The moral measure of this budget debate is not which party wins or which powerful interests prevail, but rather how those who are jobless, hungry, homeless or poor are treated. Their voices are too often missing in these debates, but they have the most compelling moral claim on our consciences and our common resources.

The question is whether that moral claim must be answered by politics and coercive redistribution or by personal commitment and Christian charity. I prefer a model where the state is modest - no government can feel "compassion" - and frees up the space for Christians and people of good will of all faiths and none can help those around them. In that sense, I'd like compassionate conservatism to be put out of its misery. Amy Sullivan fears austerity has killed it: