Yet another reason to get angry with Bill...

[Eric Dunbar]

On 19/03/06, Harold <hrsawyer at comcast.net> wrote:
> What many miss in this picture is that the US tax code encourages
> personal contributions to not-for-profit organizations like the Red
> Cross, Catholic aid organizations, etc. My small church also has an
> international aid fund that most of us donate to.

So does every other developed nation use their tax system! And,
tragically, even in the "private" donations department the US lags
compared to other developed nations AFAIK (not as shamefully as in the
public arena, but, then again, public aid is of far greater impact
than private aid... particularly if private aid goes along with the
nasty hand of proselytizing religion).

> This becomes much more efficient as the government typically spends more
> than one dollar to get a dollar to where you want it. Not for profits
> must have annual audits and are typically 80% or better efficient, due
> to volunteer workers administering them.

This is part of a myth that is promulgated in the US -- how true it is
is up for debate.

> The US Government encourages this giving through tax incentives and
> private giving in the US is much higher than most governments. If I were
> to dig for the statistics, we might find that this private giving is
> higher than quite a few governments put together.

I hope so!!! (on the private giving > few gov'ts put together) --
there are nearly 300 million Americans!!! Please dig up the statistics
b/c I'm curious to know what is the case (not to prove anyone right or
wrong, I'm honestly curious).

The evidence of private _and_ public aid that came from the Boxing Day
tsunami wasn't exactly a glowing indictment of the US' citizens per
capita generosity (vs. other developed nations). Plus, those numbers
aren't exactly meaningful since most of those donations will have been
withdrawn once the spotlight was off the issue.