[Sigaba]

Originally Posted by Surgicalcric

So then he should say whats politically expedient instead of stating things as they are or stating how he truly feels? I would rather politicians say whats on their mind(s) as well as on many of ours.

Surgicalcric--

As your comment points out, it will be up to each voter to answer the question for himself.

In my opinion, there does not have to be a distinction between a politician saying what is politically expedient and what reflects his personal views. The two are not mutually exclusive categories.

In this case, the controversy Mr. Bauer decided to start is receiving national attention. Democrats are pointing at Mr. Bauer as the epitome of the Republican Party. And, at least for now, lost in the din is a pretty good argument for welfare reform.

All for what? Unintentionally, the Fox News report provides a telling insight into Mr. Bauer's way of thinking. He said:

My grandmother was not a highly educated woman, but she told me as a small child to quit feeding stray animals. You know why? Because they breed. You're facilitating the problem if you give an animal or a person ample food supply. ...

What this statement says is that, as an educated adult with a career in public service and access to data and studies on welfare and welfare recipients, Mr. Bauer's policy analysis centers around what he heard as a "small child" from his grandmother who "was not a highly educated woman." IMO, this statement does not inspire confidence in the man's expertise.

Then he offered this ironic remark.

They will reproduce especially ones that don't think too much further than that. And so what you've got to do is you've got to curtail that type of behavior. They don't know any better.

This comment raises immediately the question: Who are "they" and what don't they know? Those who agree with Mr. Bauer are quick to conclude that "they" are the malingerers who stay on the dole and live beyond their means by having more children. Yet, consider the following piece of information.

The Associated Press reported that Bauer, who comes from working-class roots and who grew up in a single-parent household, benefited from subsidized school lunches himself.

Since Mr. Bauer is the one who raised the issue of his family history by referencing his grandmother, it is not an idle exercise to re-think who he meant when he said "they." Are "they" just today's malingerers or do "they" also include his parents who, by their choices, placed Mr. Bauer in the position of being raised in a single parent home and of needing public assistance to have enough to eat at school? While neither of these facts are inherently shameful, it seems that Mr. Bauer may not agree. One is inclined to wonder why.