I understand the "Do as I say, not as I do" concept.

I think every parent does, to some degree.

We all, at one time or another, have admonished our kids to refrain from conduct that we ourselves have engaged in.

That's just because we don't want the kids to make the same mistakes that we did.

It's an honest sort of hypocrisy, if that's possible.

But politicians are different. They practice hypocrisy on purpose to get votes.

They misrepresent, obfuscate and spin the facts with a vengeance.

The latest, greatest devious campaign issue is prescription drugs.

Al Gore is scoring some pretty big political points these days with his prescription drug plan.

And why wouldn't he?

After all, if you were about to get something for nothing, wouldn't you feel pretty good about it? Wouldn't you support the guy giving it to you?

That's what Gore's prescription drug plan does. It gives certain people something for nothing.

Those certain people are the elderly. Gore was touting his plan on "Today" earlier this week.

He wants to pony up $338 billion over 10 years to give some degree of financial assistance to Medicare recipients.

They get the aid whether they need it or not.

Surveys say most do not.

Despite all the rhetoric you hear about old people in America living in cardboard boxes and eating cold beans straight from the can, the truth is the elderly are the wealthiest demographic in America.

The vast majority of Medicare recipients have supplemental insurance plans that help pay for prescription drugs.

And surveys show that annual drug costs for Medicare recipients are not all that high on average.

But Gore - his campaign finely honed to reflect the polls and undeterred by the facts - presses on with his plan to give the elderly something for nothing.

This even though he knows most of them don't need it.

Now, can you think of something that Gore roundly denounces as a sop to the rich? Something for people who don't need it?

A tax cut, maybe?

Every time a conservative suggests that there should be a tax cut, liberals claim that "the wealthiest Americans" will benefit the most.

Here's a flash.

The wealthiest Americans will always benefit the most from a tax cut because they pay the most taxes.

Even with all the loopholes, exemptions and deductions imbedded in our onerous tax code, the wealthy still pay the biggest share of revenue flowing to the treasury.

Of course the wealthy also have the most to gain. Five percent of a million-dollar tax bill is 50 grand. Five percent of a $10,000 tax bill is 500 bucks.

Either way, the taxpayer wins. Just on a different level.

And when we have a tax increase, the wealthy have the most to lose. But nobody mentions that. Hey, they're rich, they can afford it.

I find the whole class envy thing distasteful. It's as if some politicians want us to believe that there is something wrong with amassing wealth.

Is there something wrong with being enterprising? Is there something wrong with capitalism?

If you do happen to make a lot of money, should you be penalized for it?

I guess so.

And the crowning irony in all this is that the very people who decry the sop to the rich are all wealthy in their own right.

But that is just the disingenuous nature of politics.

With Gore's prescription drug plan, the problem is not so much that it's just a vote-buying ploy, it's that somebody must pay for it.

Who do you suppose that is?

Why, it's the people who pay the payroll tax for Medicare. That happens to be everybody who has a job.

Of course that has to include low-income workers and minimum wage workers.

It's kind of like Robin Hood in reverse. Gore would take from the average worker to fund a benefit for retired people, most of whom don't really need it.

Taking from the poor to give to the rich, essentially.

Republicans - namely House Speaker Dennis Hastert and Trent Lott - also have proposed a prescription drug plan.

They want to aim the benefit at Medicaid, which pays for drugs for those below the poverty line. Certainly there are elderly who are hovering around the poverty line and the GOP wants to help them, just like Gore.

The GOP wants to wait until Medicare is restructured before helping those who are doing well now.

The Democrats should go along with the GOP on this one. Wouldn't it be nice if they could put aside politics and work together to really help some needy people?

That would entail taking responsibility instead of credit and recognizing merit instead of placing blame.

In politics, I think we all know there is little chance of that. [[In-content Ad]]