Donations
Posted at 7:38pm on Feb. 19, 2008 Re: NRSC (comments enabled, just because)
By Jeff Emanuel
Adam, that sounds great. However, I wonder if that's just another feel-good scheme that lets some folks wash their hands of the dirty feeling left over from donating to fake-R incumbents and while backfilling that cash imbalance to the rest of the approved slate of candidates with money donated by those who did not earmark their contributions.
That's the way it's done in a lot of places that have optional earmarking of donations. For example, the Combined Federal Campaign, which includes hundreds of charities, takes donations from federal employees every year. Standard donations go to the CFC's general fund, but people who don't want their money going to groups like Amnesty International or the GLBT Boys and Girls Clubs of America can earmark the cash they donate for certain other charities they do believe in.
The catch? Every -- every -- charity that participates in the CFC gets the exact same amount of money from their participation. So, if you earmark your $100 donation to, for example, the Boy Scouts of America, that just means that somebody else's (or a contribution of other people's) non-earmarked contribution will go to the organizations you specifically earmarked your donation to avoid helping fund.
I would not be the least bit surprised if this is how the NRSC's new earmark program will work -- that (in 2006 terms) somebody's $100 earmarked for, say, Rick Santorum would be balanced out by somebody's non-earmarked $100 being used to backfill the allotment for Lincoln Chafee's campaign.
Given their horrible judgment in 2006, the possibility (or "likelihood") of this policy means that folks who still care about that sort of thing might be better off sticking with direct giving, either through their preferred senatorial candidates' websites, or through third-party facilitators like Big Red Tent, RightRoots, or Slatecard.
Posted at 1:30pm on Nov. 12, 2007 Send Them There
Help Send WWII Vets to the WWII Memorial
By Mark I
This morning, ABC’s Good Morning America profiled a heroic organization with an urgent mission for our World War II veterans. Honor Flight is an organization whose mission is to provide free trips to Washington DC for WWII veterans so that they can view this country’s long overdue tribute to their sacrifices. The World War II Memorial on the National Mall is three years old. But, many of the surviving veterans who fought in that war are too old, infirm, or financially unable to travel to Washington themselves to see it. Honor Flight seeks to remove those obstacles for our veterans, and provides them with the experience of a lifetime. You can see the video of the GMA report here.
Honor Flight was founded by retired Air Force Captain Earl Morse. Capt. Morse is a physician’s assistant whose patients include many WWII veterans. He started the organization after it became clear to him that many of his patients, despite their desire to go to Washington, would be unable to do so on their own. The first flight took place in May of 2005 and consisted entirely of six private planes flying veterans to Manassas, Virginia, and then escorting the veterans to Washington for a tour of the memorial.
Today, Honor Flight partners with businesses and community groups to sponsor chartered commercial flights of 40 veterans and 17 sponsors each. World War II Veterans travel free and no donations are accepted from them. The cost of one flight is $10,000.
This Veteran’s Day, please consider making a donation to this very worthwhile organization. Or consider asking your community or church group to raise the funds necessary to sponsor a flight. Our World War II veterans are dying at a rate of 1,200-1,500 per day. After all they have given to this nation, the least any of us can do is help them get to Washington so they can see firsthand the honor and appreciation that the nation has bestowed upon them in the World War II Memorial.
Posted in Donations | Miscellanea | veterans | World War II | World War II Memorial — Comments (5)/ Email this page » / Read More »
