If we're going to have taxpayer funding on a program, it's better to enlist the individuals on whose behalf the money will be spent. In other words, consumer-directed applies to health welfare programs, too.

One gubernatorial candidate in Delaware proposes a that logic, or at least one application of it, when it comes to the disabled.

Jack Markell, currently the state auditor, supports a "Money-Follows-the-Person funding formula that allows people eligible for state money to have more choice in the assistance they receive," says Delaware Online. It sounds like some proposals made by market-focused reformers such as our own Michael Bond.

I'll cop to being ignorant of Delaware politics, and even if Markell advocates increasing spending. But a person who receives public assistance will be better off if he has some say over where the money is spent.