President Obama’s War on Civil Society

Conn Carroll / August 20, 2009

First came President Barack Obama’s proposal to reduce the tax deductions for charitable contributions. Now Cash for Clunkers, as predicted, is also hurting charities nationwide. USA Today reports:

Charities across the country are concerned that the popular “cash-for-clunkers” program will entice people to junk old cars for credit toward new ones rather than donate them.

“We know there’s going to be a significant impact,” says Chad Iseman, director of the Kidney Cars program for the National Kidney Foundation. Iseman says the foundation gets about 19% of its annual revenue from selling donated cars. The charity said it estimates a 10% to 15% decline because of the federal rebates.

“Really, the only question is to what degree cash-for-clunkers is going to affect our bottom line and our ability to serve our constituents,” says Iseman, who, along with Goodwill CEO Jim Gibbons, met with members of Congress in April to express concern. (more…)