Posted by
Matthew on Wednesday, July 02, 2008 8:30:57 AM
Senator Obama pledged yesterday that his proposed administration would make faith-based program support by the government something more than "a photo op." Writing as a devout Christian and fledgling Libertarian, I suggest a different approach. Let's get the government out of the charitable support business altogether.
Study after study has shown that private organizations do a much better job of getting charitable dollars in the hands of those for whom they are intended than government ever could. The current administration used that as their basis for establishing the office for faith-based initiatives. They thought that money the government was collecting and handing out could be better directed through this office. I think the Prez' heart was in the right place; but he started from a false assumption. The assumption is that government has any business in helping the poor.
This assumption took root from the War on Poverty, and has flourished to become a large portion of the federal budget. If someone were to step back and look at the whole picture, they might say that the War on Poverty has only brought more poverty.
I would suggest that federal income taxes be cut by the same percentage that now goes toward charitable causes and programs that support the needy. Let's see what would happen if people were given back the money they earned and were given more of an opportunity to support the programs that work, programs that get the money to where it is used for helping the poor rather than the administration of the charity.
Doubtless, some charities would fail, particularly those that have received millions in taxpayer dollars but use it for everything but really helping people get out of poverty.
Arthur Brooks, in his book
The Surprising Truth About Compassionate Conservatism: Who Really Cares found that conservatives are much more willing to give to help those in need than were liberals. Liberals like to support
causes, not
people, says he. Brooks, by the way, is a self-professed lifelong liberal.
This was supposed to be a tell-all about how uncaring conservatives
are. The facts didn't fit his hypothesis. I appreciate when someone can
accept the facts rather than say that their research must be flawed.
The Better Business Bureau has a list of charities and "
Wise Giving Reports" which detail the collection and distribution of funds for charities. There are other sources.
The point is, we can make good choices in terms of what we support. We are much better equipped to make decisions about what set of needs we feel should be supported than any set of beaurocrats ever would be.
Power to the people.