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Op-Ed: The Future of Foreign Policy is Public-Private Partnerships (CNN World 11/25/11)
On Black Friday, the apotheosis of consumerism and the celebration of private enterprise (entrepreneurial on-line marketers are targeting in-line consumers with ads sent to their cell phones while they wait to purchase goods in physical stores), it’s a good time to consider the power of harnessing private incentives to public goals.
Newt Gingrich made this point in the CNN national security debate for Republican presidential candidates on Tuesday night, arguing about how he would shave $500 billion out of the federal budget. "There are lots of things you can do," he said, including giving foreign aid "in a way that we actually help people even more effectively and at a much lower cost by having public/private partnerships."....
Op-Ed: Ending Charity Tax Break Will Hurt Poor Most (Bloomberg News 11/22/11)
Thanksgiving week marks the traditional start of the holiday season, when our thoughts should turn to those less fortunate than ourselves. Most charities aimed at helping others report their heaviest donations during the holidays, and not only because of the urgent reminders besieging us on every side.
As the end of the year approaches, families measure out their remaining disposable income in order to decide how much to contribute during the great year-end giving binge. And one of the things most people take into account is the tax deductibility of their donations....
Op-Ed: Tax Write-Off Now, Charity Later (New York Times 11/21/11)
The failure of the bipartisan debt reduction committee to reach agreement means there are likely to be drastic cuts in federal spending that will result in many more Americans looking to the charitable sector to meet their needs. In the meantime, President Obama and Congressional Republicans have both proposed cutting the tax deduction for charitable giving as a way of generating much-needed federal revenue. But neither side is addressing a growing problem with charitable donations.
When most people think about charitable giving, they envision money going to support local food banks or educational organizations, or donations to the Red Cross that can be put to work immediately on disaster relief. But it is increasingly common for charitable donations to take a significant detour before ever being put to charitable use....
Op-Ed: Deductibility Rate for Charitable Donations Must be Preserved (Delaware Voice 11/20/11)
The United States has long been defined in part by the charitable nature of its people. And from its inception in 1913, the federal income tax code has allowed taxpayers to deduct charitable gifts. In effect, government partners with charitably minded Americans to advance the general welfare.
This is a uniquely American concept and one that has had a profound impact on our nation. Of the more than $304 billion Americans donated to charity in 2009 (Center on Philanthropy, University of Indiana), 75 percent now comes from individual taxpayers, outpacing corporations and foundations 3-to-1 (Congressional Budget Office). Many of the universities, hospitals, museums, social welfare organizations, disease-fighting societies and other nonprofits that help define the American landscape are beneficiaries of this tremendously effective, innovative partnership....
Op-Ed: Bill Gates’s Plan to Assist the World’s Poor (Washington Post 11/1/11)
Fifty years ago, almost 20 million children under the age of 5 died every year. In 2010, the figure was down to 7.6 million. This 60 percent decline in childhood deaths — reflecting advances in agriculture, education, health and sanitation — is compelling evidence of the increasing justice in our world.
But the global economic crisis is putting the long-term trend of progress at risk, as Congress’s debates about the foreign aid budget underscore....
Op-Ed: Stop Complaining and Find Solutions (Fresno Bee 10/28/11)
President John F. Kennedy had a plaque on his desk inscribed with the words of an old fisherman's prayer: "Oh God thy sea is so great ... and my boat is so small." That captures the thought of just about any foundation CEO. With seemingly infinite need and relatively finite resources, effective philanthropy can be a challenge.
When I look at the problems swelling around California and then consider the scope of Irvine's resources to do something about it ... that sea looks quite vast, and the boat looks very small indeed....
Editorial: Uncle Handout: Obama Plan Would Hurt Charities (Worcester Telegram and Gazette 10/21/11)
President Obama’s proposed $447 billion American Jobs Act appears to be going nowhere fast, but the strange politics of Capitol Hill could mean that portions of the legislation will survive. We cannot endorse any of the bill’s provisions at this point, but it would be particularly harmful if Congress were to pass Mr. Obama’s proposal to cap tax deductions for charitable donations.
Capping deductions is another way of targeting the wealthy, who have more money to donate, and thus stand to benefit more at tax time from those donations....
Op-Ed: The Protean Nature of Philanthropy is One of its Greatest Assets (The Guardian 10/19/11)
More than 176,000 foundations exist in the US and Europe, and their spending on international development has risen by 60% in just four years. By far the largest contribution comes from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, which has quickly become the largest funder of global public health outside the US and UK governments.
This amounts to a huge potential bonanza for poverty reduction and healthcare across the world. Yet the impact of philanthropy depends on how foundations use these resources, and whether or not they escape the problems that have undermined other approaches to foreign aid. On that question, the jury is definitely out....
Editorial: Philanthropy With Strings Isn't So Virtuous (Los Angeles Times 9/1/11)
If all philanthropists were required to be morally upright, hospitals would be low on new wings and colleges would be starved for buildings. We'd also be missing a few beloved institutions outright — Stanford and Carnegie Mellon universities are cases in point. Charity is a virtue that should not be off-limits to scoundrels — if, in fact, they are truly giving to an institution rather than tethering their donations with strings that benefit them.
Lowell Milken would probably be counted among the less pristine philanthropists, though not among the most scurrilous. Tied to the Wall Street junk-bond scandals of the 1980s, he was banned from further work in the securities industry but was never tried criminally (though his brother Michael served time)....
Op-Ed: How Billionaires Could Save the Country (Washington Post 8/31/11)
If you think, as I’ve argued repeatedly, that we need a “radically centrist” third-party presidential candidate to shake things up, and to force both political parties to confront the myriad issues that their interest groups and ideological litmus tests bar them from treating honestly, then there are only two ways for that to happen in 2012. Like it or not, both depend on wealthy Americans investing in creative political change.
The first scenario is that the new group Americans Elect succeeds in securing ballot access in all 50 states and runs a national online nominating convention (in which every registered voter can be a delegate) next summer that will put an independent ticket on the ballot. The group tells me that it is on track to have ballot access in 27 states by the end of this year; by law, the other 23 don’t allow the relevant signature-gathering until next year....
Editorial: Milken's Money, UCLA's Dilemma (Los Angeles Times 8/30/11)
If all philanthropists were required to be morally upright, hospitals would be low on new wings and colleges would be starved for buildings. We'd also be missing a few beloved institutions outright — Stanford and Carnegie Mellon universities are cases in point. Charity is a virtue that should not be off-limits to scoundrels — if, in fact, they are truly giving to an institution rather than tethering their donations with strings that benefit them.
Lowell Milken would probably be counted among the less pristine philanthropists, though not among the most scurrilous. Tied to the Wall Street junk-bond scandals of the 1980s, he was banned from further work in the securities industry but was never tried criminally (though his brother Michael served time). He has been a steady donor in recent years, largely to educational causes. And now his $10-million gift to UCLA's law school is being questioned by a prominent professor who says, with some justification, that it would look odd to name an institute of business law after a man whose transgressions were in that very field....
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