WHO IS FOOLING WHOM? Periodically we have spasms of moral outrage that a recipient of some welfare program had scammed the system - received benefits to which they were not entitled. These spasms are usually related to calls to reform the system - meaning usually to reduce the amount of benefits available or beneficiaries who qualify - sometimes connected to calls to end waste in government. Why are people surprised that someone is gaming the welfare system? Really? Were we expecting perfection? It does not exist - in welfare or in life. How many self employed taxpayer fudge on their expenses (seldom on income as that is traceable and translates into serious penalties) or how many defense contractors fudge on their expenses. Are we agreed that both catagories are perfection? Are we surprised when it is revealed that a defense contractor charged the government for a dog sitter? Perhaps reason for jest but no calls to outlaw defense contractors - to either reduce the benefits they receive or the number of defense contractor who benefit from government largess. In these matters as in most things we deal with percentages. When the percentages of tax fraud grows exponential, a reaction occurs. When the percentage of government contractors gaming the system grows too large, a reaction occurs. The same in any government program - including that which claims the lowest percentage of our national expenditures - the people at the bottom of the totem pole.