Posted on 03/14/2019 7:21:32 AM PDT by reaganaut1
Actually, a good case could be made that it’s you who is wrong across the board. And while I did read the article, I don’t value some journalist’s view about a topic he clearly knows little about over my own knowledge.
Parents are not, as you say, “buying their kids a place in the college’ by using their foundation to donate to the college. It is never done in that crass a manner at legitimate institutions. The students are already accepted when that type of arrangement is made.
Years ago the ability to pay tuition was an important component in the admissions process at some schools. At the prestigious schools it means little to nothing. Any parent proposing such an arrangement to an admissions officer would severely handicap their kid’s chance of ever being accepted.
At the prestigious schools, the admissions officers are looking at the characteristics of the student - race, test scores, accomplishments, first generation college, family circumstances. The people with money who were just indicted paid to have their kids’ applications look as if they included something(s) that the schools value.
There is a lot of mis-information on this thread. The college application process is a delicate dance and money isn’t part of the equation at the desirable schools - not at the 100K level anyway. Now the family may have money but it’s the fame/reputation/power of the family that will improve the kids’ chances, not the money per se.
Why not just eliminate the Tax Deduction for donating to Big College?
Why link it to when someone’s Kid might be attending?
I assure you, senators do not have to pay any scam artists to generate a fake college application. If the kid's test scores are fairly good and there's been no DUIs or drug issues, any senator's child has a very good chance. Children of representatives - they may need slightly better test scores. ;-)
If I understand the article, all the proposed bill does is remove the deduction for a limited time frame. One may still contribute at any time, but impulse for bribery is not as great.
Where is the impulse for bribery? This is a tax scheme, not a bribery attempt.
Redact the names from all college applications before they are reviewed and admit on merit. Or note the student’s file “bought in”.
Or to overpay some Marxist professor.
I agree too, EXCEPT that when my kids started attending college, the colleges immediately started calling me to ask for donations. Heck, the elementary, middle, and high schools all do the same thing.
The idea is that every one of us who have put a kid in an institution may want to help make their stay better, and the feds are subsidizing it, so why not?
The problem is how can you tell the difference between a “this donation got the kid into school”, and “this donation is BECAUSE the kid is already IN the school”.
(I didn’t actually give money to any schools, but I still get letters and calls).
There’s a difference between donating and cheating. Colleges rely on donors, and yes, they probably take in some of the less qualified because their parents are donors, because they’re children of celebrities who might attract others, or because they’re affirmative action candidates. But without these donors, they couldn’t afford to take in kids who couldn’t come up with $50,000 a year.
However, bribing coaches, proctors, administration personnel, etc to engage in corruption is something entirely different.
I am inclined to agree, except that charitable giving would decline precipitously. And we don't want to replace it with government programs...
I assume elected officials get them in NOT by donating their own money, but by reminding the schools that they can call their presidents in for congressional grilling, and can steer tax dollars to or from the colleges, PLUS having the child of an important elected official is a good recruiting tool.
And I am sure they will not make ANY laws that prevent THOSE things.
Every single perp I’ve run through the FEC’s database so far has donated to Dems and/or RINOS (McCain, Romney).
Are Capitol Hill pols going to return any donations given THEM by the perps....?
I bet if the scammers were mostly rich white Republicans it would be mentioned in the first sentence of every article related to this story.
Charity giving should be from the heart, not so it’ll drop you into a lower tax category. Yeah, yeah, reality gets in the way. If donations drop, then charities might have to also drop some of their high priced CEOs and high priced salaries. It might also mean less money going to illegals.
If a student starts at a college in 2019, you could say that donations in the 2018 and 2019 tax years are not tax-deductible or that deductibility is capped at $10K. Or you could require universities to attest that any donation which they assert is deductible (they are required by law to give receipts) has not affected an admissions decision. Currently the fundraising office communicates with the admissions office. That could be restricted.
I'm not sure what the fix is and no fix will be perfect, but I do think something needs to be done about seat purchases disguised as donations.
Our son graduated in '02 and had his masters by '04 but we still receive occasional solicitations from the university.
Off topic, but I received a phone call yesterday from a fund raiser at the hospital where I was treated for my heart problem. Started off like a follow up "how are you" call, then requested a $100 a month pledge to improve the (already terrific) cardiac department. If you don't ask, you probably don't get.
That should be done regardless of the level of funding.
The Senator who lives 3000 miles from his state complains about rigged systems.
Never gonna happen, these rules were setup by the ruling class for the ruling class. Remember this, Senator Ted Kennedy, the Drunk Swimmer, created the Kennedy Family Foundation as a non profit charitable foundation, he had his ENTIRE pay from the US Senate diverted to his TAX FREE CHARITY FOUNDATION, and the Foundation PAID ALL HIS EXPENSES HIS WHOLE LIFE, and he got the Tax Write Off too.
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