Show me -- and them -- the money

Unlike some of my fellow Dems, I don't have any particular problem with the idea of the federal government working with lower-income couples to encourage and promote healthy marriages.

But note the utter hypocrisy of President Bush's proposal.

What's his answer to every problem facing the investor class in America? Why, tax cuts, of course, because what those folks really need is more money in their pockets.

And what has he decided to offer the millions of Americans struggling to form and preserve stable families on little more than a stubborn belief in the power of love and whatever Manpower Inc. can get away with paying this week? A billion-and-a-half bucks worth of counseling!

Sure, President Bush is a compassionate conservative. As long as that only means being compassionate to conservatives.

POSTSCRIPT: And, puh-lease, don't try to tell me that those folks can't have a tax cut because they don't pay any taxes. How about a federal rebate of their state sales taxes? Or tax credits designed to help them pull together the down payment on a house.

Conservatives can be wonderfully creative when it comes to finding tax cuts for the people who finance their campaigns. I'm just asking them to do the same for hard-pressed families who are doing their damnedest to work hard and play by the rules.