This refers to the work requirement under the welfare reforms that obama has been accused of gutting.
Instead of actual work, states are allowed to accept "journaling" as an activity. Clearly, romney was correct inhis accusations, which of course the mainstream media howled about.
The media claimed that Obama was just giving the states more flexibility, but the only states who wanted more flexibilty were the ones who didn't want to enforce the work requirement in the first place, ie liberal democratic states like Illinois.