Will Starts Making Sense, then Abandons It

Who Isn't A 'Values Voter'?

George Will doesn't want to be known as a conservative without values. He values the pragmatic, the common sense, instead of the Old Testament moral hatred that social conservatives value. (Most economists would think that people with common sense values should vote for Democrats. I guess George Will values his pragmatic stupidity, then.) He hates that the media labels only social conservatives as "values voters".

That part makes sense. Then, he gives examples of how different groups vote their values. For liberals, he says,

"Today's liberal agenda includes preservation, even expansion, of the welfare state in its current configuration in order to strengthen an egalitarian ethic of common provision. Liberals favor taxes and other measures to produce a more equal distribution of income. They may value equality indiscriminately, but they vote their values."

Uhh, no. Not quite, George. (But I do like how you tried to slip the common media label "welfare state" into the piece that's against media labels. Clever, man. Clever!)

We don't value equality indiscriminately. We do believe in the "all men are created equal." We'll separate ourselves from the social conservatives by putting women in there, too. We do believe that all should have an equal chance--through education, medical care, and decent housing, for instance. We do believe that that all should share a responsibility to keeping the republic functioning through taxes. If you're in a position to pay more, you should pay more. (That fourth yacht may have to wait.) That's not valuing equality indiscriminately. That's valuing common sense.