In case you haven’t noticed…elections have consequences.
The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities provides important information about the federal budget and, given the decimation of government we are reading about every day, it is worth noting some topline figures on what public investments and services the fiscal year 2024 budget, which totals $6.9 trillion, paid for (all rounded):
- Health Care Coverage: Total ($1.7 trillion, 24%) including mostly a) Medicare ($900billion), providing health coverage for 67 million people age 65 or older or have disabilities; and b) Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Program ($600 billion), providing benefits to over 90 million people;
- Social Security ($1.5 trillion, 21%), providing benefits to more than 68 million retired workers, spouses and children of retired and deceased workers, and disabled workers and their eligible dependents;
- Economic security ($500 billion,7%), programs for individuals and families facing hardship such as the EITC, CTC, unemployment insurance, SSI, and SNAP;
- Other non-defense discretionary spending ($1.5 trillion, 22%), including veteran and federal employee benefits, infrastructure, education, research, and law enforcement;
- Defense ($900 billion, 13%); and
- Interest on debt ($900 billion, 13%).
What and where exactly are the co-Presidents planning to cut in order to pay for trillions in tax giveaways to the ultra-rich?! It is somewhat painful to be reminded of Presidents with a different world view. In 1937 Franklin Delano Roosevelt said: “The test of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much; it is whether we provide enough for those who have too little.” What did Trump say: Make America Greedy Again?
Philanthropists should take note of the old proverb, as many spend their resources trying to fill the gaps left by budget cuts rather than allocating sufficient funds to provide people with the resources to manage long-term: “Give a person a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a person to fish and you feed that person for a lifetime.” And along these lines, had we philanthropists invested in democracy early on–providing eligible citizens with the reason to vote, and the right to vote and have it counted–we might not now be stuck filling gaps in basic human needs. It is estimated that close to 90 million eligible citizens did not vote in the last election!
But here we are, in crisis, actually multiple crises. Fortunately, quite a number of organizations are coalescing to address it, such as Democracy Forward, Public Citizen, Government Accountability Project, Partnership for Public Service, Indivisible, MoveOn, and many others.
With the will and strategic coordination, private foundations have the resources to fund both the resistance and a small amount of the coming domestic spending gaps. Philanthropy simply cannot replace government in providing critical public investments and services. Private foundation assets grew to nearly $1.6 trillion in 2024, an increase of $120 billion even after distributing just over $100 billion. In other words, these foundations could give an additional $100-billion-plus to nonprofits and still have more money at the end of the year than they had at the beginning. Especially in this time of crisis, there’s just no excuse for not stepping up to the plate and meeting the Crisis Charitable Commitment of distributing 10% of the private foundation’s assets.
And what about the ultra-rich donors? There are approximately 150,000 households that each have at least $50 million dollars, and their combined wealth is in excess of $30 trillion! Surely, $50 million is enough to live exceedingly well. Particularly given the public investments and the rigged rules that allowed them to accumulate such excessive wealth, these folks should advocate for, not against, paying what they owe toward the common good. Until that happens, they should take a leadership role in addressing today’s crisis with a significant increase in charitable giving.
Unsurprisingly, Elon Musk doesn’t even meet this low bar. Two months ago the New York Times reported that Musk’s private foundation has repeatedly failed to give to charity even the 5% minimum required by law. I was reminded of an article in Psychology Today, “Small Acts of Generous Behavior Can Make Your Brain Happier.” Musk must have read the headline incorrectly, putting the emphasis on the “small.” And this is the guy who plans to put a chip in everyone’s brain?!
Fortunately, there are signs that people are getting fed up being ruled by the billionaire class. Heather Cox Richardson, citing an example, wrote: “In an eastern Oregon district that Trump won by 68%, constituents shouted at Representative Cliff Bentz: “tax Elon,” “tax the wealthy,” “tax the rich,” and “tax the billionaires.”
And if things go according to plan, you’ll be receiving this letter just as a new campaign I work with, TGB (short for Tax the Greedy Billionaires or Tax the Greedy Bastards, depending on your level of anger) will be holding a press conference to launch an effort to not only reject the proposed tax cuts for the ultra-rich but increase taxes on the excessively wealthy and thereby reduce the harms that concentrated wealth and power have on our society. You can learn more and sign up to receive updates at the TGB website that is going live today – www.taxgreed.org.