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Tax Cut Hurts Communities

Nonprofits are beacons of hope for thousands of San Franciscans. Right here in Chinatown, numerous organizations are serving the most vulnerable populations with innovative programs. Just down the street from us, for example, YMCA’s Jessica Mah coordinates a mentorship program, pairing inner city youth with leaders of the Asian American community. Three blocks to the north, Diane Chin of Chinese for Affirmative Action, is working to empower the disenfranchised through increased political and civic participation. And on Bush Street, On Lok is helping hundreds of mostly limited-English-speaking seniors with low-cost home health care.

It takes a village for programs like these to run. Workers, volunteers, donations. And funding. The work nonprofits do is awesome. They achieve what no individual could, no matter the person’s wealth or power. When the community comes together, the result is larger than the sum of the parts.

Apparently, that’s a lesson President Bush has yet to learn. His $135 trillion tax cut is all about the individual (the wealthy in particular), and nothing about community. Sure, almost “everyone” will gain some extra cash. But no one should be surprised when social programs — and government funding for nonprofits — are cut in order to make the budget work. With Bush’s atrociously expensive missile defense plan just around the corner, it’s clear the priority is augmentation of the military industrial complex, not community building.

When the tax cut is fully phased in over the next decade, the wealthiest 1 percent of the population stand to recoup an average of $3,000 per month. The richest 400 Americans will see a monthly gain of $50,000. And what do the poorest 20 percent get on average per month? $5.40.

Even more damaging is the message that Bush’s tax cut sends out to the public. We are once again entering an era of unchecked greed.

üow is probably a good time for government-dependent nonprofits to rethink their funding strategies. And for all members of our communities to tighten our belts just a little and consider giving more to the agencies and efforts which serve us so well. It’s clear that if we don’t organize ourselves to become more interdependent (and independent of the government), Uncle Sam may not be there to back us up.