How to Waste Your Charitable Contributions

Did you know you can make a tax-deductible contribution to help pay off the national debt? According to this Yahoo Finance article, you can!

As for me, I'd rather send my money someplace more responsible....er, efficient...er, better. Donating to the government is like offering a whiskey shot to an alcoholic.

How much do votes cost?

This recent Washington Post column by Dana Milbank summarizes the "many backroom deals that were made to buy, er, secure the 60 votes needed to "invoke cloture" -- the legislative term for cutting off debate and holding a final vote." The bill itself has acquired the nickname "Cash for Cloture", while several of the provisions in the bill have their own nicknames:

Louisiana Purchase
Cornhusker Kickback
U Con
Bayh Off
Gator Aid
Handout Montana

So, how does one calculate the cost of buying these votes to the taxpayer? Is it merely the sum of these provisions, or is it the cost of the entire bill, which likely would not pass without them?

An Agnostic's Thoughts on Tithing

In this article on CNN Living, agnostic A.J. Jacobs makes a case for tithing, "the practice of giving 10 percent of your annual income to the needy."

Interestingly, Jacobs notes: "as I gave away money, I think I might have felt God's pleasure. Which is odd. Because I'm agnostic. I don't know if there's a God or not, but still I felt some higher sense of purpose. It was like a cozy ember that started at the back of my neck and slowly spread its warmth through my skull. I felt like I was doing something I should have done all my life."

This year, and in 2010, whatever your personal convictions, consider "saying thank you to the universe -- or to God or to fate or to whatever you believe in" by giving to charity!