Here ya go - the next topic to scream over.. XD

First off, I am NOT an economist. But I had this idea the other day. It'd never happen in real life naturally, but why don't all of you point out the pitfalls and/or benefits of it...

"Replace ALL government-based welfare with private charities, then double the tax benefits for donating to charities designated as welfare organizations. These welfare organizations would have to make public their Pay-through rate (X% of every dollar donated makes it to a worthy recipient."

- Everyone would get a tax break, as the government wouldn't have to support welfare anymore
- Increased tax benefits would encourage people to donate more, as well as further aid the generous people who would donate anyways.
- The wealthy would tend to donate more than the poor, as they gain more benefit from tax cuts.
- With the publication of the Pay-through rate, you could see which organizations were more efficient than others.

Last edited: Saturday, January 22, 2005 at 8:00:03 AM

Great idea - too bad it makes too much sense to happen.

Couple of things pop into mind;
"We The People..." are different from "government" now? Government "giving" tax breaks cannot be looked at as a cost? Wealth already can donate more. Is efficiency of Pay-through" because of the organization or because they may deal with more difficult clients/situations?

The Efficiency of Pay-through is just to provide competition among the welfare charities to avoid them getting bloated and spending all of the donations on themselves rather than on the people it's designed to help. The idea is to replace wasteful bureaucracies, not start another one. ;)

I'm not sure I understand your other point though, Flea. Wealth CAN already donate more, agreed. This gives them a reason to do so. For those that donate because their heart tells them to - this rewards them. For those who donate for financial reasons (tax breaks), this gives them an additional reason. For some of the middle band, that would like to donate but can't afford very much, this gives a bit more incentive.