Chairman Barney Frank's "Boat" and What It's Full Of

"Barney Frank, the 14-term Massachusetts congressman who chairs the Financial Services Committee, says it might be useful to 'make it a misdemeanor to use metaphors in the discussion of public policy,' such as 'a rising tide lifts all boats.' Against what he considers that too-complacent view of economic growth (the metaphor was John Kennedy's), Frank says: A rising tide is wonderful 'if you have a boat.'

Frank questions whether market-driven wealth creation is producing more inequality 'than is either socially healthy or economically necessary.' He favors much more government intervention in the economy to diminish inequality. Sometimes he means equal dependence on government. For example, he wants everyone......" Read more by George Will.