The growth of entitlements remains a mystery

NPR likes to talk about its listeners' "Driveway moments." What they don't usually talk about is the less pithy but no less common, "Bang your head on the steering wheel moments." These usually occur in conjunction with segments featuring one or more of Mara Liasson, Cokie Roberts, and Juan Williams.

Today was just such a day as NPR ran two segments back to back. One featuring Mara Liasson lecturing us on the bad politics of health care followed by another on the unprecedented national debt. In the latter, "entitlements" were especially noted, failing to point out that nearly half of U.S. health care costs are paid through Medicare and Medicaid. No connection, of course, with the good policy of health care reform and how it would improve the budget deficit picture significantly over the long term.