We will learn again...the hard way

maybe he should have said you cannot help the poor by destorying the middle class

Deb no one is destroying the middle class. The middle class is doing just fine.

"And, so we will learn again...the hard way."

we will never learn!

sam-is it as Lincoln said "the rich" then? Or do you contend helping the poor is hurting no one.

helping the poor is hurting no one.

"helping' the poor the way government "helps" the poor is actually destroying the poor.

Individuals helping the poor hurts no one and benefits the most. Government "helping" the poor hurts everyone and benefits the least.

Class warfare hurts everyone.

"If we took all of the people in the country, at this time, who are living below the poverty level, making less than $10,990 for an urban family of four, and simply gave them fifteen thousand dollars per family to raise their income out of the poverty level to about $25,000, that would cost our government $126.3 billion. Yet, $642 billion is being spent a year to relieve poverty and we are not accomplishing it. Why not?"

Apparently the attribution of these comments to Lincoln is in question. Ronald Reagan used these ideas and attributed them to Lincoln as well. However, confusion of the source does not minimize the veracity of the statements.

Deb, you should help the poor. I should help the poor, Wilhelm should help the poor. We do not need to wait on the Government to do it. As Wilhelm, stated, when the Government helps the poor it does much more harm than good. And, perhaps as importantly, we, as individuals, by shifting our responsibilities to our fellow man to faceless government bureaucrats miss out on God's grace which shines upon us when we offer aid to those who need it. If you don't believe in God fine. But anyone who has ever volunteered to help knows, not only the warm fuzzy feeling you get, but knows also the empathy that grows inside you when you do offer you time and treasure to help.