Paul, with all due respect, "political power wars" are generally fought over who will be "in need" and who will have the wherewithal to dispense charity and determine "merit".

If your principled conservative friends are truly concerned about the less fortunate, they need to become interested in the details of political conflict and make their voices heard. Evil triumphs when good people say nothing. 

The poor typically need justice, not charity. And justice, as Cornel West says, is what love looks like in public.