Assigning blame

Trent Stamp is the CEO of Charity Navigator.

He has an interesting blog that asks important questions:
http://www.trentstampstake.org/2007/10/were-all-to-blame-for-this-travesty.html.

Here's what he says about "whose to blame" in the battle against poverty:

Want to know how best to NOT solve a problem? Simple. Wait for someone else to take care of it. Here's Exhibit A in why people in poverty in this country shouldn't expect those with the power and funding to help them anytime soon.

From the September 25, 2007 edition of the Chronicle of Philanthropy, we find out that U.S. lawmakers recently held hearings to announce that foundations need to do a better job of giving funding to people living below the poverty line, especially minorities and those living in rural communities. Some members of Congress even advocated changing the tax code so that only donations to groups that serve the poor were fully tax-deductible. According to our elected leaders, our poor are not being served by foundations and high-end donors who have abandoned them for other causes.

Conversely, large foundations are aligning together to create a special initiative designed to get political leaders, especially those running for president in 2008, "to give priority to issues related to poverty and hunger." The large foundations apparently believe that our poor are not being served by our elected officials, and therefore our taxpayers.

Who's right?

They both are, of course.

In the last few decades, our elected officials, our foundations, our high-end donors, and the taxpayer populace have all expressed that they'd rather have their funding go somewhere else than aiding those who toil in poverty.

And of course, the only way that ever changes is when someone decides to take the lead and fix the problem, rather than pointing an accusatory finger at others. After all, someone once said problems of this size and scope "take a village" to solve.