EDITORIAL: Bauer should know better

"My grandmother was not a highly educated woman, but she told me as a small child to quit feeding stray animals. You know why? Because they breed. You're facilitating the problem. If you give an animal or person an ample food supply they will reproduce, especially when they don't think too much further than that. And so what you have got to do is you've got to curtail that type of behavior. They don't know any better." - Lt. Gov. Andre Bauer

South Carolina's lieutenant governor says he was trying to make a point that something must be done to curb the tide of generational welfare. His example above, however, was poorly chosen and is now causing him to circle the wagons and defend what he meant to say.

Mr. Bauer has been in politics long enough to know when and how to curb his tongue. As our lieutenant governor and a potential candidate for governor his making some kind of awkward comparison of stray animals with people on welfare is offensive to all. No matter how he says it, Mr. Bauer's comments were unwarranted and rather than try to spin his comments, he should apologize.

After his apology, if he wants to discuss ways to improve the delivery of social services in the state - without comparisons to animals - that would indeed be welcome.