Mastro,
No reason to get angry; we are all friendly here.
I guess we could play dueling quotes, if you'd like. But it's more interesting to just discuss things and see where the discussion leads us.
I think you are looking at what these people promise, and not at what their programs actually accomplish. They promise to feed the hungry, to provide good health care, to provide a better standard of living for children in need, to provide better education, etc etc.
All these things are noble, compassionate goals. But are they accomplished, by forcibly taking money from people who have earned it, and giving it to those who have not earned it? I don't believe they are.
To use only one example. I'm not going to do your homework for you, but I challenge you to research the amount of money spent in each state on public education, and correlate that amount of money to the standardized test scores. We are continually being told that if we want excellence in education for all our children, we must raise taxes and pay for it. Well and good. But do the test scores show us that spending more money on schools is the way to improve education? Go look it up and you can tell me.
Okay, quite apart from that. You seem to want to grab the word "compassionate," and apply it only to people who are willing to take money from their neighbors at the point of a gun. I do not believe that this is compassion, even if they are going to use the stolen funds for something good -- and even if the plundering is legal at the moment. I think taking money by force is wrong no matter who does it and no matter what is done with the stolen goods.
Personally, I think it's only compassion if it comes from your own pocket and is done voluntarily. Whatever it is that these people are doing, is not compassion by any measure I would call reasonable.
pax
Politicians never accuse you of 'greed' for wanting other people's money --- only for wanting to keep your own money. -- Joseph Sobran
