As a conservative, I am sick and tired of being accused of being heartless and cruel because I don't believe compassion can be measured by throwing money at problems. I make no apologies for having money and earning it. I'm not a phony on that, and never will be.

Steve Kroft of 60 Minutes asked me why I did my radio show. He said he had heard I did it for the money. I hesitated, and then plunged right in. "Sure, I do it for the money," I said. Then I asked Steve Kroft, "Are you doing your job for the fund of it?" They edited that part out. This exchange on 60 Minutes, out of context, is somewhat misleading. True, I do my work for the money. I don't know about you, but I don't have anyone to support me if I chose not to work. But I also do it because I enjoy what I'm doing and I believe in what I say. To say that I do it for the money is not the same as saying that I can be bought, or that I will abandon my principles for money. I don't say things on the air that I don't believe in for the purpose of stirring controversy and ultimately making more money. I am sincere in what I say. I believe that my openness and sincerity is what enables me to be as successful as I am. I do not let considerations of money dictate the level or manner of my performance. I try to be the best (and generally accomplish it) I can be as a matter of personal pride. To the extent that I do a superb job-a great job, actually-the money follows. In fact, I am recognized by experts and laypeople alike as the best talk show host in the universe. And it shows.

The truth is, I have worked in radio for twenty-two years (long enough to retire in some professions) and made no money to speak of during the first seventeen. In 1983 I was earning $18,000 per year-less than I was making ten years earlier while in Pittsburgh. I have been fired seven times. I have been broke twice. Those years I was with the Kansas City Royals were awful financially. The house payment and the MasterCard bill were due during the same pay period, leaving me no cash for the period. That meant buying snacks at convenience stores because they, unlike supermarkets, accepted credit cards. I was overextended after buying a house I had no business buying, but I fell prey to the theory that everyone has to own a home. I would try to land extra jobs here and there. Back then, I felt lucky if I could earn a little extra going a commercial.

I understand how difficult it is for working people to keep their heads above water. That's why I am so convinced that we must have a strong economy to enable as many people as possible to provide for themselves and their families. It's only people who have cush jobs and don't work for a living who don't care if the economy is bad. That's how they can favor higher taxes and government spending that economists tell us can only slow down and cripple the private job-producing sector.

It's easy to talk about punishing wealthy people for their supposed greed. But when you talk about taxing the right, you're talking about taxing capital. And taxing capital results in damage to more than just the wealthy. In other words, you can't punish the wealthy without also punishing the middle class. That's because the wealthy invest their capital to create new jobs, most of which accrue to those not wealthy. Many mistakenly view private-sector businesses as social institutions that spontaneously spring up to provide benefits and salaries to working people. But it is people, often upper-middle-class people, who start those businesses by investing their own risk capital. This risk capital must bring these entrepreneurs a reasonable return on their investment or they won't be willing to risk their money again. If they are unwilling to take those risks, then they won't invest their money and create new jobs and new products, and those potential employees and consumers of those products are the ones who will suffer.

A perfect example of that in our political system is the increase in the capital gains tax rates and the shortening of the allowable years of depreciation. Both of these "reform" measures were enacted by Congress for the ostensible purpose of taking away the unfair advantages of the wealthy. The result was to cripple the real estate market. I don't need to tell you that the negative impact of that affected all economic levels of our society, and arguably the middle class and the poor, more than the rich. Another example of a policy enacted in the spirit of class warfare (i.e., one that was designed to deprive the wealthy of unfair advantages) was the luxury tax on the yacht industry. By assessing a surtax on the buyers of luxury yachts in order to appear to be the champions of the lower and middle classes, Congress virtually ruined an industry as people simply stopped buying yachts. They went offshore for them. Tens of thousands of jobs for working people, not the wealthy, were lost in the name of compassion. Liberals refuse even to acknowledge this because it is such a textbook repudiation of their politics of class envy.

Whether you are a businessman or someone earning a salary, you should never apologize for trying to earn more money. Never feel guilty for wanting to keep more of it for you and your family. Do not accept the silly notion that there is poverty and suffering in America because you are greedy and aren't paying enough in taxes. Realize that regardless of the job you have, you are helping to create other jobs. The goods and services you consume help create employment for people who wouldn't otherwise have it. The confiscatory percentages in income and social security taxes you pay on any extra money you earn helps keep checks going to widows and orphans. If anything, you are morally SUPERIOR to those liberal compassion fascists who claim you are greedy. You have a real job; they just beg for a living.