{"id":5112,"date":"2026-07-28T16:37:48","date_gmt":"2026-07-28T16:37:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/propertyrelocationusa.com\/?p=5112"},"modified":"2026-07-28T16:37:48","modified_gmt":"2026-07-28T16:37:48","slug":"this-lie-is-forcing-americans-to-thank-the-very-thieves-robbing-them-blind","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/propertyrelocationusa.com\/?p=5112","title":{"rendered":"This lie is forcing Americans to thank the very thieves robbing them blind"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Friends,<\/p>\n

I want to start today with a warning about \u201ccharitable giving\u201d and end with a primer on wealth inequality. The two are closely related, as I\u2019ll explain.<\/p>\n

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We\u2019re on the cusp of the biggest gusher of \u201ccharitable giving\u201d in history. Beware.<\/p>\n

We tend to think of \u201ccharitable giving\u201d as unambiguously good because we equate \u201ccharities\u201d with organizations that help the poor and equate \u201cgiving\u201d with generosity. But both assumptions are wrong.<\/strong><\/p>\n

In fact, the \u201cgiving\u201d is actually a giant tax loophole that provides the super-rich a means of dramatically cutting their tax bills while quietly funding their own priorities.<\/p>\n

And \u201ccharities\u201d under the tax code include elite universities, fancy opera houses, cultural palaces frequented only by the richest of the rich, and nonprofit \u201cthink tanks\u201d devoted to right-wing causes.<\/p>\n

The problem is that every dollar of \u201ccharitable giving\u201d means substantially fewer dollars paid in taxes, because donors deduct their \u201ccharitable giving\u201d from their taxable incomes. This tax loophole is especially big and lucrative for the super-rich.<\/p>\n

According to the Institute for Policy Studies, up to 74 cents of every dollar<\/u> donated to charity would have been paid<\/em><\/em> as taxes. In 2022 alone, charitable giving resulted in $73 billion in lost tax revenue<\/u>.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s the thing. Taxes<\/em><\/em> finance public goods such as public education, scientific research, roads and bridges, nutrition and healthcare for lower-income Americans, and clean water and clean air.<\/p>\n

But the \u201ccharitable\u201d tax deduction<\/em><\/em> taken by the super-rich finances things that the super-rich want, such as Ivy League universities and culture palaces.<\/p>\n

This means a lot of \u201ccharitable giving\u201d results in more<\/em><\/em> money for organizations that cater to or do the bidding of the rich, and less<\/em><\/em> for things we all need. Behind the facade of \u201ccharitable giving\u201d is a profoundly anti-democratic tax loophole that allows the super-wealthy to effectively substitute their <\/em><\/em>priorities for what would otherwise be public<\/em><\/em> priorities.<\/p>\n

Which brings me to the upcoming gusher of \u201ccharitable giving\u201d \u2014 the consequence of the AI boom and the largest IPOs in history.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Thousands of people with shares of Anthropic, OpenAI, SpaceX, and other AI-related companies have seen, or soon will see, the value of their shares soar into the stratosphere. That means gigantic capital gains.<\/p>\n

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You don\u2019t need a degree in high finance to understand that these capital gains could also result in big tax payments. If you sell, say, $10 million worth of stock, you could easily face a tax bill exceeding $3.5 million.<\/p>\n

Unless <\/em><\/em>you reduce that tax bill through your \u201ccharitable giving.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hence, the upcoming gusher in charitable giving. According to some estimates, it could be more than $100 billion a year.<\/em><\/em><\/p>\n

Consider: The seven founders of Anthropic, which is expected to have an enormous IPO as soon as this fall, have each pledged to give away 80 percent of their wealth, which is estimated to be about $90 billion. Anthropic also has a philanthropic matching program, which would mean another $60 billion in funds earmarked for giving. Nan Ransohoff, who heads public goods at the payment processor Stripe, estimates<\/u> that these will generate between $37 billion and $100 billion to charities annually.<\/em><\/em><\/p>\n

Add in the newly rich created by SpaceX, whose IPO has spawned an estimated 4,400 millionaires<\/u> (and some 400 employees now worth more than $100 million), as well as OpenAI\u2019s IPO, which is likely to create as many more millionaires and multimillionaires, and you\u2019re talking really big money \u2014 and huge incentives for making tax-deductible \u201ccharitable contributions.\u201d<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t get me wrong. I consider the nonprofit sector of the economy enormously important. I just don\u2019t want the nation\u2019s priorities to be set by the moneyed interests. Their massive political donations already give them extraordinary power.<\/p>\n

One reform would be to limit the definition of \u201ccharities\u201d <\/strong>\u2014 that is, the sort of contributions that warrant tax deductions \u2014 to places and institutions that actually <\/em><\/em>serve the poor.<\/p>\n

Another reform would be to reduce the tax deduction for \u201ccharitable contributions\u201d and increase the capital gains tax rate on very high incomes.<\/strong> (At the very least, raise the capital gains tax rate to match the tax rate on ordinary income.)<\/p>\n

And by all means let\u2019s get rid of the \u201cstepped-up-basis-at-death\u201d tax rule,<\/strong> which now allows families to escape all capital gains by leaving appreciated assets to their heirs. For example, consider someone who got OpenAI stock for almost nothing and watched its value explode, and then contributed enough of it to charity to allow her to make a nice living off it without paying any capital gains taxes. She gave the remaining shares to her children when she died. The kids can then sell those shares for what they\u2019re worth at the time of her death \u2014 say, hundreds of millions of dollars \u2014 yet pay zero capital gains on it.<\/p>\n

These three reforms are, or should be, no-brainers. There\u2019s simply no economic or political justification for allowing the super-rich \u2014 even the nouveau AI riche<\/em><\/em> \u2014 to get giant tax breaks by financing things they prioritize.<\/p>\n

Granted, reforms like these don\u2019t stand a chance under Trump or his lapdogs in Congress. (And, sad to say, too many Democrats are also dependent on campaign donations from the moneyed interests.) But these are high on my list for what must be done.<\/p>\n

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