Press Releases

WASHINGTON ­­­­- In response to the domestic component of President Bush's State of the Union address last night, the following is the statement of Rick Cohen, executive director of the National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy (NCRP) - a philanthropic research and accountability organization promoting more effective grantmaking for disadvantaged Americans:

The president's economic plan overwhelmingly favors former Enron executives over everyday American taxpayers - and in the process it threatens to harm our nation's nonprofits while demanding that they assume the public responsibility that the administration is shirking. The president cannot forever defend America's charities with his words while defunding them with his actions.  We are concerned that the president's economic plan will increase human need in America while simultaneously decreasing our nation's capacity to meet that need.

Taken as a whole and coupled with the effects of his previous budgets, we see cuts in federal assistance, a lack of help for states and cities facing their worst budget crises since World War II, a tax plan that may well reduce charitable giving incentives for wealthy Americans - all while neglecting the urgent need to stimulate our nation's economy now and offer fair tax cuts for average Americans.  The president's plan threatens funding for nonprofit organizations while increasing the public need for their services. In short, the president's plan is cause for grave concern in the philanthropic and nonprofit community, which will be forced to bear a burden far beyond philanthropy's reach and resources.

There is a better way.  We hope that Republicans and Democrats in Congress will reach across party lines to advance a more sensible agenda. Congress and the White House should unite to put the interests of average Americans over the special interests of a privileged few. We have seen enough of what happens to our economy when Washington politicians engage in top-down class warfare that doles out special windfalls to the super-wealthy while leaving the rest of the country out in the cold.  What we need instead are fair tax cuts offering relief for all Americans, and a stimulus aimed at kick-starting our ailing economy now.