Weekly Warning Words

     It appears that we are outdoing previous holiday shopping sprees. Some of us also increased their contributions to charitable organizations. This we do with the expectation that most of these moneys will serve the purposes those tax-exempt corporations or associations purport to support. But can we always trust their loud advertising of their pure-hearted claims?

     Some oldsters may remember the two famous Senate investigations which revealed and denounced the gross and thievish practice or intent of some of the largest recipients of hundreds of millions of private welfare funds. In both cases it was the Christian Children's Fund which actually contributed the lowest percentage of their huge intake to the welfare of just a tiny group of the needy. Many of their competition for charity funds also devoted the bulk of receipts to advertising and administration expenses. Nice words to cover up mass thievery.

     It always turns out that the founders, their families, friends and a few pretty women draw enormous salaries from contributing their names or positions to the enormous catch of dollars. Most of all such "charitable contributions" also drop on collection plates of churches and similar religious institutions; because contributors imagine that their contributions pay the entrance fee to Heaven, this is only charitable to their own frame of mind and belief system. Buying peace of mind for sinners, should never make the gift tax exempt. In their own opinion it is a welcome trade-in, a business.

     If the enormous salaries of the true recipients of charity were published, poorer contributors might not be willing to sacrifice more of their meager funds than they can afford. Just remember the Rockefeller, Ford and Mellon charities. Those keep providing their descendants and other heirs with huge yearly incomes as the purported administrators of charities.

     Look also at the Red Cross for guidance. As long as retired generals and admirals were nominally in charge, almost all the huge collections were given to victims of natural and man-made disasters. Mrs. Dole politicized the Red Cross as her trail blazer to a Senate seat. Her salary was climbing beyond the hundred thousands. And she added fantastic cost overruns as needed for her gallivanting all over our country and beyond, collecting friends, future voters and sources of private riches.

     Her successor was a great M. D. who deserved good rewards in the form of a decent salary. Was she not right in suggesting that the richest victims of 9-11 terrorism who had life insurance policies in the millions should not receive another million of Red Cross charitable contribution? Those who fired her because of her sense of fairness and justice may also be those haters who don't allow bedraggled Israel to have its Red Star of David recognized as an official representative of the International Red Cross while they admit every murderous terroristic state to their council.

     It is high time to reduce the highest salaries of directors of all charitable organizations. Anything over $50,000 should be taxed because charity begins at home, the home of a few thousand exploiters of goodwill and love for humanity. Let us legislate selfishness and crookedness out of conventional charity.

Week 15 - Dec 31, 2003 - (Back to the Repertory Theatre) - Uneconomical Economy

December 24, 2003 - WEEK 14

Happy Holidays?

BY DR. BRUNO J. KEITH