Are Americans Cheap? (John Stossel)

Real Clear Politics ^ | November 29, 2006 | John Stossel

[sgtbono2002]

IMO we give too much now . Most of it is stolen long before it reaches anyone in need.

[DrGunsforHands]

Charitable Giving Rises 6 Percent to More than $260 Billion in 2005
Disaster relief tops all records and totals 3 percent of all giving
http://www.aafrc.org/press_releases/trustreleases/0606_PR.pdf

[olezip]

This miserable kind of article usually shows up earlier whenever a Republican Administration takes power. But I guess it was delayed because President Bush has been a bigger social spender than even Clinton with his prescription paying, billions to Africa for AIDS, doubling of the budget for the Department of Education, etc. I guess that the guilt-ridden leftists want to prepare us for expected increases in our taxes.

[2ThumbsUp]

A few years ago, before he started suggesting "the U.S. open up to Arabs and Muslims," former Secy. Powell said some pretty nice things about the generosity of Americans.
"The United States is not stingy: "We are the greatest contributor to international efforts in the world. Colin Powell

Although after seeing the news item on Secy. Powell from earlier in the day, I hope he doen't have 'generosity' confused with 'stupidity.'

NCPA - Daily Policy Digest - Wealthiest Americans Support Democrats

http://www.ncpa.org/iss/gov/2004/pd040104f.html

Despite the claims of John Kerry and the Democrats that President Bush represents the interests of the wealthiest Americans, it is Kerry and the Democrats who enjoy lavish donations from the majority of America's wealthiest individuals, according to the American Spectator.

The top nine individual contributors, says the Spectator, gave exclusively to Democrats in the last election cycle. Overall, from the top12 individual donors in the 2002 campaign, Democrats enjoyed nearly $35 million in contributions compared to less than $1 million for Republicans. Similarly,


Since 1998, Bill Gates, the richest man in America, has contributed three times more money to Democrats than to Republicans.
Warren Buffett and Paul Allen, America's 2nd and 3rd richest men, respectively, donate overwhelmingly to the left -- for instance, Allen has given over $150,000 to Democrats and no reported gifts to the GOP over the last three election cycles.
Multibillionaire George Soros has reportedly pledged $15 million to MoveOn.org to defeat President Bush.
Despite the passage of McCain-Feingold, which prevents parties from accepting giant contributions to use for issue ads, the American Spectator observes, money continues to find its way into the 2004 elections. Instead of the usual channels, big donors have turned to bundling contributions with other like-minded individuals or through political advocacy groups as a way around the restrictions.

Source: Timothy P. Carney, "Shutting Out the Social Right," American Spectator, February 2004.

[hosepipe]

" Foreign aid is when the poor people of a rich country give money to the rich people of a poor country." - Author Unknown

[Youngman442002]

Its the guilt before Christmas crap again....

And Bono..your worth a few hundred million..sell you jets and feed a family or two..

Harry Chapin..now there was a true rock star...he walked the walk

[annelizly]

Notice how these rich philanthropists still manage to live pretty high on the hog even when you take in their charitable contributions?

Most americans, when they give to charity, can feel the hurt of that in their lives. They actually go without and sacrifice when they give to charities.

These rich people can give and give and give and they STILL GET TO TRAVEL AND LOUNGE AROUND POOLS AND SHOP ON RODEO DRIVE AND DRIVE THE BEST CARS AVAILABLE AND LAVISH THEMSELVES WITH MASSAGES AND SPA VISITS.

[Tribune7]

bump

[petertare]

Keep looking. It has to be there--and clearly defined. Because it is done daily to all we dolts everywhere.

[DuncanWaring]

Harry Chapin..now there was a true rock star...he walked the walk

Too bad he didn't drive something a little sturdier than a VW.

[blue state conservative]

first of all, most of the "generous" countries in the world are freeloading off the US military. Factor in what we pay to protect their butts so they can give their money to foreign aid and we come off as the most generous people ever.

[zendari]

The government shouldn't be "giving" away a cent....leave that to private charities.

How about they cut down this defecit we have instead?

[Nomorjer Kinov]

Gates and Buffett are succeeding in sheltering their wealth from capital gains taxes - something they both require exist for the rest of us. It's funny how it's a good idea to avoid paying the government "its share" of some $60 billion dollars when its Gates' own money he's talking about.

[supremedoctrine]

Indeed, what used to be called "foreign aid" when I was a kid growing up, has morphed into something else.I am not sure what, but the gradual disappearance of that term itself must mean something else is going on.It would be VERY instructive and instructively horrifying for someone to do some real research and assess just HOW MUCH has been "given" by the USA to every other country---add it all up, say, over the last 50 years, and then take a realistic look at those countries and the condition they are in, and deduce just what in fact all those hundreds of billions if not hundreds of trillions went for. WHAT, pray tell, was built?

[pandoraou812]

That is sadly true. I won't give to big charities anymore instead I give to my local food bank. We do toys for tots runs and local things. The 9/11 and Katrina charities really opened my eyes to the fraud that goes on .

[hadit2here]

"There is no worse tyranny than to force a man to pay for what he does not want merely because you think it would be good for him."
-- Robert Heinlein

"You cannot strengthen the weak by weakening the strong."
-- Abraham Lincoln

"You cannot help men permanently by doing for them what they could and should do for themselves."
--Abraham Lincoln

"When the people find that they can vote themselves money, that will herald the end of the republic."
--Benjamin Franklin

In general, the art of government consists in taking as much money as possible from one party of the citizens to give to the other.
-- Voltaire (1764)

[abercrombie_guy_38]

I think Stossel will expose how much money celebrities and big liberal business execs have given.

[bannie]

What was once genuine, caring charity has become extortion.

[wodinoneeye]

Might be useful to show how much more that 'aid' of the foreign governments are linked to buying goods from the country that gave it. (That effectively is a form of corporate welfare and less of charity).

Is it more common in the US to have less strings attached to the moneys use???