It isn't something that can be judged from one piece or column, but I try to pay attention to whether pundits write about politics as if it affects them or if it just affects other people. Of course not everything affects me! I'm a US citizen. I'm not poor at the moment. I have health insurance through Mrs. A. Etc. And I take a broad view here. People can write with empathy even if it doesn't impact them personally. The point is not that people need to write "oh crap I might lose my health insurance." The point is they have to have some awareness of the consequences of the impact of policy beyond the morality play in their heads.
Ross Douthat is probably the worst pundit I can think of based on this. Even when he's playing "reasonable conservative" it's all about how the world should work, and not about how people might be starving and dying. Liberal pundits are guilty, too.
Anyway, when you're thinking about posting your sober technocratic treatise on whether SSDI eligibility requirements should be tightened up, consider what that means in practice. Those moochers and their $1100/month probably aren't really a problem.
