Dr. Thomas Sowell Schools the Rest of Us on "Political Statistics"

Thomas Sowell at National Review tells it like it is. Here's the beginning of his article:

When someone gives you a check and the bank informs you that there are insufficient funds, whom do you get mad at? In your own life, you get mad at the guy who gave you the check that bounced, not at the bank. But, in politics, you get mad at whoever tells you that there is no money.

One of the secrets of the growth of the welfare state is that politicians get a lot of mileage out of making promises, without setting aside enough money to fulfill those promises....