Wednesday

Miscellany

We talk about the "cradle to grave" welfare state, but I've applied that toward life's underclass, those who get free lunches K-12, food coupons and welfare, Medicaid, etc. Mark Steyn points out that we are getting there for all classes by pushing back the age of adulthood (Obamacare says kids aren't adults for healthcare purposes until 26) and reducing the point of old age: "Life expectancy in most advanced nations is nudging 80. When Bismarck introduced the Old Age Pension in 1889, you had to be 70 to get it at a time when life expectancy was 45." Of course, we've recently pushed back the age of retirement for full Social Security, but that's just an aberrational blip on the screen of the creeping welfare state. * * * * * The 2010 Self-Righteous Busybody Jackass of the Year Award goes to . . . Tom Hennessy, of Ridgway, Colorado: "Hennessy is proposing that his town become a national model by enacting a mandatory-voting statute. Residents who don't bother to vote, for no good reason, would be fined." Congrats, Tom. With the current crop in Washington, DC, you beat out some stiff competition.