The Rich Get Richer

Daniel Altman of the New York Times argues here that President Bush's tax cuts are not helping charities. Altman makes the case that the richest people in the nation, who benefit almost exclusively from the new tax cuts, are not giving any of their new-found money away, and in fact, are giving even less, since they don't have as high a tax liability as they once did.

According to the piece, tax-payers in the highest brackets actually gave less to charity in 2003 than they did in 2002, despite their earnings skyrocketing because of the new cuts. Additionally, this was the only group to cut back, as all other earners saw the size of their charity gifts rise.

Even more incredibly, Altman points out that, according to the IRS data, those in the highest tax brackets gave away 3.4 % of their income, while those in the lowest bracket donated an astonishing 26 % of their incomes to charitable causes.

Obviously, charities are very dependent on the big gift, from the big donor, and many charities survive because of the generosity of our country's richest citizens. But according to Altman's piece, the rich are the only people in America to use falling tax rates to diminish their charitable giving, implying (explicitly) that most are giving not to make the world a better place, but to lessen their tax liability.

And again, based on the amount of money that our poorest citizens are giving away, to those who are even less fortunate than they, we are reminded that the rich may make the rules in this country, but they have no monopoly on ethics, commitment, honor, and compassion.