"Nonprofit leaders are reeling from the recent news that President Barack Obama's proposed budget would limit tax deductions on charitable contributions from wealthy Americans. But now the philanthropic world has something else to worry about. Today the National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy (NCRP), a research and advocacy group, will release a report offering 'benchmarks to assess foundation performance.' Its real aim is to push philanthropic organizations into ignoring donor intent and instead giving grants based on political considerations."
The totalitarians in Washington can't bear the idea that other entities besides Uncle Sam might be doling out charity to the needy. The attack on private charity so far has at least three prongs:
1) Cut off their funding by taking away the tax deduction for charitable giving
2) Insinuate the government in their operations through expansion of George Bush's ill-conceived "faith-based initiatives" program. Like profligate banks that have taken TARP money, charities that take part in this program will soon find Washington calling the shots on what the can and can't do, who they can and can't hire, etc.
3) Regulate foundations, so that they have to give in ways acceptable to Washington, and in ways that pay off the Democrats pet interest groups.
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