Charity Nexus

WHY DOES GOVERNMENT CONTRIBUTE TO CHARITIES?

OR, NEXUS RIDES AGAIN

It is a mistake, in many ways, for the U.S. government to contribute taxpayer money to some charity of their Congressmen’s choice.  Permit me to list a few ways in which this is problematic.

1.      The obvious one is that we are broke.  We have been borrowing money to donate.  While it is admirable to be so generous that we would borrow money to give it away, we should recognize that this is as irrational as it sounds. 

2.      How much and to whom is left to the discretion of several individuals who have no skin in the game.  It’s not their money which is being given away and it is not your favorite charity that is receiving it.  Does this make any sense to you?

3.      If you are not involved in the donation, you may actually have ‘your money’ be giving to someone who has totally different values. 

I could go on.  You could probably come up with a better list of donees than our bureaucrats do. 

If you think about the issue rationally, you will quickly see that all charity from our government to foreign nations, disaster victims and ongoing charities should be voluntary.  If someone believes that his or her gifts to charity should be made by a stranger, he or she doesn’t understand the meaning of the word charity.  It is no secret that our congressmen like to play Santa Claus with our money.  I hate to say this, but they can screw up a charitable donation.  To allow them to demonstrate this talent is a needless provocation.

Before we let them prove their versatility, let’s review a few (obvious) basics.  First, we have known for many years that Americans are the most charitable people in the world.  Did you see any Arab oilmen or Chinese capitalists in New Orleans when we needed help rebuilding?  We have always been at the center of most recovery efforts in any disaster in the universe.  So, we have nothing to prove.  We will continue to be charitable.  We just do not want some congressman screwing it up.  So, we do not need them to be involved and we do not want them to be involved and Congress’ involvement in our charity is damn sure not in any Constitution I ever read.

Of course, the best reason to include congress out is our favorite one word economics lesson---NEXUS.  If our charity is going to work, we must maintain the nexus.  The nexus in this case is the connection between the donor and the charity (representing the donee) and, it necessarily works both ways.  By this we mean that;

a.      We will have charitable giving in the spirit that we should demonstrate, which is a spirit of sharing the rewards of our labor with those who are not so fortunate, and

b.      The charities that we select will use or distribute our gifts in our stead and with the spirit of sharing and giving that we intended to convey.

c.       Also, the charities would be encouraged to report good deeds and good management in order to induce you to continue your support. 

d.      Obviously, the requirement to report good deeds and good management will encourage our charities to actually accomplish good deeds and good management. 

This nexus is only established when the charitable agencies are free to give as their lights dictate and such spirit is conveyed to the beneficiaries and to the donors.  The donees should understand that the donor is truly concerned with the donees plight and is sharing out of love for his fellow man and not out of some statutory obligation.  This feeling could be contagious and could lead to a more closely bound community.  Need we make a case for virtue? 

The donee just might feel a desire to do something, anything that will show appreciation.  I am reminded of the O. Henry story where two people with little but the spirit, each determined to give something to the other party.  Each gift represented a sacrifice that the other party could not have anticipated.  Gift of the Magi.  Read it and you will understand what giving is all about.  You should also understand that a committee of bureaucrats should never be allowed to interfere with this process.

If our Congressmen decide to kick in some of their own money, God bless them.  This still shouldn’t give them the right to sign their name to the check that we will be asked to pay.

We would prefer to limit this note to the positive side of true giving, but that would not be fair to anyone who has read this far.  The truth of the matter is that as long as congress controls large portions of our charitable giving, there will be a dirty underside.  The charities that congress chooses must now report only to congress.  In reality, this means that a charity receiving money from congress need not make an honest disclosure of the use of the money and this means that all a charity need do to receive money from our Congress is lie, cheat and steal.  It took me three minutes to find these two entries on the internet.

a.      “Candidate accused of profiting from charity:

b.      “Ex-Baltimore charity director charged with wire fraud.”

In each case, an official of the alleged charity had siphoned a six-figure amount of money from the U.S. treasury into their pockets.  I did not have the stomach to continue.  Feel free to check it out for yourself.  I am not saying that our politicians would steal from the collection plate on Sunday, but I will say, “Why give them the opportunity.”

Please, Congress, let us keep our private charities private.  If my charity steals from me, I will make the choice to go elsewhere or blindly continue.  Either way, it is my free choice.  Can charity work any other way?

By the way, many states have, included in their tax returns, a form making it possible for taxpayers to bundle their contributions with other like-minded citizens. 

A brief outline of a working procedure is:

1.      A charity applies to the IRS to be included on our Xmas list.  A citizen’s committee of notable donors reviews the list and reduces it to 20-30 worthy names.

2.      These names are listed on an IRS form, to be included in your tax return.

3.      When you file your return, you search the list of charities and enter the amount of money that you wish to donate next to their name.  This amount is added to the tax that you owe or deducted from the amount that you expect to have returned to you.

The entries are added by the IRS program and a report is issued listing the amount to be paid to each charity. 

This procedure is already in effect in several states.  See the Illinois State Income Tax return forms. 

If you don’t file a return, you may still get a copy of the list and make your donation directly. 

This procedure would have several side benefits, eg.

1.      The charities will no longer need to have an office in Washington where their lobbyist hangs out when he or she is sweet talking a Congressman into increasing the ‘donation’.

2.      The charities will no longer need to have the expense of banquets and golf outings where they ‘honor’ the Congressmen who are thanked for ‘their’ support.

I won’t say that what Congress is doing amounts to corruption.  It is more like pollution of the very concept of charitable giving.  And, the solution is so simple.  Why not do it?