Warren Buffet wants Bill Gates to give his money away. Gates was recently panhandling in China to get the billionaires there to donate money. Several new billionaires, inspired by Bill Gates, have pledged to donate much of their fortunes. The US has the most billionaires in the world today by substantial number.
While Obama cut the tax deduction for charity, thus making the level of charitable donations sink here the past two years( recession aided, of course), gate is stepping it up. I find all of this very admirable, except for Obama, who should have raised the charitable deduction in a recession, it made me wonder who benefits from the Gates effort.
The answer, much of the rest of the world. Here’s a breakdown.
Where the Money Goes
$1 billion over 20 years to establish the Gates Millennium Scholarship Program, which will support promising minority students through college and some kinds of graduate school.
$750 million over five years to the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization, which includes the World Health Organization, the Rockefeller Foundation, Unicef, pharmaceutical companies and the World Bank.
$350 million over three years to teachers, administrators, school districts and schools to improve America’s K-12 education, starting in Washington State.
$200 million to the Gates Library Program, which is wiring public libraries in America’s poorest communities in an effort to close the “digital divide.”
$100 million to the Gates Children’s Vaccine Program, which will accelerate delivery of lifesaving vaccines to children in the poorest countries of the world.
$50 million to the Maternal Mortality Reduction Program, run by the Columbia University School of Public Health.
$50 million to the Malaria Vaccine Initiative, to conduct research on promising candidates for a malaria vaccine.
$50 million to an international group called the Alliance for the Prevention of Cervical Cancer.
$50 million to a fund for global polio eradication, led by the World Health Organization, Unicef, Rotary International and the U.N. Foundation.
$40 million to the International Vaccine Institute, a research program based in Seoul, South Korea.
$28 million to Unicef for the elimination of maternal and neonatal tetanus.
$25 million to the Sequella Global Tuberculosis Foundation.
$25 million to the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative, which is creating coalitions of research scientists, pharmaceutical companies and governments in developing countries to look for a safe, effective, widely accessible vaccine against AIDS.
Obama and his progressives(Gates and Buffet, included) dream of global government. Translation, it’s not enough for America to redistribute wealth within America, we must redistribute it to the rest of the world. We must apologize to the world for the success of capitalism. It’s no accident we have the most billionaires, our form of government made that happen. But, the very people who make their huge fortunes here are inclined to give that money abroad.
And the President and his chums want to make the money machine go away, replaced by the Socialist model, while sending our money in the same direction Gates and Buffet want to send theirs.
Unfortunately, there is a difference between a country and two billionaires. They have only children and grand kids to leave money to. Just a few. It’s easy to make them comfortable while giving away billions. A country has a growing population to look after. If you cut the income stream(Socialism), redistribute nationally, then redistribute some more internationally, you soon run out of money.
While it would be nice to see Gates give his money and Buffet’s to needy causes in the country where they made most of their money, it’s their money and they can do as they choose. Obama can give all of his money to Africa, I could care less.
But, when Obama want to give our money in greater amounts Globally, I reject the idea. Or, when he wants to give it to government programs that fail, I reject the idea. And, when he wants to dismantle the machinery that makes us rich, I reject the idea. If President Obama has a guilty conscience about America’s wealth, get some therapy. Let Gates do your work for you.