Friday Morning Thinky Thoughts

Our local newspaper ran an infographic breaking down, county by county, the percentage of children living in poverty. For Clinton County, the county we live in, the percentage was 20%. That's one out of every five children. It's a number that seems somehow both astronomical and not out of keeping with my experience. I was curious, and found out that the national average was just under 22% of all children live in poverty.

Last year, the poverty line for a family of four was $ 23,050. I look at...