The Economics of Bob Allen’s Hypocrisy

Florida Representative Bob Allen made a gay, racist name for himself peddling “family friendly” issues. You know, like a law against masturbating in front of another adult. Allen’s ideological conservatism suited Republican voters just fine and he proved to be a fairly popular politician. His copper blow job offer, however, may forever tarnish his family friendly image.

Slate‘s Steven E. Landsburg can’t help but wonder whether Allen’s a, well, big fat hypocrite:

Why, exactly, do we call Mr. Allen a hypocrite? Answer: because he wants to impose standards on others that he’s not willing to impose on himself. But you could say the same thing about a lot of other politicians. Consider, for example, a U.S. Senator who seeks to raise income taxes on people in her own income bracket yet neglects to make voluntary overpayments to the government each April 15. Is she equally a hypocrite?

From there Landsburg gives readers a lesson on the economics of hypocrisy. How does Allen fair? What do you think?