And thou shalt clean up after widows and orphans who should really get their acts together, sayeth the Lord
I guess Noam Neusner, former George W. Bush speech writer and Forward columnist, is no fan of compassionate conservatism:
Obama speaks regularly of the need to make investments in America’s infrastructure and future, and I believe him. But in reality, America is not so much in the investing business as in the loss-covering business. Roughly $7 out of every $10 spent by the federal government goes toward cleaning up other people’s mistakes or problems: housing assistance, food stamps, free or reduced health care, free and reduced lunches in schools and other educational supports, and subsidies for farmers.
I have the same problem with Torah — always going on and on about other people’s mistakes or problems:
[God] upholds the cause of the orphan and the widow, and befriends the stranger, providing him/her with food and clothing. — You too must befriend the stranger, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt.
If, however, there is a needy person among you, one of your kin in any of your settlements in the land that the Lord your God is giving you, do not harden your heart and shut your hand against your needy kin. Rather, you must open your hand and lend them sufficient for whatever they need. You shall not subvert the rights of the stranger, the orphan; you shall not take a widow’s garment in pawn. Remember that you were a slave in Egypt and that Adonai your God redeemed you from there; therefore do I enjoin you to observe this commandment.
Well, only if You say so.
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JustASC is written by Andrew Silow-Carroll, Editor-in-Chief of the 
September 3rd, 2012 at 7:24 am
“I have the same problem with Torah — always going on and on about other people’s mistakes or problems:”
Your sarcasm misses the mark and betrays your bias. The Torah commands us as individuals to give charity from the heart to help those less fortunate. It does not require government to do.
In 2006, Arthur C. Brooks, an economist at Syracuse University, authored a book, “Who Really Cares”, in which he set forth his research into charitable giving. Brooks, a political independent, concluded that “conservatives” are far more compassionate in their giving than “liberals”. His study documented that “liberal” family income was, on average, 6% higher than “conservative” family income; yet “conservative” households donated, on average, 30% more to charity than “liberal” households.
The class-war rhetoric that we should pay more taxes to “level the playing field”, “spread the wealth”, etc., is old, tired and disingenuous. Do you really believe that an additional dollar of taxation will finds its way to good causes? The bureaucracy of government would eat up most of that dollar, leaving pennies for those in need.
My faith and conscience dictate that I give to help the less fortunate. Many feel the same way, but it is not my business to mandate or shame others into giving. I recommend, though that folks donate wisely by investigating a charity before giving, to ensure that funds goes to their intended purpose. Too many “charities” spend 50% or more of each dollar collected on management and fund-raising. Good sources for investigating charities include Guidestar and the NJ Division of Consumer Affairs:
http://www.guidestar.org/
http://www.njconsumeraffairs.gov/charity/chardir.htm