One of the enormous political advantages traditionally enjoyed by the Left over the right is their emotional appeal – they consistently present the message that the role of government is to help the underprivileged, the downtrodden, the (in no way silent) minority. Any argument that the role of government is to free the citizenry to pull themselves up by their own bootstraps comes across as being cold and “mean-spirited”.

But it seems to me that those truly invested in helping others start by emptying their own pockets first. I think that’s where this story rankles; Raines was/is employed to run an organization with the mission of helping the downtrodden poor and minorities achieve home ownership, but he doesn’t even care enough to work on the appearance that he’s contributing to the cause. And nobody’s calling him on it.