Some wisdom from Will

From George Will’s latest column:

Consider the controversy over the State Children’s Health Insurance
Program, which is up for renewal. Most Republicans favor extending it.
Almost all Democrats, and some Republicans, favor expanding it in a way
that transforms it.

SCHIP is described as serving "poor children" or children of "the
working poor." Everyone agrees that it is for "low-income" people.
Under the bill that Democrats hope to pass over the president’s veto
tomorrow, states could extend eligibility to households earning
$61,950. But America’s median household income is $48,201. How can
people above the median income be eligible for a program serving
lower-income people?

Politics often operates on the Humpty Dumpty Rule (in "Through the Looking Glass," he says, "When I
use a word, it means just what I choose it to mean — neither more nor
less"). But the people currently preening about their compassion should
have some for the English language.

And this beauty:

Many politicians pander, as Edwards does with gusto, to Americans’
current penchant for self-pity. Hence the incessant talk about "the
forgotten middle class." Because such talk is incessant, it of course
refutes itself.

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