Authentic New York Behavior

One of the most annoying things about any run for election is the steady drone of a campaign mantra that partisans insist on regurgitating ad infinitum. "Tax breaks for the rich" is a favorite of the Democrats, along with, "He reduced taxes for his rich friends." Most of the politicians making this charge are actually quite wealthy and have never known what it means to be truly poor.

In fact, there is a big difference between the poor and those who are having money problems because of poor choices they've made in their lives. Dare I say it? I think the war on poverty has been won - at least it is here in New York City, where even the poor are struggling with the battle of the bulge.

How can that be, you may ask? The homeless shelters are overflowing. People are living in the street. People do not have medical insurance. The latest census equates poverty as being $18,000 for a family of four. That may be valid on a chart, but it hardly represents poverty as defined by reality. Families in that income category qualify for Section 8 housing supplements, food stamps, HEAP, and Medicaid. They can also receive help from the Salvation Army to pay utility bills. Low-income families can also receive discounted telephone service. The benefits received garner as much as the equivalent of a $40,000 income, according to some conservative critics - benefits which they would lose if their income rises. Is this or is this not an impediment to ambition?

As for medical insurance, until the mid-1960s many employers did not offer medical insurance. Emergencies were taken care of in emergency rooms, doctor's visits cost as low as $10, and children were taken care of in city health clinics. Once Medicaid arrived, Sutton Place doctors were billing the government for welfare patients and medical costs skyrocketed.

Most journalists may report on poverty but until you've actually lived the life, it's hard to gauge how desperate people really are. Politicians aren't really interested in the genuine poor because they rarely vote. People with money problems? Ah, that's fertile ground for electioneering.

Liberals also have a tendency to view themselves as more humane, more caring than conservatives. They may toss biblical admonitions at conservatives but they misinterpret the Christian message about the poor. Christ did indeed exhort us to care for the poor, but his message is directed at our individual responsibility. He didn't tell us to give our money to Caesar so that Caesar could dole out the cash. I always ask my liberal friends if they personally know anyone who is truly poor. Then I ask, why haven't they done something about it?

Our church recently was visited by a missionary from Cross International who had returned from the missions in Africa and Central America. He told us of the children in Haiti who would eat dirt to stop their hunger pains. Yet only hours away, American children are coping with obesity from eating fast foods.

He also described a family in Mozambique who lived in a mud hut and lived on one meal of rice a day. Paging Teresa Heinz! Your homeland needs help. Check out www.crossinternational.org to see what a few dollars can do for the genuine poor.

What the unpenalized rich could do in the past is incredible. St. Rose's Home at 71 Jackson Street in Lower Manhattan is a 35-bed nursing facility for indigent terminal cancer patients. I visited the newly renovated facility and was given a tour by Sister Mary Joseph of the Dominican Sisters of Hawthorne, N.Y.

This extraordinary home operates only on private donations. It does not take money from the government, Catholic Charities, or the archdiocese, yet it provides a pristine environment and excellent medical care. It only accepts cancer patients who have been diagnosed as terminal and are without means. This means, of course, that the nuns take care of the homeless and the undocumented souls at the end stage of their lives, when society can do little for them.

This remarkable order of nuns was founded by Rose Hawthorne Lathrop, the wealthy daughter of literary giant Nathaniel Hawthorne. Moved by the plight of 19th-century cancer patients who were left to die in the streets, this saintly woman took them into her home and nursed them with loving care. After being widowed, she founded the order of nuns whose sole mission is to provide care for terminal cancer indigents.

The good sisters do not fund-raise, and when I asked the sister if she would accept any donations that might be generated by this column, she agreed that she would, but she said, "What we really need are more nuns."

St. Rose's Home underwent a multimillion dollar renovation paid entirely by private donations that has transformed it into a premier cancer patient facility.

Tax breaks for the rich who know how to use them can sometimes be a very good thing.