Cross-Posted from DaleGlading.com
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There are very few topics in life on which I am an expert. Among that small handful of subjects are pre-1980 baseball (actually, the Dead Ball era from 1900 to 1920 is my favorite); South Jersey, where I spent the first 51 years of my life; and anything to do with Francis Albert Sinatra. I am also an amateur golf historian, so if you want to chat about the Great Triumvirate of Harry Vardon, James Braid, and J.H. Taylor… I’m your man.
There is one other thing that I can wax eloquently about – and with a good deal of authority – and that is the nonprofit world. From 1983 to 1993, I served as a department head at a nonprofit retirement community. Then, in 1987, I launched my own nonprofit prison ministry, serving as its executive director for 24 years before relocating to Florida to start yet another 501 (C) (3) tax-exempt organization.
So, when I tell you that nonprofit organizations deliver more bang for the buck than our state and federal governments combined, you can take my word for it!
Give Uncle Sam $1.00 in tax revenues and he will spend 90 cents of it on overhead, red tape, and regulations. Then, he will borrow another dollar – at an exorbitantly high interest rate – so he can provide a portion of the services he originally promised. Conversely, a nonprofit organization will scrimp and save, watching every penny that comes in and that goes out, so it can be true to its mission and deliver client services as efficiently as possible.
Want an example? The prison ministry I led in New Jersey decided to expand our mission to include aftercare for ex-offenders in addition to the evangelistic and discipleship programs we already offered to incarcerated men and women. And so, with a small grant from the New Jersey Office of Faith Based Initiatives, we launched Lives in Transition, which offered housing, food, clothing, transportation, job training, job placement, addiction counseling, and spiritual mentoring for 200 soon-to-be and just released prisoners.
In New Jersey, as well as across the country, the recidivism (rearrest) rate for ex-offenders is roughly 70% within the first four years post-release. However, our recidivism rate was a microscopic 5%. That’s right; just 10 of the 200 inmates in our program violated their paroles or committed new crimes. Since it costs anywhere from $30,000 to $50,000 annually to house an inmate, Lives in Transition saved Garden State residents millions of dollars each and every year by turning tax burdens into taxpayers.
My singular purpose in sharing these statistics is to prove unequivocally that private charities do a far better job than government bureaucracies when it comes to ROI (return on investment). And so, here is my commonsense proposal: tax people less so they can give more.
Just imagine if the federal tax rate was lowered to a flat or fair tax of 10%, 15% or even 20%. Such a revolutionary change would accomplish several things. First, it would force Uncle Sam to tighten his belt and stay away from the all-you-can-eat buffet. Second, it would virtually eliminate the need for the Internal Revenue Service, as tax returns would be the size of a postcard. Third, Americans would have more disposable income because they would be keeping more of their hard-earned money. That transfer of wealth from Washington DC to private citizens would also mean that many – if not most – federal welfare programs would be obsolete. And, because Mr. and Mrs. American Taxpayer would now get to keep 80-90% of their salaries, they would have more money to give to nonprofit organizations.
This would be great news for conservatives, who desperately want a streamlined federal government. Studies also prove that conservatives support churches and charities at a much higher rate than liberals.
According to the National Library of Medicine, “Our meta-analysis results suggest that political conservatives are significantly more charitable than liberals at an overall level…” Democratic Audit also found that conservatives donated more money to charities than liberals, largely because they tend to be more religious. And exhaustive research conducted by the Philanthropy Roundtable revealed that 19% of Republicans were “very heavy givers” compared to just 4% of Democrats. When “heavy givers” are added to the equation, Republicans jump out to a 38% to 17% lead.
Even more glaringly, the Philanthropy Roundtable found that whereas conservative households generally have 6% less income, they give 30% more than their liberal counterparts. Of the Top 15 most generous states, 14 went “Red” in 2020. Meanwhile, 13 of the Top 15 least generous states were “Blue.” In other words, Democrats and liberals are generous with other people’s money, whereas Republicans and conservatives are generous with their own money.
Remember Bill Clinton infamously donating his used underwear to charity and then taking a tax write-off for those secondhand boxers? Or John Kerry, who has a net worth of $250 million and is married to Teresa Heinz Kerry (think ketchup and pickles), bragging about donating $9,175 (5%) of his $183,500 salary as Secretary of State to charity? Not to be outdone, Joe and Jill Biden – who reported an adjusted gross income of $579,514 in 2022 – donated just $20,180 (3.5%) to charity last year, including a measly $1,680 to their home parish in Delaware. I guess they weren’t willing to dip into their $9 million net worth to help others in need.
So, how about it, folks? Let’s slash government spending by putting Uncle Sam on a low-tax diet, and turn social services over to the nonprofit sector where they belong. And maybe, just maybe, shame liberals into putting their money where their mouth is by ponying up some charitable dollars themselves.
