B. Kidd
Diamond Member
1. "To begin with, charitable giving in America has never been the exclusive province of wealthy people. Throughout our history, Americans from all walks of life have given generously for charitable causes. Indeed, the most generous Americans todaythe group that gives the most to charity as a proportion of their incomeare the working poor.
2. Today, Americans voluntarily give over $30 billion a year to support higher education, andthanks in part to philanthropyAmerica has the best colleges and universities in the world. Even our great flagship state universities depend on private contributions for much of their excellence.
3. Private charitable giving is also at the heart and soul of public discourse in our democracy. It makes possible our great think tanks, whether left, right or center. Name a great issue of public debate today: climate change, the role of government in health care, school choice, stem cell research, same-sex marriage. On all these issues, private philanthropy enriches debate by enabling organizations with diverse viewpoints to articulate and spread their message.
4. We usually hear about charity in the media when there is a terrible disaster. For example, after Hurricane Katrina, we heard about the incredible outpouring of private generosity that amounted to $6 billion. What gets less attention is that Americans routinely give that much to charity every week. Last year Americans gave $300 billion to charity. To put this into perspective, that is almost twice what we spent on consumer electronics equipmentequipment including cell phones, iPods and DVD players. Americans gave three times as much to charity last year as we spent on gambling and ten times as much as we spent on professional sports. America is by far the most charitable country in the world. There is no other country that comes close."
https://www.hillsdale.edu/news/imprimis/archive/issue.asp?year=2010&month=01
(emphasis mine)
You may have been misled in your view by looking at the charitable record of our Democrat leaders.
There's more right than left on this board. Awhile back I did a thread on USMB members who ongoing contribute to charity and what they're favorite charity was. There was like 4-5 responses, and you weren't one of 'em!
I'm not sure who your leaders are on this board, but the "Democrat leaders' to whom I was referring were President Obama and Vice-President Biden, who have truly parsimonious records when it comes to chartity for the less fortunate.
While I don't recall the thread you mention, my charitable contributions, which far outweigh the two elected officials above, are not relevant to this discussion.
Since very few walk their talk, I hope you have the wherewithal, whatever the amount, to donate on-going to a charity of choice.
But, I ain't askin'.
Especially since you deemed it irrelevant, and all.