War on Philanthropy

A good friend of ThreeSources sends an interesting link. Contra the accompanying comments, I think we'd all be pretty concerned about this War on Philanthropy. As the government takes over more of what private charities do, the new taxation regime will starve their private "competitors" by reducing the deductibility of charitable giving.

I asked the president of a prominent international non-profit to comment on Obama’s new policies, and he was convinced there was no question as to the White House’s motivation. "This is a frontal assault on the non-profit sector aimed at undermining alternatives to government provision of social services. Nobody likes competition, and that goes for those who think government is the answer to all our problems."

I blogged pretty favorably a few years back about a moderately crazy scheme to offer up to $10,000 100% deductible allowance. In essence, most middle-class filers would "choose" the recipients of their tax dollars and "the rich" would fund everything else.

Without reigniting that debate, I think any movement away from private to public charity is bad and won't find much support 'round these parts.

Posted by John Kranz at February 28, 2009 12:26 PM