comes along and says you know what, let’s try to solve this problem with policy instead of spending, the people who are suffering listen to that, even if the outcome isn’t certain.

What government jobs programs have we been dumping increasing amounts of money into with diminishing returns?

Seems to me your logic actually applies to the argument of not doing that, and letting the free market figure it out.

With respect, I asked for data and you came back with “it seems obvious to me…” without citing any real data. I know enough to know people who make feelings-based arguments can’t be persuaded by data-driven discussions.

You can go find the data about the diminishing financial security of this class yourself - your only argument was an appeal to authority, btw.

A reference is not an appeal to authority, it’s an opportunity for you to verify the stance and poke holes in it if you have the capability to do so. You have the opportunity to use whatever authority you want and cherry pick data. I’m just asking for an effort that has some rigor beyond “I can’t prove it, I just know it’s true because my gut tells me so”

As requested below: which jobs programs have we been shoveling money into with diminishing returns?