This time of year, you look twice at the drug addict blocking the sidewalk in front of Starbucks. You give a second thought to the overly bundled elderly woman waiting in line at the food bank. You wonder what life would be like if that palsied kid in the trailer had medical attention.
Americans are generous. But our generosity comes with moral judgments: There's a thin line between the poor who deserve help and those who should get off their butts.
Similarly with the wealthy. Do rich kids who would otherwise be parking cars without Daddy's help--think Donald Trump Jr. and his brother Eric--deserve to inherit a vast estate without paying taxes on their unearned largesse?
About 9 million American kids, in families that earn too much to qualify for Medicaid and not enough to afford their own coverage, can now see a doctor under the federal Children's Health Insurance Program.
Two million of those children have chronic health conditions. The program has always had bipartisan support. So why are the working poor now getting notices telling them their kids may soon be cut off?
"I have a rough time wanting to spend billions and trillions of dollars to help people who won't help themselves ... and expect the federal government to do everything," said Sen. Orrin Hatch (R, Utah). Surely he was not attacking agribusiness owners who get paid not to grow things.
Editorial on 12/17/2017