I seldon question the judgement of billionaires who give billions of dollars to charity....
Why is that?
Does their money make you lose your critical faculties?
Their foundation is a tax dodge and it does not give billions to charity.
Gates puts about 20 billion into a charitable trust after selling stock. His cash contribution is non-taxable. If he took it personally he would pay 15% to 30% capital gains. So by putting it into a charitable trust he pays 0% tax. He then takes out a billion dollar life insurance policy on himself and family members that are important to the foundation. He then further takes out a near zero interest loan against his insurance policy. He uses the billion dollar loan as tax free money for anything he wants including private equity investments that yield huge risk free returns.
In sum, he’s not a philanthropist, he’s a tax dodger and why shouldn’t he be? The problem is not that the super wealthy have better tax options, it’s that the middle class and the upper middle class get hammered by taxes and have few options to save and grow their savings and investments. The FairTax would cure this iniquity in an inspired American sort of way.
The Gates Foundation is required by the IRS to distribute 3% of their endowment each year; 3% of 20 billion is 600 million which is substantial but not billions. But still it’s something. But most of the 600 million goes to global efforts outside the USA. Locals here in Seattle resent the fact that the Gates Foundation does nothing for locals and their children and sends grants to activities outside the USA. It’s as if the tax laws are written to benefit the super wealthy and cripple normal middle class and upper middle class Americans.