By Frederick Fuller

Lately, the word “entitlement” has become a four-letter obscenity. Listening to “The Rumble in the Air Conditioned Auditorium” (search youtube.com) debate between Bill O’Reilly and Bill Maher, I was struck at how O’Reilly seemed almost furious if he thought anyone was getting an undeserved entitlement. I don’t remember his defining “undeserved” but I am sure “freeloader” was the intended synonym.

Now, I admit I do not understand the ramifications of the federal budget; to me, it’s like cutting through a jungle with a penknife. So I will approach the issue of entitlements from a humanitarian point of view.

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 Fuller lives in Roanoke County.