Empathy According to Joy Behar

Liberals often have a hard time understanding that their definitions and world views are not the only ones that exist.  Case in point: the ladies of The View were laughing at John Boehner this morning because of his crying on 60 Minutes last night.  Joy Behar then went on to blast Boehner for sobbing about his own difficult upbringing but then not having any empathy for the people that are in that exact same situation.  Elizabeth Hasselbeck challenged Behar on this, but Behar stuck to her ground, claiming that he lacks empathy because he extended tax cuts to the rich.  In Behar's world, liberal policies equal empathy for the poor.

What Behar is completely missing is that someone like Boehner can have just as much empathy and show that through policies that are not liberal.  Many conservatives believe that it is harmful to create a class that is dependent on the government.  Those of us that have worked in the trenches in our inner cities have seen how welfare and government handouts can be abused.  I've seen bright kids not come to school because their welfare dependent mother doesn't require them to go to school, and they all but become a drop-out, and therefore another government dependent.  I in no way think this is empathetic to those that are struggling.

 Conservatives would like to see private solutions to the issues surrounding those that are struggling.  Conservatives have seen the abuse of taxpayer dollars by our government and by those receiving assistance.  Taxing the rich is not necessarily going to equate to an ease of financial burden on those that are struggling.  Just look at how our stimulus dollars were spent: a college trip to China to study dinosaur eggs, for example.  Exactly how did that stimulate the economy and ease the financial burden of those that are struggling?  Conservatives believe that everyone has the right to the American dream, and that American dream is not government dependency but instead, self-sufficiency.  That self-sufficiency has to come from the private sector.  This belief is in stark contrast to the liberal idea that we need to take money from those that have achieved the American dream and funnel it through the government in such a way that it lowers the standard of living for all of us.  Boehner would likely argue that it is Behar and her policy beliefs that are not empathetic.