Wednesday, August 15, 2012

Charity versus Entitlements

When I first became acquainted with Tea Party ideas, it seemed obvious to me that what we were arguing about was taxes versus charitable giving.  I now believe this is the most fundamental choice we have before us.  Do we want a government, even of representatives with which we agree, to decide who is worthy of charity and who is not?  Do I want to have, say 10% of all of my dollars spent at Target, go to the charities their CEO chooses, or do I want to give 10% of my money to my parish where I personally know the people making the decisions?

We have become a country where fewer people make bigger decisions with our money everyday.  Our Omaha Pubic School's Board decided that it would be a great idea to do away with the grading system.  They call it outcomes based, but that just means no child will receive fewer than 50% on any assignment provided a DNA test proves that the drool on he test belongs to him.  

The US Department of Education has a projected budget of $69.1 BILLION for 2013.  If each school child age 0 to 17, and his or her family were to share equally in that money, each child would have $910 and change.  Add to that money spent by sate and local governments, and by parents who pay taxes, but use private schools or home-school, and spend their own money to do it.  Does education spending seem like a scam to anyone else?  And I'm not even talking about the indoctrination that passes for education.  I'm just talking dollars and bodies.

What about welfare?  What about the difference between food stamps and food banks?  When Jesus told us to 'Render unto Caesar...'  I don't think he was talking about Obama, and Planned Parenthood, and the Department of Education, and Food Stamps, and Welfare... 

So I'm asking everyone to look at how much you pay in taxes, and how much you can offset by giving to charities you trust.  Give more to those you trust to make good decisions, and less to government.


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