CHARITABLE DONATIONS DRYING UP

Dear Charitable Organization:

I am in receipt of your recent request for a donation to your cause. I sincerely regret that, due to circumstances beyond my control, I am unable to give to your most worthy cause.

The current administration has made it abundantly clear that it intends to eliminate income-tax deductions for charitable donations given.

I have two sons who work for companies that have had to cut back on their hours; neither one of those companies will benefit from proposed stimulus plans. As a result, they have both turned to me for financial assistance.

The biggest share of my retirement income was from stock investments. Not only has the value of the stock gone dramatically down, but dividends have been cut to almost nothing. I am managing, somehow, to squeeze by on my social security income, and none of retired Americans know how long that is going to last. However long that might be, I fear that the prospect of its value decreasing due to inflation resulting from the government’s resumption of printing more money… is very real.

Finally, since the government is printing more money, maybe your organization can find some way to get your hands on some of it.

Thank you for thinking of me.