Poll Shows Americans Strongly Disagree With Proposed Cuts to Charity Deductions
A national study found that most Americans strongly oppose proposed capping of charity deductions, which are set to be discussed by the House of Representatives at a hearing on Thursday.
"The support for protecting the charitable tax deduction among the American public continues to be exceptionally strong," said Rick Dunham, president and CEO of Dunham and Company, which conducted the survey. "Regardless of household income, education, age, race, or gender, Americans do not want the deduction to be hurt in any way as Congress and the administration debate how best to deal with our national debt crisis."
The nationwide poll found that 61 percent of respondents say that they feel strongly about keeping the current tax reductions, which is up from 56 percent in January 2012. Hispanic people mostly strongly supported the deductions, with 65 percent voting to keep them.
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Only 9 percent strongly disagree and want to see such benefits cut or capped. As to issue of addressing America's national debt, only 20 percent agree that such cuts will be of significant help.
The Dunham and Company study called a sample of 1,000 adults across America, Jan. 10-13, 2013, and has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percent at the 95 percent confidence level.
There is still no agreement on how to tackle the $1.2 trillion debt, with the national debt ceiling about to hit in two weeks. If no solution is proposed, across-the-board spending reductions will automatically be triggered on March 1, hitting a number of industries.
"It's pretty clear to me that the sequester's going to go into effect," said Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Kentucky Republican, according to Bloomberg News.
"It is an eerie similarity here, isn't there, to previous occurrences," McConnell continued. "Take no action, go right up to the deadline, and have an 11th-hour negotiation. Read my lips: I'm not interested in an 11th-hour negotiation."
Dr. Richard D. Land, executive editor of The Christian Post, said that the proposed cuts are "a dagger aimed at the heart of America's charities."
"All Americans concerned about the enormous danger that would be done by such a reckless and short-sighted policy should take time from their holiday activities to contact their elected representatives in Washington and tell them to cease and desist from such malignant foolishness," Land wrote back in December.
Land proposed that loopholes and extravagant personal deductions should certainly be reduced in America's "irredeemably broken" tax system, but insisted that charitable deductions raise more money for both religious and nonreligious charities, which are greatly needed.
