We used to joke that conservatives say government sucks and then when they get in power they prove it. Now it seems that conservatives say that government sucks and liberals bend over backwards to make their case for them.
He’s making the point that these days, among Senior Democratic Party Leadership at least, any sort of social welfare provisions cannot be universal, but instead must be aggressively (and expensively) means tested, to ensure that “The Poors” get a big serving of dirt that they have to swallow down.
By spending money to require misery, these programs are effectively paying for misery.