Quote of the Day - charity versus welfare

A while back it seemed that everyone was talking about the study and book by Arthur C. Brooks, "Who Really Cares: The Surprising Truth about Compassionate Conservatism," which showed conservatives were more charitable than liberals.

Today, I came across this quote which, I believe, expresses what I've said for years, but in a better way. It explains just why it is that so many liberals aren't as charitable as their words make them sound. I believe the concept is compelling and something that should be discussed in terms of the implications to public policy.

"The history of the welfare state is the history of public enterprise pushing out private organization. The impact was largely unintentional, but natural and inevitable. Higher taxes left individuals with less money to give; government’s assumption of responsibility for providing welfare shriveled the perceived duty of individuals to respond to their neighbors’ needs; and the availability of public programs gave recipients an alternative to private assistance, one which did not challenge recipients to reform their destructive behavior." ~ Doug Bandow, columnist, author, a senior fellow at the Cato Institute