Free Republic

"Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world." - James 1:27 The Obama Administration and both houses of the US Congress are fast-tracking a number of programs designed to increase the size of what's commonly known as the Welfare State. And while Christian church leaders and members may wag their fingers at this socialist strategy of "forced charity," we must remember that in order to remove the specks from the eyes of liberal-left politicians, we must first remove the boards...

[Attack on freedom with an ACORN tie-in.] June 12, 2009 – Americans historically are a generous people. Thus it’s shocking to see the National Committee for Responsible Philanthropy undermining the valid foundations of charity in the name of charity. A major report from that organization asserts that “Philanthropy at its Best must serve the public good by contributing to strong, participatory democracy that engages all communities.” It then asserts that any charitable organization that properly promotes this value must do two things: First, “Provide at least 50 percent of its grant dollars to benefit low-income communities, communities of color and...

A Labour minister has sparked controversy by claiming that an alternative symbol is needed for the Red Cross because of the logo's supposed links to the Crusades. Foreign Office minister Chris Bryant said that the historic emblem risked undermining the work of the humanitarian organisation. His intervention came as MPs debated the adoption of the 'red crystal' - a diamond

Tucked away in President Obama's historic speech in Cairo Thursday was a promise to American Muslims to ease the impact of post-9/11 scrutiny of their charities. "Rules on charitable giving have made it harder for Muslims to fulfill their religious obligation. That's why I'm committed to working with American Muslims to ensure that they can fulfill zakat," said Obama, referring to the Muslim obligation to be charitable

Research Highlights Nature 459, 618 (4 June 2009) | doi:10.1038/459618a; Published online 3 June 2009 Animal behaviour: Pretty please Many young animals beg for food from their elders. But, eventually, the pleading stops or the charity dries up. Joah Madden, at the University of Cambridge, UK, and his team looked to find the biological triggers that put an end to begging behaviour by studying free-ranging meerkats (Suricata suricatta) of the Kalahari Desert in South Africa over an 18-month period. The group analysed the begging calls of meerkat pups aged between 40 and 60 days — the peak of their begging...

The thief was wearing a menacing mask and wielding a bat -- but to a Long Island store owner, he was simply a charity case. In an amazing act of compassion and forgiveness, bodega owner Mohammad "Mo" Sohail first disarmed a would-be assailant who came into his Shirley shop -- and then gave him $40 and a loaf of bread. Sohail said his saga -- captured on dramatic, video-surveillance footage -- began at 12:35 a.m. on May 21, when the thug entered his convenience store in Shirley. "Give me your money! Give me your money!" the man started screaming at...

Mohammad Sohail, who owns the Shirley Express, says a bat-wielding man entered the convenience store and demanded money on Thursday, May 21, just after midnight. Sohail responded by pulling out a rifle. The suspect then reportedly dropped to his knees and begged forgiveness, blaming the tough economy for his turn to crime. The Pakistani immigrant, who has been on Long Island for more than 20 years, put down his gun and gave the man $40 and a loaf of bread. "He started crying," Sohail told Newsday. "He was saying, 'I have no money. I have no food. I have no...

A Pepsi Company distribution center that has reportedly given close to 18 tractor trailer loads of its Gatorade product to an emergency relief ministry has now stopped the flow because it has a problem with the organization's name. According to WSET-TV in Lynchburg, Va., the distribution center dropped the donations because God's Pit Crew, which has distributed the Gatorade to people in need following natural disasters, has the word "God" in its name. "We make absolutely no excuses for being a faith-based, a religious-based organization," Randy Johnson, founder and director of God's Pit Crew, told the station. "We don't discriminate;...

In one of the largest sums ever donated to charity by a U.S. public official, Vice President Dick Cheney and his wife Lynne gave away nearly $7 million last year to help the poor and to medical research. According to income tax information released by the White House on Friday, the Cheneys' adjusted gross income in 2005 was $8,819,006. The sum was largely the result of Mr. Cheney's stock options from Halliburton and royalties from three books written by Mrs. Cheney. The Cheneys gave more than three-quarters of their income - $6,869,655 - to several charities, including George Washington University's...

In Who Really Cares: The Surprising Truth About Compassionate Conservatism (Basic Books), Arthur C. Brooks finds that religious conservatives are far more charitable than secular liberals, and that those who support the idea that government should redistribute income are among the least likely to dig into their own wallets to help others. Some of his findings have been touched on elsewhere by other scholars, but Mr. Brooks, a professor of public administration at Syracuse University, breaks new ground in amassing information from 15 sets of data in a slim 184-page book (not including the appendix) that he proudly describes as...

Aram Shishmanian understands the connections that bind people to gold. For 35 years, he has worn a matte gold watch, a graduation present from his father. That sentiment, and a 33-year career as a consultant and business philanthropist, has helped him run the World Gold Council (WGC) in an age when the metal’s appeal is under pressure from a growing array of consumer attractions such as mobile phones and designer handbags. In recent years, gold has lost “some of its aspirational character”, Mr Shishmanian says. He points out that many young consumers in major emerging economies such as China and...

It's a first lady faux pas -- wearing expensive, high-fashion French designer sneakers to a food bank. Michelle Obama wore the sneakers, made by Lanvin, while helping feed the poor at a Washington food bank on Wednesday. The pricetag on the footwear? A cool $540. Keds, they're not. The sneakers, which come in denim and satin, are a favorite of comic Ellen DeGeneres and rapper Kanye West -- and they're "certainly not a reflection of the poor economy," said FOX News' Noelle Watters, host of iMag Style. "She paired the kicks with a much more reasonably priced cardigan from J....

First lady Michelle Obama, center, speaks as Jill Biden, wife of Vice President Joe Biden, left, and President and Chief Executive Officer of Feed America Vicki Escarra, listen as they join congressional spouses and volunteers, bag non-perishable food items at the Capital Area Food Bank, Wednesday, April 29, 2009, in Washington. US first lady Michelle Obama wears pink and grey shoes as she volunteers with Congressional spouses to assemble bags of food to feed 1,000 students who participate in the Food for Kids program, at the Capital Area Foodbank in Washington, April 29, 2009 US first lady Michelle Obama (R)...

When Chelsea Clinton was a student at the Sidwell Friends School, the same school the Obama girls attend, the Clinton family’s involvement with the school’s annual benefit brought in big bucks. In 1996, a round of golf with Bill Clinton went for nearly six figures; This past weekend was the Obamas’ first chance to participate in the Sidwell Friends School Dollars for Scholars benefit, and some families who remember the Clintons’ support are disappointed in the Obamas’ first showing. According to a source with ties to the school, the only items up for bid from the Obamas included a signed...

Over the past three-and-a-half years, I’ve worked to help promote the cause of disabled children in Iraq and their need for suitable pediatric wheelchairs. Throughout this time, various people have stepped in to help raise funds to sponsor 600 children’s ROC wheelchairs and 240 adult Whirlwind Roughrider wheelchairs, the latest of which were distributed in March and April 2009. Chaplain LTC Carl Fisher (great name for a Chaplain!) connected me with CPT Scot Tebo, the Brigade Surgeon for the 3rd Brigade Combat Team of the 4th Infantry Division to distribute 200 of the Roughriders in Baghdad’s Sadr City area. Upon...

Thrift-driven Americans are fixing up, making do and reusing so much to cope with the recession that the drop in throwaways means less fill for landfills. To deal with the drop-off in dropoffs, landfills are laying off workers, reducing hours of operation and hiking disposal fees, with the increases passed along to cities, businesses and consumers. "You can look at waste and see what the economy is doing," said Tom Houck, manager at the Defiance County Landfill in northwest Ohio. He's watched the amount of trash arriving at the landfill plunge 30 percent in the past year. With consumers cutting...

NEW YORK – Trustees of real estate baroness Leona Helmsley's estate say they're giving $136 million to charity — with just $1 million going to the dogs. Helmsley's estate announced 53 charitable grants Tuesday, the bulk of which went to New York City hospitals and medical research. The largest grant, $40 million, went to a digestive diseases center at New York-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center, while $35 million went to start two research facilities in Helmsley's name at Mount Sinai Medical Center. The estate for Helmsley — who died in 2007 at age 87 — divided $1 million equally to 10...

Yesterday, Barack Obama and Joe Biden released their tax returns for 2008. While Barack Obama donated a respectable 6.5% of his adjusted gross income to charity, totaling over $170,000, Joe Biden continued his parsimonious tradition. Biden donated a mere $1885 to charity on an AGI of almost $270,000, or about 0.69%: The White House on Wednesday also released the tax return for Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. and his wife, Jill. They reported an adjusted gross income of $269,256 and paid $46,952 in federal income taxes. The Bidens also reported donating $1,885 to charity, less than 1 percent of...

Facing hard times, Shriners may close 6 hospitals Buzz Up Send By KATRINA A. GOGGINS, Associated Press Writer Katrina A. Goggins, Associated Press Writer – Thu Apr 9, 7:03 pm ET GREENVILLE, S.C. – Shriners hospitals, which have provided free care since before the Great Depression, are considering closing a quarter of their facilities as donations stagnate, costs increase and the charity's endowment shrivels. The group's director says it's the only viable option. Officials at the Florida-based organization say it is siphoning $1 million a day from its endowment to balance the budget for 22 hospitals in the U.S., Canada...

Pop superstar Madonna has reached out to the victims of the recent earthquake in Italy - donating a substantial sum to the ongoing rescue effort in area where her "ancestors" are from. The country's Abruzzo region was struck by tremors on Monday, killing over 200 people. The town of Pacentro, where Madonna's paternal grandparents lived until 1919, was severely affected by the disaster, prompting the region's mayor to appeal to the singer for help. And Madonna has responded by donating a $500,000 (£345,000) sum to the relief effort, according to People.com. The star says in a statement, "I am happy...

The Washington Post ran a column a few days ago, in which a Mr. Joel Berg applauds the Obama Administration for reducing the amount of charitable deduction that The Rich are allowed to take when they write a check to charity. Mr. Berg – who runs a charitable foundation that feeds the poor — explains things for us thusly:   “…It is wrong to give them [the very rich] unilateral power to decide whether their taxpayer-subsidized donations should go to, say, well-heeled operas or lavish care of pets rather than to organizations that meet more pressing communal needs.” Mr. Berg lists two...

KENOVA, W.Va. (WSAZ) -- If you attend church, chances are you're asked to tithe -- or give 10 percent. But with these tough economic times, many churches are seeing fewer dollars in the collection plate. We took a look at how the economy is affecting some local churches' budgets -- even their outreach services. At Kenova United Methodist Church, members are committed to giving, but nowadays it's a little tough. "We have had a decline in giving, but our congregation gives everything in their power," said Sheila Mosley, a Kenova United Methodist Church member. The church is in the process...

SAN DIEGO -- A South Bay foster mother is accused of stealing more than 11,000 toys from the Toys For Tots program, 10News reported. According to the San Diego County District Attorney's Office, Virginia Kelly stole the toys and sold them for personal gain over several years. Kelly, 73, was arrested on April 1 and charged with grand theft and embezzlement. She faces up to four years in prison if convicted. According to the district attorney's office, Kelly was a foster mother and served as president of the Latino Foster Parents Association. For several years, Kelly accepted donated toys during...

Thune Introduces Amendment to Protect Deduction for Charitable Giving Thune's Effort to Increase Charitable Giving Draws Praise from Charities, Nonprofits April 1st, 2009 - - Washington, D.C. - Senator John Thune has introduced an amendment to the Democrat budget that would fully preserve the federal income tax deduction for charitable giving. President Obama's budget framework proposes reducing the deduction, which would result in less charitable giving nationwide. "Private charities provide essential services to the most vulnerable people in society, especially when times are tough," said Thune. "Congress and the White House should continue to use the tax code to...

Joel Peresman, the head of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, saw his pay go up to $367,823 last year — an increase of 10 percent. At the same time, the Hall of Fame Foundation did almost nothing to help anyone, let alone musicians: it donated $25,000 to a New York City school fund and gave $25,000 to a scholarship fund in Cleveland. There is no line item on its new Form 990 tax federal filing for assistance to indigent musicians. Last year that amount was a whopping $4,183. ...Normally the induction ceremony takes place in New York at...

Liberal columnist E.J. Dionne got it right when he recognized that the charitable deduction question was the most significant moment of the recent presidential press conference. (Now no one can say I never agree with a liberal.) Like so many of President Obama's off-prompter remarks, his answer on charitable deductions exposes him for what he is: an ideologically driven man whose philosophy is based on falsehoods and whose public persona is merely a marketing scheme to acquire the power he really wants. In the press conference, The Politico's Mike Allen asked: "Are you reconsidering your plan to cut the interest...

The Obama Administration’s proposal to restrict the deductions from income taxes for charitable donations is said to have been inspired by research conducted by Arthur Brooks, a professor at Syracuse University, and published in his book Who Really Cares: The Surprising Truth About Compassionate Conservatism. The basic finding of the research is that hard-hearted conservatives donate more to charity than bleeding-heart liberals. “The very fact that so-called conservatives donate more should be enough to raise anyone’s suspicions about the equity of allowing these tax deductions,” said White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel. “I mean, when have these people every...

President Obama's glib assertion that his reduction in tax deductions will not reduce donations is absurd. His pathetic defense at his press conference — that he would still give a $100 dollar check to charity even if he only got $11 less of tax deduction from it was both disingenuous and beside the point. And his comment that his reduced deduction would only impact 1 percent or 2 percent of the nation misses the point that it is these folks who are doing almost half of the donating. In 2006, the most recent year for which data is available, 4...

Charity, giving and helping others are values that have made America great. Those who give more in terms of money and time tend to be happier than those who don’t, writes Arthur Brooks, president of the American Enterprise Institute, in “Who Really Cares: America’s Charity Divide Who Gives, Who Doesn’t and Why it Matters.” The importance of public service has provided the impetus that led to the passage this week of two bills: the Serve America Act in the Senate and the Generations Invigorating Volunteering and Education Act, or GIVE, in the House. Their stated goal: more public service. But...

President Obama's glib assertion that his reduction in tax deductions will not reduce donations is absurd. His pathetic defense at his press conference -- that he would still give a $100 dollar check even if he got $11 less of tax deduction from it was both disingenuous and beside the point. And his comment that his reduced deduction would only affect 1 percent or 2 percent of the nation misses the point that it is these folks who are doing almost half of the donating. In 2006, the most recent year for which data is available, 4 million taxpayers had...

In his 1835 masterpiece, Democracy in America, Alexis de Tocqueville, reported on his observations of the American scene after an extensive tour of the new Republic. One of his most profound insights had to do with the genius of Americans in the formation of institutions that mediate between large, distant government and the solitary, insular individual: Americans of all ages, all conditions, and all dispositions constantly form associations. They have not only commercial and manufacturing companies, in which all take part, but associations of a thousand other kinds, religious, moral serious, futile, general or restricted, enormous or diminutive. The Americans...

Interestingly enough an important amendment brought to the floor today was not in the H.R. 1388 when it passed the Senate today. The first presented by Sen Vitter (LA) wanted to insure that no money be made available to ACORN and its affiliates, on the grounds that it is a organization with possibly suspect behaviour and that including it in the bill would not be able to politicize charitable giving and activities. Saying that the bill doesn’t allow politicized does not necessarily protect the country from ACORN’s “so-called” charitable activities. ACORN has already received considerable funding from the government, for...

E.J. Dionne, a liberal's liberal and often a leading indicator of the liberal line, twists himself into a pretzel defending President Obama's plan to tax charitable deductions. Here is his indictment of the unfairness of it all under the current tax structure (update* - logic taken from President Obama's press conference: Obama's proposal is based on a sound intuition: Do we really believe it's fair that when a married couple with a taxable income of $50,000 gives $1,000 to charity, they get a tax benefit of $150, while a couple earning $1 million making exactly the same contribution gets back...

It is another sound good piece of legislation. H.R. 1388 has a creative title; The Generations Invigorating Volunteerism and Education (GIVE) Act. 321 representatives of the people voted approval for this legislation which, among many other things, strikes a blow to the rights of people to mount any protests against legislation. Listen closely, it outlaws the right to mount protests against proposed legislation.

NOTE: Photos included. PHOTO CAPTION: "Investigation: Faisal Mostafa, pictured in 2002, is facing allegations that his orphanage was in fact an arms factory and terrorist training camp" SNIPPET: "A British charity worker twice cleared of terror charges in this country is being hunted in Bangladesh after explosives were seized at an orphanage he founded. Security forces there claimed last night that the orphanage set up by Dr Faisal Mostafa, from Stockport, was in fact an arms factory and terrorist training camp. Mostafa ran Green Crescent, a charity that provided humanitarian aid to families in Bangladesh and Pakistan. Local security forces...

With all the focus and attention on the TARP, the so-called “stimulus” bill, the nationalization of huge chunks of our economy and the various issues economic – lost in the weeds have been a host of destructive “programs” being developed and passed by the Obama-Democrat machine. Right now on the floor of the United States Senate is one of the most disturbing pieces of legislation I have seen in a long time. HR 1388, the “Serve America Act” is cloaked in feel-good rhetoric and supposedly noble goals, but it is nothing more than another Washington power-grab – this time targeted...

My parents taught me to read every word of any contract I signed. Obviously Congress doesn't follow that rule. Already we have Congress' frantic backlash from the AIG bonuses, which were in fact authorized by specific language buried deep in the stimulus bill that gave AIG its handout. Now we have more dynamite buried in the GIVE Act (H.R. 1388), already passed in a whirlwind by the House and being fast-tracked in the Senate. The GIVE Act reauthorizes the National and Community Service Act of 1990 and the Domestic Volunteer Service Act of 1973, and also includes many more new...

The Senate Finance Committee’s top two members — Democrat Max Baucus and Republican Charles E. Grassley — teamed up today to introduce legislation that would provide money to help small and medium-sized charities get training and management assistance. The legislation, introduced as an amendment to a national-service bill now being debated by the Senate, would provide $25-million over five years to a “Nonprofit Capacity Building Program” within the Corporation for National and Community Service. The amendment would “strengthen small charities around our country, especially where resources are scarce,” Senator Baucus of Montana, who chairs the finance committee, told his colleagues...

One day in the House of Representatives, a bill was taken up appropriating money for the benefit of a widow of a distinguished naval officer. Several beautiful speeches had been made in its support. The Speaker was just about to put the question when Crockett arose: “Mr. Speaker--I have as much respect for the memory of the deceased, and as much sympathy for the sufferings of the living, if suffering there be, as any man in this House, but we must not permit our respect for the dead or our sympathy for a part of the living to lead us...

Federal agents allege a Chicago couple posing as Kenyan refugees whose lives were in danger scammed more than $800,000 from an order of Carmelite nuns in Wisconsin, the Chicago Tribune reported Thursday. An FBI affidavit filed in Milwaukee also alleges that Angela Purity Martin-Mulu, 35, and Edward Bosire, 39, took almost $20,000 from a Carmelite monastery in Des Plaines, the newspaper reported. According to the Tribune, the couple posed as brother and sister and took meals, gasoline, cash and aid from the nuns.

(Video on site)From Realclearpolitics: Sixteen months ago, Arthur C. Brooks, a professor at Syracuse University, published "Who Really Cares: The Surprising Truth About Compassionate Conservatism." The surprise is that liberals are markedly less charitable than conservatives. If many conservatives are liberals who have been mugged by reality, Brooks, a registered independent, is, as a reviewer of his book said, a social scientist who has been mugged by data. They include these findings: -- Although liberal families' incomes average 6 percent higher than those of conservative families, conservative-headed households give, on average, 30 percent more to charity than the average liberal-headed...

ELKHART, Ind. - In this job-starved city where President Barack Obama last month made a public appeal for his economic stimulus plan, hundreds of volunteers — and an agency that specializes in handing out food — worked together Tuesday to feed 5,200 hungry families. Roughly 300 local volunteers worked with Feed the Children to distribute more than $2.1 million worth of food at Concord Mall as part of the nonprofit relief organization’s “Feeding Americans Emergency Caravan.” The caravan of semi-trailers is visiting small cities and towns across America hit hard by the economic crisis. No area in Indiana has been...

ARE 'HOPE' AND 'CHANGE' STILL TAX-DEDUCTIBLE?March 11, 2009Are you sitting down? Obama plans to pay for his $3.6 trillion-dollar spending bill by raising taxes on "the rich." I know, I know ... I was pretty shocked, too. The bad news is, by hiking taxes in a recession, Obama will turn a disaster into a catastrophe. But there's good news, too. The "rich" include most of Obama's biggest supporters! While liberals love being praised for their looks, their style, their brilliance and their courage, the one quality they don't want talked about is their money. To the contrary, Democrats are constantly...

They're grrrreat! Michael Phelps: Olympic Record Breaker View SlideshowMichael Phelps broke a 36-year-old record for most Olympic gold medals. Now he's apparently been caught smoking a bong. A month after Kelloggs dropped Olympic champion Michael Phelps' endorsement contract, a California food bank has gotten a sudden windfall: two tons of Frosted Flakes and Corn Flakes with the gold medal winner on the box. The boxes, featuring Phelps flashing his pearly whites, flew off the shelves at the San Francisco Food Bank and employees even kept a few as souvenirs, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.

Abstract Background Previous cross-sectional study showed altruistic behaviors were harmful on major depression (MD). It is needed to investigate the impact of altruistic behaviors by its contents on the development of MD prospectively. Methodology/Principal Findings The National Survey of Midlife Development in the United States (MIDUS) in 1995–1996 and the MIDUS Psychological Experience Follow-Up study in 1998 were analyzed (weighted N = 563). Financial support of 10 or more dollars per month had a significant impact on the development of MD in comparison to no financial support (OR: 2.64, 95% CI: 1.05–6.62). Unpaid assistance and providing emotional support were not...

A Bay Area officer of the scandal-clouded Service Employees International Union has collected double salaries, one as a city transit worker and the other from a charity that receives much of its funding from the labor organization and corporate interests, records show. In addition, the nonprofit paid more than $16,000 in rent for the officer's home in 2007, the most recent year for which the charity's tax return is available, according to his son, who is also on the charity's payroll. James Bryant, who earned just under $68,000 as a transit station agent in 2007, received about $117,000 that year...

ELKHART, Ind.: Hundreds of cars lined up in economically distressed Elkhart on Tuesday to receive food and other items from 13 semitrailers sent by a charity. The trucks carried more than $2.1 million worth of food, enough to help sustain about 5,200 families for a week. Elkhart, with an unemployment rate of 18.3 percent, was recently visited by President Barack Obama trying to muster public support for economic stimulus legislation. The line wrapped around a shopping mall parking lot and onto surrounding roads. Layoffs in the recreational vehicle industry have driven much of the job loss in northern Indiana. The...

Among those shocked by President Obama's 2010 budget, the most surprising are the true-blue liberals who run most of America's nonprofits, universities and charities. How dare he limit tax deductions for charitable giving! They're afraid they'll get fewer donations, but they should be more concerned that Mr. Obama's policies will shove them aside in favor of the New Charity State. What did these nonprofit liberals expect, anyway? Mr. Obama is proposing a vast expansion of the entitlement state, and he has to find some way to pay for it. So logically enough, one of his ideas for funding public welfare...

Funding the good fight is getting harder. With more people out-of-work and less money to spend, this tough economy is forcing charities to take a hit. A new plan from the Obama Administration, aimed at evening out the playing field, could drastically reduce donations even further. The Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation has a mission: to help kids deal with a serious disease. But funding the cause is getting a whole lot tougher. "It's very challenging right now," Katherine Cintron, of the JDRF's Westchester chapter, says. "You know, you keep plugging away – but it's bad." Cintron says many donors have...

Unemployed for a year and with an ailing wife at home, Mike Hammer stepped out of his truck in a Concord strip mall and walked into the heart of one of the most sophisticated private welfare systems in the country. Here, in a plain white box of a building, Hammer and other Mormons come to get groceries - everything from produce to meats, much of which comes from Mormon-owned farms and cattle ranches. Others come for counseling, employment help and a self-canning facility, where observant Mormons can up to a year's worth of food supplies in the event of an...