Compassion, Thy Name is Theft

I am fed up to my burning ears with Cart Blanc castigation of Conservatives! The other day I accidentally landed on MSNBC just in time to hear a discussion about Conservatives and their lack of compassion for the fate of the poor.

Said the spokeswoman, with great authority, “Conservatives always talk about the family and about spending time with your kids. And they say all you have to do is pull yourself up by your boot straps to get ahead.” Then with great disdain she said, “These Conservatives have no understanding that when you’re trying to just survive you don’t have the luxury of spending time with your kids! That’s a REPUBLICAN concept for the privileged,” she finished with an air of great indignation at the very thought of it!

Well, as I listened (and it wasn’t long because I have a very weak stomach) my mind was racing, thinking of all the details of reality she had apparently missed.

First, if government would stop dragging people down by their wallets, then those poor victims might just be able to pull themselves up by the boot straps.

For example, liberals viciously attack employers as greedy for not paying their workers enough as they demand that government enforce a higher minimum wage. “People can’t be expected to live on such low wages,” they scream in their compassion for the poor!

However, if employees actually received 100% of the paycheck the employers provide, then most workers could live quire well on their wages. Instead, before the employer can actually write the pay check and hand it to the employee, the government has already taken 35% to 50%. On top of that, the employer also has to match the employee’s social security tax payment. That’s part of the employee expense. Heartless, cruel Conservatives oppose this liberal compassion.

Today, falling gas prices are finally giving consumers a small break for their pocket book. The extra $15 to $25 saved on a fill up as the nation recovers from the crush of the $4.00 per gallon costs of just a year ago, can help buy food, school supplies, maybe even a movie night where families can spend time together.

Not happy to allow people to actually find a useful purpose for their own money, compassionate Liberals are rushing to pressure state legislatures and city councils to increase gas taxes to put those savings into government pockets instead, so bankrupt governments can continue to pay for all of the massive spending programs. Heartless, cruel Conservatives oppose this liberal compassion.

Healthcare for all has become the latest cause of compassion for the poor. It’s actually kind of funny to think about how the compassionate Liberals condemn the healthcare industry for being too expensive and that too many Americans are without healthcare. In their compassion for the poor, they give us Obamacare to assure “equitable” coverage for all. Yet, it is the lower middle class of the nation that suffers most from this mandate. Soon they will be forced into the ranks of the desperate poor.

First, a quick study of history will show that healthcare is so expensive precisely because of government intervention into the industry. It started with former President Lyndon Johnson and his “Great Society” program which created Medicare. Again, a government program sold under the excuse of compassion. The result was the creation of mega insurance companies and government sanctioned healthcare monopolies and healthcare costs skyrocketed, out of reach of average Americans, forcing even more government intervention and richer insurance companies. Before the invasion of government into healthcare, America had a first class system that featured family doctors and even home visits for reasonable costs.

Now, under the Affordable Care Act, people who couldn’t afford insurance in the first place are mandated to buy even more expensive insurance or face fines from the government. Businesses, especially small employers, are being devastated by the mandate that they must provide coverage for employees. This has forced the employers to do without employees they would normally have hired and desperately need. In addition, they have been forced to cut back on hours for those who are already working. Who is more affected by this destruction of jobs than the poor? Heartless, cruel Conservatives oppose this liberal compassion.

Illegal immigration is invading our nation. Thousands of people are ignoring our laws and rushing across our border. Most admit that they are coming for the specific purpose of grabbing free money, housing, food, healthcare and education. Some of the more dangerous ones are coming to do us harm. We are told that this invasion helps our nation by providing workers who will do work no American will do. Tell that to the out of work Americans, especially young Blacks. Incredibly, as a result of this invasion, schools are becoming over crowded; hospital emergency rooms over-burdened; and Social Security funds are seriously in danger of collapsing. How does that help the poor of our own country? Heartless, cruel, Conservatives oppose this liberal compassion.

Why are so many in America today reduced to mere survival? Because of the wholesale theft of nearly every hard earned dollar most can manage to earn. Government edict has caused it to be thrown into a massive mixing bowl of Socialist wealth redistribution in the name of compassion. Yet these programs rob people of their ability or even an incentive to “pull themselves up by their boot straps.”

How can they even think of finding ways to change their lives? In fact, the system is designed to assure they don’t even think that way. Back in 1980, as Ronald Reagan was running for President, he often told the story of a woman who unfortunately found herself on welfare. Yet, even with the meager amount of cash she received from the government she managed to put a little tiny bit of money in a saving account, just in case some unexpected need were to arise. When the government found out that she had this saving account, they immediately confiscated it and then removed her from the welfare rolls. Where was the compassion them for a lady just trying to survive?

Just remember, it’s the heartless, cruel Conservatives who oppose such liberal compassion. You bet I do!

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Tom DeWeese
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Tom DeWeese is President of the American Policy Center and National Grassroots Coordinator for CFACT (Committee for a Constructive Tomorrow) working to help local activists organize into Freedom Pods (www.CFACT.org). He is also the author of three books, including Now Tell Me I Was Wrong, ERASE, and Sustainable: the WAR on Free Enterprise, Private Property, and Individuals.