Comments about ‘Lawmakers should act with compassion’

Mr. Florez seems to have forgotten the meaning of the word 'honor'. In generations past, if a man owed a debt, he paid it. If a man used a doctor's services or visited a hospital, he paid his bill, even if it took the rest of his life.

My uncle was that kind of man. He worked at Buehner Block from early in the morning until mid-afternoon; then, for more than twenty-years, he pumped gas from mid-afternoon until 10:00 p.m., including every weekend. That second job was dedicated to pay a bill that he owed. He could have declared bankruptcy. He could have ignored that bill, but he didn't. He was an honest man who spent the majority of his working life, doing the right thing.

Medicaid is not free. It is not a gift. Someone has to pay for it. Asking the recipient of medical treatment to respect the hard work of others who made their doctor visit possible, by 'volunteering' to do other work, should not HAVE to be required; they should 'volunteer' without being asked - if they have any integrity.

Utah's lawmakers have no "moral compass". They'd rather stand and give an ovation to one of their own for hot-tubbing naked with a teenager than care for their constituents. After all, he was a millionaire like most of the rest of them.

The lowly peons aren't even good enough to get crumbs.

All Mr. Flores is asking for is a free ride. Why is it too much to ask that someone who pays no taxes to support the program pay by another method (volunteer time)?

The CEO argument is weak. The CEO and his/her company pay taxes in order to play in the system.

Bottom line: become documented, pay taxes, pay your fair share into the program, qualify for the "benefits" of being a member of the American "entitlement" generation.

Best thing to do is noto provide for people. Charity with soemone elses money

Whatever else one might say about Florez, one must admit that he is tenacious and unyielding in his goals. Unfortunately, his primary goal is to facilitate turning this Country into a welfare state.

Florez talks about compassion and caring, but what he means by that is more free government handouts. He is relentless in his quest to have the government provide everything for those who will not work to provide for themselves.

Florez pays lip service to what he calls old fashioned values. However, the oldest American value of all is that a man is responsible to provide for himself and his own family. No less authority than George Washington taught that in order for this Country to be strong, it must have citizens who believe in hard work, not welfare.

One question that Florez has deliberately ignored is this: What about compassion for hard-working taxpayers? Do they really deserve to be taxed into oblivion to pay for the existence of those too lazy and slothful to provide for themselves?

This is Utah, where I have come to learn that when it comes to money there is no compassion for others.

I believe in being compassionate and generous...with my OWN money, time, and other means.

I believe that being generous with another man's money is no better than theft. That I steal his money, take his time, and rob his of his agency for what I believe to be noble goals is not justification for my theft. Even if my theft is legalized by majority vote, morally, it is still theft.

Time and again we've seen that the citizens of this country and especially of Utah are among the most generous people on the planet. Respect their property rights, leave them free to make their own choices, and they will donate not only their money, but their time, their expertise, their skills and talents, to help others who are in need.

Government forced welfare is NOT "compassionate." It engenders covetousness on the part of receiver and resentment on the part of those being fleeced.

Compassion is an individual choice, NOT something that can be forcefully mandated by government and enforced with threat of fines or jail.

Mr. Flores, like so many others of his political views has never learned this simple lesson.

To "Proteos | 11:08 a.m." the "Bishop Storehouses" are full because the LDS church has farms, orchards, and ranches which it uses to fill the storehouse. Also, the food pantries do not require speaking with a clergy member, or anything to get assistance. With the community food pantry, anybody can go there and request food and get it. The LDS storehouse first requires that a Bishop fill out a form after ensuring that the person really is needy. Then, if you get food or items from the Bishop's storehouse, you are required to do some sort of work for what you receive.

The LDS system reduces the use of its storehouses to the truely needy, while the community food pantries are used as a system of handouts.

Lawmakers in Utah are pretty free with other peoples' money when it comes to sports facilities and airports and the like. In Utah, we like to hog millions in pork for aquatic centers and great wall projects, but anything to do with helping people is a Mortal Sin.

Proteos apparently believes that paying a few dollars in taxes entitles one to a lifetime of handouts from the government. This is representative of exactly what is wrong with modern society.

It is simple-minded to think that everyone can demand everything be provided by the government. If all of society is composed of takers, who is left to give? Where will the tax money for entitlement programs come from if no one is working and everyone is sitting at home collecting welfare checks?

The first principle of welfare is that a man must work to provide for himself and his family. The second is that if the man cannot do so, his extended family provides. What proteos and Florez want so do is take responsibility away from self and family and place it on the shoulders of the government.

I am sick and tired of people trying to pretend that the LDS Church does not endorse the Utah Compact.

The Church clearly endorsed the compact. To claim otherwise is just a lie. It issued an official statement saying it was endorsing the compact and supported it. That is an endorsement, to claim otherwise is just false.

I am sick and tired of people trying to wrest the scriptures to the meaning they want. We follow the living prophet. The living prophet is the ultimate authority behind the Church's position, and it has been clear by multiple actions of President Monson that he wants people to show compasion on this issue.

One more thing. The commandment to love your neighbor still applies if they are a criminal. We are required to forgive all men. If I get to give a talk I will tell the tale of the good Mexican. If some of you say a bleeding Mexican man on the side of the road you would probably say "he must have been a criminal, thus he deserved it".

I would not care so much is what Utah did could just be what Utah did.

I wish some of these anti-immigrant radicals who value the false God of National soverinty and worship the idol of the border fence, would admit the truth and openly state that they are no longer members of the Church because they can not stand being in a church that believes in human rights that are granted by the creator.

All people have rights. The Rights were given by God, to people on both sides of the Rio Grande.

People say "we are not racist". Yeah right. You are so not racist that when a Mexican moves into your community you assume it will collapse. You are so not racist that when you see a brown person you assume they must be an illegal immigrant and when you hear someone speaking a different language you assume they must just be a lazy invader who does not know English.

Well guess what, I had a classmate at BYU whose grandparents spoke imperfect English and were clearly Brown (that was even their last name, just to be super fun) but they were no immigrants. They were Navajos and thus her ancestors had long been here.