“Authority without wisdom is like a heavy axe without an edge, fitter to bruise than polish.”

Would that we had the wisdom of Washington, Jefferson, Adams, and Madison today.

Would that our current president had read this 6 years ago -- but of course, he has said (and seems proud of it) that "books are Laura's thing."

We need common sense to use the wisdom, but liberal views (socialistic) cloud every possible issue. Like, "...but we must provide welfare for those too lazy to provide for themselves, or they'll die!" They won't die, they'll get jobs.

Joe (in Rochester), that is a perversion of a liberal's point of view. Let me take a case in point: me. My father often worked 60+ hour weeks in a small factory, yet there were times when work was slow and it would only be 10 hour weeks, and there was no other jobs to be had in our little town. During those slack times what put food on our table (literally) was welfare & food stamps. What put me through an Ivy was my hard work & federal loans. Today I pay more in taxes each year than my father ever made in a year... Why? Because welfare worked! It keep ME alive such that I can now provide for others via the same channels. So, Joe, do YOU support a living wage? Could YOU live on $5.15/hour and a 30hr/wk job and NO outside help? Do YOU support affordable day care facilities that provide their workers with a living wage? Reform welfare such that it is an assistance, a means to segway between difficult times, but take mean spirited unjustified fear elsewhere!

pretty much on the quote. AfR, there were times while my children were small that we were so poor that we didn't have as much as a car to sleep in or morsel to eat. Rather than taking from the booty stolen from the noble labor's fruit, I and my family went hungry. From that experience, I have a son that is married with kids, putting himself through college without loans, or otherwise governmental assistance. I am doing well and would guess I put more direct and indirect (including financial) input, labor, etc. to the poor and needy than do you. Socialism, based on theft, can have no moral or otherwise admirable outcome. My experience was neither mean spirited or unjustified fear, the segway between difficult times and good were a growing and learning time for me and my family.