The Father of the Constitution James Madison once said, “Charity is no part of the legislative duty of the government.” Nonetheless, we live in an entitlement age, where the business of providing charity invariably becomes an impetus for bigger, more oppressive government.

You can’t underestimate the value of well-crafted rhetoric, my friends. After all, aren’t “children our future?” Under that banner, who in their right mind would want to cut education spending? And don’t we all want to “save the planet?” Then why wouldn’t we climb aboard the global warming hoax? The list continues, ad infinitum, but there’s no greater justification for expanding government than this false practice of providing charity. No longer do we live in a nation where we “Ask not what our country can do for you”; decades of liberalism have transformed America’s sense of generosity to a government-mandated advance to socialism. And what better method to accomplish this misapplication of charity than to bestow “rights” where previously they did not exist? Take a look at healthcare. As the American Thinker succinctly points out:

“This ever-expanding role of government as a charitable giver obscures the fundamental truth that in order to give, government must first take. But with a “right” to health care, it is more perilous than that. Giving someone a “right” to a service provided by another indentures the other. The freedom to purchase is transmuted into an obligation to provide.”

Don’t buy that? Let’s consider it within the context of a real obligation the government maintains: national defense. The American Thinker, continued:

“Government has a constitutional obligation to protect the public. Therefore, to make for such public defense, the government may levy taxes and enact the draft . . . If the government has the obligation to provide health care, then similarly, it is empowered to levy taxes and require individuals to provide health care services. To effect this transaction, government must control both receiver and giver.”

When government controls both parties in this transaction, it limits the people’s ability to make their own decisions. We must recognize the difference between charity and stealing — it’ll cost us more than just our taxpayer dollars.

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