Obama's Charitable Taking

In response to nonprofit organizations worried that limiting the deduction for charitable contributions will reduce donations, The Washington Times reports, Orszag "said Mr. Obama took care of that by giving charities government money to make up part of the difference." Orszag noted that "in the recovery act, there's $100 million to support nonprofits and charities." In essence, then, Obama plans to take money people otherwise would have given to the charities of their choice and give it to the charities of his choice.

Obama insists he is only raising taxes on "the wealthy" and emphasizes that "the recovery plan provides a tax cut … for 95 percent of working families" -- a credit of $400 per taxpayer. Yet even leaving aside the enormous increase in debt on which Obama's spending relies (which will mean higher taxes in the future), the cut he promises is illusory.

To continue the tax credit past two years, Obama is counting on $646 billion in revenue from "a market-based cap on carbon pollution," which has essentially the same impact as a carbon tax, although the cost is less explicit: It raises the price of every product and service that contributes to carbon dioxide emissions, and it reduces economic growth, making everyone poorer than they otherwise would have been. At best, the tax credit will make up for a fraction of these effects.

Even the name of Obama's tax credit is insulting: "Making Work Pay." What makes work pay is the willingness of other people to pay for it. Taxes subtract value from this arrangement; they do not add to it. Obama not only wants to take his cut; he wants to take credit for taking less than he could have -- indeed, for letting you keep anything at all. As far as he's concerned, the fruits of your labor are yours only by the grace of government.