Jim Wallis: “We have to remember that budgets are not just about [scarcity], they’re about choices - moral choices”
As faith coalition for the poor grows, so does conservative opposition Roger Pilon: “The Good Samaritan is virtuous not because he helps the fallen through the force of law but because he does so voluntarily.”
If the CNN story is any indication, the conservative response hasn’t been well thought out. But it’s interesting that they went to Limbaugh and the Cato Institute (the latter is Libertarian, the former is… what he is).
The better conservative argument is that a budget is indeed a moral document and in the long run, a nation that barrows itself into oblivion will produce many more unemployed or inadequately employed people and much more poverty. Furthermore, a budget that seeks to redistribute wealth on the principle that inequality itself is evil is immorally weakening the relationship between labor and prosperity.
Wallis’ implicit claim that only his side views the situation in moral terms borders on demagoguery.
The better conservative argument is that a budget is indeed a moral document and in the long run, a nation that barrows itself into oblivion will produce many more unemployed or inadequately employed people and much more poverty. Furthermore, a budget that seeks to redistribute wealth on the principle that inequality itself is evil is immorally weakening the relationship between labor and prosperity.
Wallis’ implicit claim that only his side views the situation in moral terms borders on demagoguery.
Views expressed are always my own and not my employer's, my church's, my family's, my neighbors', or my pets'. The house plants have authorized me to speak for them, however, and they always agree with me.
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