Wasted Charity; Why the 'compassion industry' is not helping the poor.

Robert Lupton's book is ruffling some feathers. In Toxic Charity: How Churches and Charities Hurt Those They Help (And How to Reverse It) (HarperOne), the 40-year veteran urban minister "takes the gloves off" and argues that much of Americans' charitable giving "is either wasted or actually harms the people it is targeted to help.
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It’s Not ‘Compassionate’ to Allow Addicts and the Mentally Ill to Live on the Streets

San Francisco — The homeless are a challenge for almost every American city, but nothing like they are for San Francisco. The city’s mild, year-round climate, famously liberal “live and let live” attitude, and a dense network of social services have made the problem worse than ever there. The city has some 3,200 people living on its streets, and the number is growing.
Two recent news items brought the issue into sharp focus. First, a light pole collapsed downtown, crushing a car and barely missing the driver. The cause? It had been corroded by urine aimed at it by street people.


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The Education of a Compassionate Conservative

National Review editor Rich Lowry doesn't seem to care much for Texas Governor Rick Perry. In a recent essay entitled "The Rise of Uncompassionate Conservatism" Lowry admonishes Gov. Perry for "stomping all over [compassionate conservatism] with cowboy boots emblazoned with the words 'Freedom' and 'Liberty.'" Lowry, who considers Gov. Perry the "Republican noncandidate flavor of the week," aches for the luminous days when George Bush won over "the center as well as the right" with his signature insight into the wonders of compassionate conservatism.

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Govt. is the problem, not the answer, to nation's ills

CORVALLIS GAZETTE-TIMES/LETTERS, 10/22/2009 by Jeff Limón - I can see from Rich Bergeman's Oct. 16 letter "GOP puts party before country and ends up hurting both" that Mr. Bergeman has a great respect for the truth, because he uses it so sparingly. It is true that George Bush was not a champion of limiting the powers of government to those strictly specified in the Constitution. Further, Republicans were unhappy with the Bush bailouts, which, with unemployment still hovering around 10 percent one year later, have failed to end this recession. ∴ But as far as truth goes, that's about it. ∴ The notion that the Republican Party hates America is absolutely preposterous. The bottom line is that we believe increasing freedom and liberty help all Americans, and that government intrusion is never the answer, it's the problem. For example, we oppose government involvement in health care because we believe that such a system will be about as compassionate as the IRS and will have the efficiency of the Post Office.

One only need look as far as Canada, where the average wait time for the 12 most popular specialties is 18 weeks (four months), to see just how bad things can get. Government involvement in the British health care system, where a dentist may spend a whole 5 minutes on a yearly teeth cleaning, and anesthesia is almost non-existent, the dental care industry has been ruined.

The idea that free-markets, personal liberties, and a government that serves you instead of demanding your obedience are harmful America, is simply rubbish.

Jeff Limon, Corvallis Read More......