Spitzer and Clarke discuss topics in their wheelhouses -- the military sequester as part of the debt deal, whether America can be both "exceptional" and in "decline", who gets blame for the job losses from noon January 20 , 2009through June 2009 -- and Gov. Jindal's proposal for compassionate release (think Morgan Freeman in Shawshank Redemption).
In introducing the Democratic spending plan, the chairman of the Assembly Budget Committee, Bob Blumenfield, said lawmakers tried to soften the most severe cuts to social services and proposed "more compassionate alternatives to some of the governor's proposals".
President Obama's proposals for commonsense, compassionate, comprehensive immigration reform will strengthen our borders, ensure children who are immigrants or whose parents are immigrants can go to school without fear, provide a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants currently living in the United States, and promote better and better-paying jobs for all workers.
Mr. Bush, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, announced the proposals as he returned to his "compassionate conservative" themes and planned several weeks of appearances devoted to social welfare measures for low-income and struggling Americans.
He would further point to his proposals as being in the best compassionate spirit, alleviating tragedy at the border, the breakup of families, and the unmet needs of American business.
He takes over as the director of the Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives as Mr. Bush has significantly scaled back his ambitions for a proposal that was a cornerstone of the "compassionate conservatism" of his presidential campaign.
Before Mr. Bush's news conference in Little Rock, he unveiled a modest proposal designed to cast himself as an especially compassionate conservative, and he discussed it briefly at a private social services agency where he was flanked by African-Americans.
By accepting that government can be "effective and energetic" (Mr Bush's own phrase), compassionate conservatism made it easier for Republicans to vote for spending proposals that were anyway popular.
Holder also announced other proposals to curb America's vast prison population, including compassionate early release for elderly inmates who are no longer viewed as dangerous and will promote drug-treatment programs as prison alternatives.
It is largely through education proposals that Mr. Bush has styled himself as a compassionate conservative and staked his claim to being at the center of the political spectrum.
