It's Always In The Small Print

According to the Washington Times, there are many Democrats and Republicans upset about President Obama's changes to the tax code regarding charitable giving.  The article stated:

Still, the charitable giving deduction reduction, which would limit deductions for couples making $250,000 or individuals making $200,000, provoked the most heat Thursday. Mr. Obama is counting on that provision to raise $179.8 billion over 10 years.

"Some of the reforms and offsets contained or referenced in the budget, such as the limitation on itemized deductions, raise concerns and will require more study as we determine the best policies for getting America back on track," said Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, Montana Democrat.

Roberton Williams, senior fellow at the Tax Policy Center, said it's impossible to calculate the exact effects of all the tax changes, but said the overall result is clear - less philanthropic giving.

Remember that many of our hospitals and medical research facilities are funded by charitable giving by people who make more than $200,000.  This tax proposal will result in a degrading of our medical care and research.  There is also another provision in this bill we need to be aware of:

"Office of Management and Budget Director Peter Orszag said Mr. Obama took care of that (the change in charitable deductions) by giving charities government money to make up part of the difference. 

"Contained in the recovery act, there's $100 million to support nonprofits and charities as we get through this period of economic difficulty," he said."

This is just wrong.  Why should we let the government make charitable contributions to ACORN instead of people making private contributions to hospitals and medical research facilities?  Considering the political leanings of this administration, that could easily happen.  This is another example of the government deciding they can spend our money better than we can.