another Republican scam at our expense

Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt on Friday defended his family's charitable giving, as two senators called for tighter regulation of private foundations.

The Washington Post reported Friday that Leavitt and his relatives have claimed million of dollars in tax deductions through a charitable foundation that until recently paid out little in actual charity

The Post reported that the Leavitt family, along with the other tax breaks recently passed for the wealthy, used nearly $9 million in assets to set up a charitable foundation in 2000. But unlike standard private foundations, it is not required to give away at least 5% of assets to charitable causes.

While Mike Leavitt alone has claimed about $1.2 million in tax write-offs since 2000, the foundation gave away only $49,000 in 2002 and $52,000 the next year, the Post reported.

Working families should be disturbed by these types of stories that keep appearing in the papers about wealthy people who take a big charitable deduction to get a significant tax break, yet retain control of the funds, benefit from that control, and little to nothing actually goes to real charities doing important work.

"They're basically sitting on all this money, getting a charitable write-off and doing nothing with it," said Rick Cohen, executive director of the National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy. Cohen reviewed the foundation's records and tax returns at the Post's request. Another Republican scam.