I asked a few days ago what the government's Constitutional role in helping the poor was, thinking there was none. I haven't have time to research, but Chuck Missler adds some contrasting viewpoints to Sojourners. I interpret his reference to open mouths meaning the lobbyists and professional beaurocrats that make a living off of government's "support of the poor," much like those in Africa who make their living off of money to fight AIDS, it was chronicled this summer on my Kenya trip. Of course, I don't think the government should stand pat while people starve, but I also don't think they should be relied upon as an open checkbook for the poor.


SCROOGE, TINY TIM, AND THE BUDGET - (Print)
"Only in Washington is keeping your own money considered a handout." -Stephen Slivinski, director of budget studies at the Cato Institute The US Congress is attempting to get a budget worked out in a week and a half. The Senate version of the bill would cut taxes by about $60 billion and the House version would offer about $95 billion in tax relief over the next five years. The Republicans also want to cut taxes by 2 percent across the board. There is hope that Congress will reconcile the two budgets and have something workable by the Christmas break.

Those Evil Tax Cuts
Of course, liberals tend to seethe when tax cuts are brought up. The monotonous "tax cuts for the rich!" cry has already been sent up to the tops of Christmas trees around the country.

Robert Greenstein, top dog at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, believes the budget will favor "the Mister Scrooges" and knock out the crutches from the "the Tiny Tims of the world who could lose child support, health care coverage to a degree, food stamp benefits or the like."

Two Issues
Issue 1: The federal government was never intended to be the charity basket of the country. Never. Lobbyists and special interest groups swarm Washington like locusts on a pea field, seeking to pluck fifty-dollar bills from Uncle Sam's back pocket, and that's just not right. America has gotten too used to depending on the government pocketbook, and it needs to get weaned. Thomas Jefferson, the third President of the United States, once wrote: "The multiplication of public offices, increase of expense beyond income, growth and entailment of a public debt, are indications soliciting the employment of the pruning knife (letter to Spencer Roane dated March 9, 1821)."

Issue 2: Tax cuts tend to bring in more revenue for the government in the long run anyway. Why? Because they stimulate the economy. They motivate investors to invest. Tax cuts encourage the people who are good at making money to work harder. These folks know that less of their hard-earned cash is going to get confiscated by Big Government, and that motivates people to work. So, while a smaller percentage of the working man's paycheck goes to the government, he's making more money, and therefore more money can end up in the government's hands at the end of the day.

The Bottom Line
The United States needs a balanced budget - one that will truly help America and not simply cater to the never-ending row of open mouths in Washington. Americans are a generous people. Millions of dollars head to charities every year to help out the Tiny Tims of the world. As a free people, they should continue to reach out to those less fortunate and find ways to help the hungry, the poor, the sick, the naked, the destitute. A wealthy nation should do no less. But, a free people should give out of the concern and love in their hearts, and not be forced to give to a wasteful government machine in the name of compassion.