Why would the president of hope strike at people trying to help their fellow Americans? The president has proposed reducing deductions for donations by Americans making over $250,000 to help fund cradle to grave government care. By doing this the president reduces the amount of non-government help available to people in need. With less private charity people, taught by the school system that government is the panacea for all their ills, will clamor for more government help and demand an expansion of the nanny state. With government provided education, retirement and healthcare we become little more than wards of the state.

As expected, liberals claim this should have no negative effects on giving by saying that people who will give should do so regardless of tax ramifications. Interestingly liberals are always telling us what we should do, while reminding us to pay no attention to what they do. Few if any give to a charity because of the tax write off. They give because they believe in the charity. The tax deduction helps to make the donation more affordable. By reducing the amount deducted the donation is more expensive because the philanthropist giving the money must also pay taxes on the money they no longer have. Since the organizations in question do not pay taxes, this is a round-about tax on them by manipulating the deduction available to their donors. With this budget Barack Obama is dipping the government hand into the pocket of the poorest Americans—taking a bigger cut of money meant for them.