Congress wants to meddle in how universities spend their endowments. George Will is on the case. But bullying the universities is only an instance; it’s the underlying idea that rightly gives Will willies:
The almost erotic pleasure of spending money that others have earned and saved is one reason people put up with the tiresome aspects of political life. And now the government’s response to the financial crisis, including the semi-nationalization of nine major banks, has blurred — indeed, almost erased — the distinction between public and private sectors.
Has any reporter ever asked McCain or Obama if there’s any significant problem in America which it is not the business of government to manage? One of the underlying problems with our political-media narrative is the assumption that every problem is a problem with a political solution, in whole or in part. That’s a bipartisan bias, and a poisonous one.