Compassion Tax

I don't know who determines the precise nature of compassion, but Tom Friedman seems to know. This column, referring to President Bush, has the following;

"Unfortunately, he used that mandate not simply to confront the terrorists but to take a radically uncompassionate conservative agenda - on taxes, stem cells, the environment and foreign treaties."

What struck me was equating higher taxes with compassion. Mr. Friedman has spoken out about raising gasoline to $4 a gallon through taxes. Judging from the reaction to $3 gas, I'd say that Friedman's compassion isn't universally shared.