Because it was never their intent. The goal of any such programs are to foster dependence, and undermine self-esteem, enhancing support for the party that indefatigably supports the policies.
The Great Society constructed urban warehouses (like Chicago’s Cabrini Green) as “public housing”, the goal of which was to keep certain people out of the suburbs, and out of the pay-your-own-way rental properties. This helped hold on to the Southern Democrats as well as northern machine politicians’ fiefdoms.
Democratic Debacle (1964 convention, repercussions today)
America Heritage | July 2004 (cover date) | Joshua Zeitz
Posted on 07/27/2004 9:59:49 PM PDT by SunkenCiv
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/1179981/posts
(Terry) GROSS: My reading of your book - and you can tell me if this is how you see it - is that beneath all of his idealism - maybe not initially, but certainly fairly soon - beneath all that idealism was this cynicism that he knew how to play people. He developed a very large African-American following and said something - I'm just going to paraphrase here - but said something to another of his followers that if you keep them poor and hungry, they'll always stay with you, you know, because there’ll be a need.