Texas, corruption, croneyism and how it destroyed CHIP

[Horse with no Name]

For people that "think" that Texas operates like any other state, please know that it does not.
It is a dirty, corrupt state to the bones.
There were some OUTSTANDING Democratic candidates on the state ticket this last election cycle, but we were stuck with the status quo.
Just read this about Texas, corruption, croneyism and how it destroyed CHIPS.
http://www.texasobserver.org/article.php?aid=2462
>>>snip
In a misguided, poorly executed effort to let the private sector bring “efficiency” to Texas government, the state has squandered at least $100 million, cheated hundreds of thousands of needy Texans out of benefits, and now risks millions of dollars in federal fines for botching things up so badly.

This is not the promised land of free-market bounty that Republican lawmakers and right-wing think tanks described in 2003, when they convinced the Legislature to enact one of the most ambitious privatization plans any state has ever attempted. Back then, the talk was of how wonderful life would be as projections of $600 million in savings danced a lively jig through committee rooms and onto the House and Senate floors.
>>>snip
Under the new model, the state planned to close dozens of local offices, fire thousands of state workers, and replace them with four call centers run by a private company. Texans would access the social safety net much the same way they complain to the cable company about poor service. No state had ever outsourced such a core government function. But Republican lawmakers pitched their plan as the vanguard of a new movement, and in June 2005, Texas inked the largest contract in state history, awarding Accenture $899 million to run the show.

It never worked, and just 20 months later the great experiment was in ruins. After four months of dismal reports on Accenture’s continuing inability to make its call centers function, the HHSC tore up the contract on March 13. In the days after the massive deal came to an inglorious end, HHSC officials made clear in numerous statements that they put the blame on Accenture. Hawkins told a legislative committee that Accenture had assured him the call-center system was ready.

[GOPisEvil]

1. I could have told you this way back in 2001.

That's when the redesign of the eligibility system began under another contractor. It was clear that we were going to end up with a turd. A shiny, well-dressed turd, but a turd nonetheless. After the consolidation, we got a new contractor and a bigger pile of crap.

Did you know that in areas served by these call centers under the pilot, fraud cases cannot be prosecuted since there isn't adequate proof pf eligibilty and proof of payment?

Privatization doesn't work. It didn't work with the Texas Workforce Commission and it won't work if they privatize the lottery.

Oh and it isn't CHIPS; there's no "S" on the end. Just a pet peeve from my former life.

Thanks for posting this article. :thumbsup:

[Horse with no Name]

3. Thanks! Changed it. n/t

[sam sarrha]

2. and * used the corruption in TX as a spring board to overthrow the federal government