#redpilled

If you read the IRS.gov regulations it also says the write-off is not contingent upon time spent/hours worked its purely based on financial assistance to GOVERNMENT RECOGNIZED ORGANIZATIONS

"Remember that donations to individuals will not qualify. You cannot deduct contributions to specific individuals – no matter how deserving. This includes handouts to the homeless and collections at the office or in your neighborhood for those experiencing tough times (including pooled funds for folks who are ill or have experienced a tragedy such as an accident or fire). If the deduction is important to you, consider working through an established organization like the Red Cross which provides disaster or other relief. See again #2."


So time spent is irrelevant - which is pretty fucking important when assessing who contributes to charity (democrats or republicans).

Individual donations are irrelevant. Also pretty fucking important.

Imagine you are making 6 figures. You dislike big government. Of course yer gonna give donation to your local church - get a write off - literally you could short the government a considerable amount by just giving it to someone whos gonna use it to fund anti-gay, anti-abortion, pro-gun, groups.
And add to that tax incentive
And add to that you get to claim you are GENEROUS. Moreso than Democrats.

I would assert that if you eliminated tax breaks on charitable monetary donation that youd see a complete 180 reversal in which political party donates more time/energy and effort into charity in general.

*checks how much of clinton's tax deductions went to the clinton foundation*

http://www.factcheck.org/2015/06/where-does-clinton-foundation-money-go/

Go ahead and check what the difference is between a "programs on the ground" charity organization does and a non in house.

89% of clinton foundation money goes directly to actual programs and on the ground charity.


Meanwhile....

"The Donald J. Trump Foundation gave $59,125 worth of donations to organizations that support climate change, LGBT issues, immigration and minorities, according to the foundation’s 990 tax forms from those years. Interestingly, all causes that now face possible repeal of critical legislation protecting their communities once Trump is in the White House."

Trump appars to support all the things hes against. Fascinating.

there aren't many conspiracies i believe, but i've gone through the IRS records on the clinton foundation, and they always seem to rack up tens of millions from places like Qatar and Saudi Arabia (much of which left after November of 2016... i wonder why?)

the operational expenses make up most of their budget, in terms of travel and funding employees, and even your own factcheck article only attacked the low hanging fruit of the 6% effective claim, which is obviously a lie.

meanwhile the 89% figure from charity watch is solely based off of the IRS forms the Clinton Foundation has to submit for officials record. the other 364 days of the year, they are not obligated to keep official record of where that money goes, or how it is spent.

you can see only a 24 hours record once a year of their funds, and for me that's far from conclusive.

also Trump is a giant piece of shit.

is... this news?

Yanik, surely you are rational enough to look up what the Clinton foundation does. Like all charity organizations - there is possible corruption.

The Red Cross - arguably the gold standard most trusted and oft donated to organization in America is not above crooked dealings.


http://www.npr.org/2016/06/16/482020436/senators-report-finds-fundamental-concerns-about-red-cross-finances

@brainbomb

it's the direct political ties tat have worried me the most, and it's not just sites like Breitbart raising questions on the foundation, the Times have done quite a few articles questioning it.

and what the organization does, doesn't make sense considering the donors. there's this giant question mark about why Saudi Arabia is so interested in funding aid to a few specific parts of Africa. there's something beneath the surface we are simply not seeing

Im not going to sit here and debate the Clinton Foundations legitimacy as a valid Charity. For one I dont care - Hillary lost and it wasnt because of her foundation. Two - Im sure they do some good things and like all modern big name charities theres an aspect of shady-ness going on too. (As was clearly cited even the Red Cross is sketchy)

The argument that conservatives are more charitable and generous is a very spurrious claim to make and im pretty sure you conceded that its too complex to know what church charity supports - and its also imventivized by tax breaks and its impossibke to quanitify what charity is and who is actually involved when its non monetary based.

So to conclude : I am a democrat and I am as charitable as I can be. In addition to everything I listed earlier I also manage a restaurant that all month of june is donating 25% of sales revenue to the american cancer society.

I also give to childrens funds whenever possible. I mow the lawn for a family of 4 kids whose father abandoned them as theyre my neighbors. I also consistently help people in the most random of situations

A few months ago a girl was at the gas station and her car was almost out if gas. She went to pay and her card was declined. I bought her a full tank of gas because I had plenty of money. She started crying because nobody had ever done anything like that for her. The gas clerk said that was one of the coolest thinhs hed ever witnessed.

I said I may as well; Id just spend it on booze probably if I didnt.

^ then you are ok BB.

Its not about being OK man. Thats what these people dont get. The debt will never be paid no matter how much time or money you spend. You dont do it for a reward its about giving a fuck.

that's all you need to do. personal responsibility is how we should judge people

brainbomb stood by himself and prayed: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’

@brainbomb

you see charity as a "Debt"?

I see life in general as an excercise in living humbly in the service and company of others. Charity is the debt we give back for the gift of all the things we owe back to a broken society. I dont come from a poor family. I am Catholic. I have lived well - went to college and the world has in general been pretty good to me. So sure it is a debt that I feel responsible for.

My understanding (of that tax thing) would be you can choose to pay the money to a charity or to the government as tax. So your choice becomes whether you get to decide which charity should spend your money, or your state gets to decide. How and Ever, i believe the super-wealthy will go to great lengths to avoid paying this tax, and creating these kinds of loop-holes in the first place. So Donald Trump has his own private charity which can spend money on pieces of art which are then put on display in his golf clubs - as one example i've heard about in the last year. I'm sure there is a huge grey area between the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation, the Clinton Foundation, and Trump's personal charity: https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2016/09/how-donald-trump-exploited-charity-for-personal-gain/499535/

Im still trying to figure out if zmaj is mocking me and attacking my character or if he has a negative opinion of a life lived in the service of others.

I'm mocking you for bragging about your charity.

I mentioned it. Was not bragging.

BTW I love the gas clerk NPC.

But seriously, you "mention" doing good deeds in painful detail and consider yourself a Catholic?

Or is it an elaborate joke? "I mow the lawn for a family of 4 kids whose father abandoned them... oh by the way, I'm the father." If you'd say that, I'd get a job as a gas clerk just to say that was one of the coolest things I'd ever witnessed.

Well theres no need to be deloberately rude about it. I wasnt asking for your praise.