Say Anything Blog

A view held by most conservatives (and many others) is that charity should not be the work of government, but of the people - families, neighbors, communities, and, yes, churches.  An argument often made in opposition to adding new government entitlement programs or expanding existing programs is that the additional tax burden leaves the people with fewer resources with which to support their local charities.

This is an argument with which I wholeheartedly agree.  This year we will have a rare opportunity to demonstrate in a very concrete and tangible way that this argument is sound.  Congress and the President have passed a bill that will give more than 130 million taxpayers a tax rebate in 2008, anywhere from $300 to $600 per taxpayer, plus $300 per qualifying child.

This is money we weren’t expecting and that wasn’t part of our budgets.  Many of us don’t NEED it to keep a roof over our heads, or food in our families’ mouths.  Likewise, most of us feel the responsibility to help the needy.

So here is my suggestion, my challenge, if you will, to everyone who doesn’t NEED this money: Put your money where your mouth is.  Give your tax rebate to charity.  That’s what I’m doing. 

Will you join me?

If there is enough interest in this challenge, I will find a way to track the amount of the rebates given to charity, probably by dedicating a post on my blog where you can add that info in the comments, and I’ll put a ticker on the blog to count it.  If we want to make it more interesting, we can count conservatives, liberals and decline-to-states separately, or count it all together.  Whatever.  The point is to show that we, the people, care about, and can care for, the needy among us.

Let’s show America what we, the people, can do!

JOIN THE CHALLENGE!