Lowering the Charitable Deduction Tax Break

So, if you have been following some of the new stimulus info, there has been talk about lowering the tax credit for wealthy people making gifts to charity http://philanthropy.com/news/updates/index.php?id=7301

There is much discussion about weather this will affect charitable donations or not. I've got to say that this is pretty much crap. I know the money is going to fix the health care system, which I agree needs some serious help, but let's be real here, it will affect charitable donations. I heard one of the arguments that this would not really impact nonprofits was that it wasn't going to be implemented until 2011 and by then the economy will have turned around. I'm sorry, I don't see your logic. "Well, we are going to take $5000 away, but it's no big deal because it won't be for 2 more years". Granted, some wealthy people do not worry that much about the tax implications, but let's be honest; their net worth is down, their taxes are going up and now they do not get as big of a deduction on their donations.

There was a survey stating tax deductions are at the bottom of the list of reasons people give. But in a survey I conducted on donors a couple years ago, only something like 7% said they give because of name recognition. However, I notice when their names are not on the honor roll (or are incorrect), they call pretty darn quickly to complain. My point being that no one is going to say they give for tax deductions or recognition, even though they do. It doesn't mean they don't care about the cause, but they might not give as much if they weren't getting a little incentive in return.

Now, I think Obama is great, but I think this idea stinks. Why are you hurting the organizations that are already hurting? I encourage everyone to check out Americans for the Arts and the Independent Sector to help in whatever way we can to come up with an alternative.