July 8, 2009 | Read Time: 1 minute
Has President Obama declared “war on philanthropy”?
According to David Billet, associate editor of Commentary, a conservative magazine, the answer is yes.
Mr. Billet is part of a growing chorus of right-leaning pundits who argue that Obama administration policies, as well efforts by liberal advocacy groups to steer more philanthropic dollars to help disadvantaged people, threaten the independence of the nonprofit world.
The president’s proposal to reduce the tax deduction for wealthy donors, while increasing government spending, is of particular concern to Mr. Billet.
“It suggests that Barack Obama believes it would be fairer for all if the government were to do as much as possible, and that the tasks of helping the less fortunate and keeping the national conversation as full-throated and diverse as possible would be better managed under the auspices of Washington,” he writes.
However, Obama administration officials have recently touted the role that charities and foundations play in American society — and that the government should not hinder it.
During a speech last week announcing his signature nonprofit program, the Social Innovation Fund, Mr. Obama said charities, like the Harlem Children’s Zone, show that “solutions to America’s challenges are being developed every day at the grass roots — and government shouldn’t be supplanting those efforts, it should be supporting those efforts.”
What do you think?
