Charitable Giving - Big Government Style

Okay, I'll admit it. I really, really don't get this. Can someone clue me in please? We were just recently subjected to months of campaigning (or lying, depending on how you look at it) by two politicians, neither of which should even have been running for the top office in this country. During this time I heard so much from a man (that I never believed for a minute) about change and creating a caring culture. A place where we, as Americans, take care of each other and level the playing field so everyone can achieve the American Dream. A culture that supports and encourages those that have traditionally not had access to the prosperity promised by this great country.

Now our beloved President has come out in favor of reducing the tax reduction that we can receive for charitable giving. Is this not completely opposite of what you would do if you really cared about helping others and creating a caring culture? It seems to me that if a person wanted to encourage the citizens of this country to give and help those less fortunate, maybe one way to do this would be to increase the tax savings available for charitable giving. Perhaps if it were more advantageous for people to give to worthy causes that help the poor and needy in our communities, we would actually see an improvement in the conditions of the less fortunate among us. I would think that this would promote more help with education, job training, and life skills and provide more opportunities for those with limited access to economic prosperity.

Why then would the head of the Executive Branch of the government take action in direct opposition to this? The answer, as with most of what we have seen so far is that he, and it would seem most of his political party, have Socialist tendencies. They want more of the money currently headed to charities to go to their big government so they can dictate to you exactly how much you will give, and where and how that money is spent. They believe that this same government that has yet to institute a successful program, should be in charge of every program... public or private. They see this as a way to control behavior and to ensure their long-term power by distributing money only to 'charities' that adhere to their value system and help to advance their cause. A government that controls all the money has significant control of the population. By controlling charitable contributions they also control to some extent our freedom of speech, as they already do with religious organizations. Any organization that does not support their socialist, liberal agenda would obviously not be eligible for funding... that certainly makes their world a better place!

As with every area of life, the less government intrusion allowed the better it is for the people. Taxes are no exception. Taxation should not be used as a tool to shape the behavior of the populace according to some arbitrary set of values dictated by politicians. It is time for serious tax reform and a major down-sizing of our government. This is the answer to stimulating the economy and providing opportunity for those that have been victimized by the failure of the war on poverty.