Just a quick follow up on a comment left in an earlier thread. We have names for things, and we need to make sure we use them. As the Church extends kindness to the widow and orphan — using tithes and offerings — we call this pure and undefiled religion. It is the vocation of diaconal mercy. And if a private individual uses his own funds to minister to the poor, we call him a philanthropist.
But if someone advocates that the government dispense “other people’s money” (euphemistically called tax receipts) to the poor, we have a name for this also. That name is lobbyist.