Eloquence on a truck

Spotted on June 26, 2010

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While on the subject, this year's gubernatorial race in California promises to have plenty of talk about welfare. The Republican nominee, Meg Whitman, has been positioning herself as a welfare reformer, bemoaning the increasingly welfare-state-like status of California (hear this ad).

This attack is part of her larger push to reduce governmental spending by cutting entitlements; an approach that has earned her the enmity of many unions - the California Nurses Association has dubbed her Queen Meg (with reference to her personal wealth and demonstrated capability of buying elections).

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During the primary race for his presidential nomination in 1976, former US president Ronald Reagan popularized the term welfare queen by making oft references to a woman in Chicago who milked the government's support program to live a lavish lifestyle.

What is it with welfare and queens?