Sunday, May 30, 2010

Gates’ Billion Dollar Leftism, Part Three: Tax Shelter or Philanthropy?

Michelle Horstman

On Rush Limbaugh’s show of May 28th, he spent a great deal of time talking about how the progressive elite use foundations. He was responding to Hillary Clinton’s call for the wealthy to pay more in taxes and be more like Brazil (apparently, our new role model.) Rush suggested that Hillary did not have to worry about paying these taxes herself, as they have a lot of money tucked away in their foundations where they will not be taxed. This is just another problem with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to consider, along with all the other mega foundations, and it’s a pretty big one. Although it would be unfair to accuse them of forming a foundation for financial reasons only, it sure doesn’t hurt. By doing this, you are in essence withholding taxes and seeing that it is spent in the way you want it spent. That sounds like a better gig than the Federal Reserve even has!

My focus in writing this series is to consider the progressive and perhaps even irresponsible areas where huge amounts of foundation money are going, rather than being taxed, and the effects it can have on everyone. Of course, eliminating tax deductions across the board and going with a flat tax would wreak havoc on this scheme, which may be a big reason why you never see any action on a flat or fair tax structure.

I think most would agree that the big foundations are both tax shelters and philanthropic. You have to consider, though, whether you want to continue to allow the progressive elite to divert millions of tax free dollars into their pet causes and candidates, especially in these tough economic times. As we lose more and more control, those in power will gain more and more through increased taxes on the average Joe and control of foundation money. They don’t necessarily have to be elected to run your life.

In Part Four, we’ll take a look at the Gates support for the huge, worldwide microloan scheme.

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