“A substantial body of economic research shows that, on average, each 10 percent reduction in the cost of giving raises the amount that a person gives by about 10 percent. ”

Without expressly claiming studies supporting the corollary, he goes on to illustrate that a 10% increase in cost will conversely lower donations. Ironically, his explanation better makes the case for adopting the Obama proposal rather than for defeating it. He points out that the effect of the change from 35% to 28% is a 10.8% increase in the cost of giving. Accordingly, he suggests a donor of $10,000 might reduce his donation to $9,000 or 10%. As a result, the giver would pay $980 more dollars in taxes but save the $1,000 in donation–leaving him ahead $20. He says that:

“This is a hypothetical example, but the responsiveness of giving and tax revenue reflects the evidence regarding how people respond to changes in tax rates.”

Seriously?! To someone who can afford to give $10,000 to charity, the person would short his favorite charity $1,000 so he can have an extra $20 in his pocket?  While giving the government $980 instead? This is a slap upside the head duh moment in the sensibility of economic theory. Having made this abundantly clear, I think Martin Feldstein eloquently has affirmed President Obama’s conclusion that this proposal should have little effect on charitable donations and a positive effect on tax revenues. Without this explanation, there might have been some foolish people out there who were actually opposed to the proposal.

For those of you in what seems a solid financial footing today, give thanks this Thursday for your good fortune. For those of you who are not in such a happy place, make the causes you need to make to create a better fortune–it will come. You don’t have to practice Buddhism to create wealth or financial security, but I can assure it will help.

Vedantam notes that while a passionate abolitionist, woman’s suffragist Elizabeth Cady Stanton opposed the 14th and 15th Amendments (among other things, giving blacks the right to vote) following the Civil War. Later, when the 19th Amendment (giving women the right to vote) came up for a vote in 1920, black issues were off the table in order to assure passage. The article goes on to point out that rather than looking at who has been more unfairly disadvantaged, it may be more fruitful to note who has been more unfairly advantaged. From there, the issue becomes unfairness itself. To that end, those who have been disadvantaged can stop focusing on what has been done to them and on ensuring fairness to all. For me, as a Buddhist, the point is fundamentally clear. Whatever advantages or disadvantages I enjoy or suffer come as a result of my own doing–my karma. I can transcend them not so much by ignoring them but by taking full credit or blame for them rather than looking elsewhere. I, a white man, have been married for nearly 28 years to a black woman. In travels throughout America she and I have never been the subject of mistreatment on account of race. How is that possible? Only through the human revolution that the practice of Buddhism enables us to do.

So when it comes to the 2008 presidential election, I hope all Democrats can rise above petty disagreements over who was more unfairly advantaged or disadvantaged in the selection process to be the party nominee and focus on the decidely more important issue of ending the era of Bush Republicanism. If you want to look at unfairness, there is eight years of it to examine during Dubya’s reign.

The end of one and the beginning of another year is not simply an interval marker, it’s an opportunity to congratulate ourselves on what we accomplished in the past year and redetermine to succeed at whatever objectives that we didn’t quite achieve. I got the big one done in 2007–the book published. I didn’t really try to get on Oprah to promote it (are you reading this Oprah? I will be contacting you soon). I will be doing that in 2008.

The new year is also the time to make fresh new determinations. So here it is, along with getting on Oprah: Waiting for Westmoreland will become a best seller in 2008, with over 150,000 copies sold. So get on the bandwagon now; be recognized as one of the wise, early adopters. Already read it? Tell your friends.