SALON

Monday, Nov 5, 2012 2:00 PM UTC

Romney’s plan to defund the left

Mitt's plan to cap tax deductions for charitable giving strikes at the foundations of the progressive movement

By

Topics: progressive infrastructure, foundations, charities, progressive movement, Progressives, The Left, Philanthropy,

Romney's plan to defund the left(Credit: AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)

Mitt Romney is not big on specifics. He’s got a fairy-tale five-point plan, tax math that doesn’t add up, and who can tell where he stands on foreign policy these days. So when Mitt is willing to get specific … we should all be paying attention.

Romney has proposed trillions in new tax cuts, and so far has only proposed one concrete way to offset that budget-busting cost: Capping itemized tax deductions at $17,000, $25,000 or $50,000 (he’s floated several different numbers).

Let’s ignore, for the moment, that this cap could still hit middle-class families. Let’s skip over the fact that the richest folks will still make out like bandits thanks to the massive rate cuts that Romney proposes. Let’s even pretend that capping deductions would come close to paying for those tax cuts. It’s still an incredibly dangerous proposal.

This cap would be a dagger in the side of foundations, hospitals, nonprofits, museums and community organizations that rely on charitable giving — because most of that giving would no longer be tax deductible. No tax deduction, no big incentive to donate. As Jon Perr aptly puts it, Romney’s plan would “choke off charitable giving.” (And, as he notes, Romney’s estate tax repeal would do even more damage.)

Here’s my take: Romney is fully aware of this fact. It isn’t an unfortunate side effect. It is, in fact, the next step in the conservative strategy to undermine the foundations of the progressive movement.

Where would Romney get such an idea? Go pick up a copy of “The New Leviathan,” the latest book from conservative conspiracy theorist David Horowitz. Foundations and nonprofits, Horowitz argues, represent a shadowy left-wing network of financial power determined to reshape America.

The book is riddled with errors and, no surprise, dramatically overstates his case. For the most part, charitable organizations are devoted to just that — charity. They help sick kids, rebuild communities, get struggling families back on their feet, educate the next generation, provide arts and music, and more. Hundreds of groups have already lined up to protect the charitable tax deduction, and to be clear, they aren’t a partisan political bloc. They’re institutions and organizations committed to selflessly serving our communities and strengthening our nation.

But I don’t think Horowitz much cares about museums and nonprofit hospitals. I think he’s got his eye on the few nonprofits that are key pillars of progressive infrastructure — the think tanks that dream up new ways to tackle our nation’s problems or fight right-wing lies in the media, the centers that train young people who want to serve their communities, and the foundations that fund so much of this work. He’s making the same argument that conservatives already make about unions, casting organizations fighting for everyday Americans as part of some hogwash conspiracy directed by the likes of George Soros.

And we already know where that road leads. We have watched as conservative governors who were elected to solve problems instead set out to destroy their political opponents. We witnessed what happened in Wisconsin, when Gov. Scott Walker’s first priority was not jobs, but stripping collective bargaining rights — but only from the unions that opposed him, not those who supported his candidacy.

Which brings us back to Mitt Romney. Yes, he would make our nation more unequal, chase away allies, tilt the Supreme Court further to the right, and kick our economy back into recession. But anyone who thinks he wouldn’t also target his political opponents is ignoring history. Capping the tax deduction to help pay for tax cuts for the rich was already a bad idea — but the deeper you dig, the worse it sounds.

More Van Jones.

Next Article

Related Stories

More Related Stories

Featured Slide Shows

The week in 10 pics

close X
  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on Facebook
  • Thumbnails
  • Fullscreen
  • 1 of 11
  • Lisa Montgomery embraces her nephew Thursday after a tornado tore apart her home in Cleburne, Texas. The twister killed six people and destroyed entire swaths of the North Texas town.
    Credit: AP/LM Otero

  • Jack McMahon, the defense attorney for abortion doctor Kermit Gosnell, speaks outside the Criminal Justice Center in Philadelphia Tuesday. His client was convicted of killing three babies in his clinic, and will serve multiple life sentences.
    Credit: AP/Matt Rourke

  • A photo taken Monday captures Vice President Joe Biden's response to a Milwaukee second-grader's innovative proposal to end America's epidemic of gun violence. This guy!
    Credit: AP/Jenny Aicher

  • Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., flanked by a grouper-eyed Michele Bachmann, addresses the IRS' admission that it targeted Tea Party groups in advance of the 2012 election. In an op-ed for CNN Thursday, the Kentucky senator slammed the president for his faux outrage.
    Credit: AP/Molly Riley

  • Ousted IRS chief Steven Miller is sworn in on Capitol Hill Friday. Miller testified before the House Ways and Means Committee on the extra scrutiny the agency gave conservative groups applying for tax-exempt status.
    Credit: AP/J. Scott Applewhite

  • Attorney General Eric Holder pauses as he testifies on Capitol Hill before the House Judiciary Committee Wednesday. Holder is under fire, among other things, for the Justice Department's gathering of phone records at the Associated Press.
    Credit: AP/Carolyn Kaster

  • O.J. Simpson sits during an evidentiary hearing at Clark County District Court in Las Vegas, Nev., Thursday. Simpson, who is currently serving a nine-to-33-year sentence in state prison for armed robbery and kidnapping, is using a writ of habeas corpus to seek a new trial.
    Credit: AP/Las Vegas Review-Journal/Jeff Scheid

  • Major Tom to ground control: On Sunday astronaut Chris Hadfield recorded the first music video from space, a cover of David Bowie's "Space Oddity."
    Credit: AP/NASA/Chris Hadfield

  • When it rains it pours. President Barack Obama speaks during a news conference Thursday with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, inexplicably inspiring an #umbrellagate Twitter meme.
    Credit: AP/Jacquelyn Martin

  • A smoke plume rises high above a road block at the intersection of County A and Ross Road east of Solon Springs, Wis., Tuesday. No injuries were reported, but the the wildfire caused evacuations across northwestern Wisconsin.
    Credit: AP/The Duluth News-Tribune/Clint Austin

  • Recent Slide Shows

  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on Facebook
  • Thumbnails
  • Fullscreen
  • 1 of 11

Related Videos

Comments

 2 Comments

Comment Preview

Your name will appear as username

You may use these HTML tags and attributes: <a href=""> <b> <em> <strong> <i> <blockquote>

follow salon

Most Read

Popular on Reddit

links from salon.com

From Around the Web

Presented by Scribol
listener_new_rect The Listener: So long, Sookie Stackhouse

Recommendations