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Monday, September 19, 2005
Aspen Institute: Charities Will Lose With Bush Budget
Congressional GOP leaders and the administration have, since Katrina hit, made a point of singling out charitable organizations and nonprofits for the important role they play in helping people in need. President Bush, in his address to the nation Sept.15, said, "I ask the American people to continue donating to the Salvation Army, the Red Cross, other good charities and religious congregations in the region." Bush, and other Congressional leaders, however, are undermining the abilities of the charitable sector to effectively provide help by continuing to push forward with budget cuts that harm nonprofits, as well as push for repeal of the estate tax, which would have adverse effects on nonprofits and the charitable sector as well.
Federal budget experts at the Aspen Institute have found in a recent report that FY '06 federal budget proposals reflect a trend of shifting responsibility for a number of social programs from the federal government towards the charitable sector.
In The Nonprofit Sector and the Federal Budget: Fiscal Year 2006 and Beyond, they found that the budget proposed by Congress would cut funding for programs of interest to nonprofit groups by $40 billion between FY '05 and FY '10. The President's budget proposal is even more harmful; it would cut these same programs by $71.5 billion over the time period.
Posted by Becky Lewis
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