Merry Christmas.

Now that we got that out of the way (I could have wished you season’s greetings, just to piss off TheDonald, TheRyan, and MitchWhatMeWorry.   But, I’ve never done that.  Because I am wishing you greetings for your holiday.)

But, as long as we are talking about that- it’s not right for you to wish me Merry Christmas.  For the same darned reason why I should wish you Merry Christmas.  But, the three sanctimonious prigs mentioned above fail to see that freedom of religion does not mean I have to worship at YOUR church, nor do you have to worship at mine.  Despite their lack of logic or consideration about that.

Enough of that.  That’s NOT the point of today’s post.

Most of you (yes, even the adult ones of you) are anticipating all sorts of goodies as gifts.  So, I’m hoping I can entice you to engage in the act of giving.

And, I know that the new tax law will make a whole bunch of you out to be Scrooges.  Because most of you will not be able to deduct charitable donations from your income.  The new tax bill was sold to you as a benefit- but they took away your personal exemptions (if you are single, you won out big time; if your family is four or more, you took a hit- the more, the worser.) And, now, it’s a straight $ 12k deduction (the old standard deduction and personal exemption) for single folks, $ 18K for heads of household, and $ 24K for marrieds (with or without any young’uns.)

And, since we are all limited to a $ 10K deduction for the total of our state income tax, any local taxes (including property taxes), and real estate taxes, itemizing is going to be really tough.    Because your mortgage interest is not going to be as high $ 10,000 (unless you have a really old mortgage), because unless you just bought your house (and the maximum mortgage principle that can be deducted in $ 1KK), you won’t be a smidge over that.  So, you need at least $5K in charity to itemize.

Nevertheless, I’m hoping you’re a good guy or gal and will donate anyway.

I will try to keep my suggested list of charities apolitical.  But, to be honest, our charitable choices do reflect our points of view, so there will be no way to avoid some political import to my recommendations.  But, all the charities listed here don’t wast a lot of money on salaries or fundraising- i.e., you get more bang for your buck.

Let’s start with some religious ones. Catholic Charities USA and Mazon.  Both of these groups try to feed the hungry.  Mazon is specifically targeting our homeless vets- the ones typically suffering from PTSD.  You could do much worse by choosing different charities to help fund.

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Now, here’s a newer charity. Evidence Action (of DC) dispenses aid for programs that have scientific data that the approach will work.  For example, they are helping to provide safe drinking water and for deworming children.  Notice that their actions may not only include US citizens in their benefits.

And, for those of you who know we need to increase the chances of achieving the American Dream (which may be way too chimeric right now),  onegoalgraduation.org is among the better choices.  It aims to increase the numbers of low-income children who graduate from college (currently way less than 10% do).   It actually coaches and mentors these at-risk kids to get them on track to succeed.

Of course, there’s also Lawrence O’Donnell’s Kids in Need of Desks.  His programs aim to improve the ability of children in Malawi (and, theoretically other places in Africa) to educate their youth.  I admit I am somewhat less than enthusiastic- but hopeful.  And, that’s mostly because Unicef (which is the agency that handles this for Mr. O’Donnell) has not been extremely even-handed (now, there’s an understatement) in its approach to Israeli and Jewish needs.   It finally let Israel back into the organization- even though the whole Unicef program was founded by a Holocaust survivor. (When I was younger, I was required to help raise funds for Unicef.  The impetus was removed by the time I was around 10- because of Unicef’s outright biases.)

There are plenty of other choices.  For example, where I live in Alexandria, our local high school (T.C. Williams of “Remember the Titans” fame) offers a plethora of scholarship opportunities to local kids.   And, there’s So Others Might Eat (SOME), an interfaith group, to feed and help the poor and homeless of the DC area.

I am sure there are plenty of such local groups where you are.  All desperate for your funds.

You can do as I do and split your money among them- or pick one or two to help make an even bigger difference.

It truly is a gift that keeps on giving.  And, that’s not including the tax benefits you may be able to receive.

The world thanks you.

Oh, and Merry Christmas to y’all!