Ted Rall wrote [Charities are for suckers](http://news.yahoo.com/s/ucru/20050914/cm_ucru/charitiesareforsuckers), with the basic argument that the federal government is shirking it's duty in disaster relief because charities exist, and people are giving to the charities. He goes on to say that when you give to a charity you are casting a vote for the government to go on being irresponsible. I think all of this is pretty stupid, and ordinarily wouldn't comment, however it gets interesting when he torpedoes his own argument in the middle. > In the final analysis, after the floodwaters have receded and the poor neighborhoods of New Orleans have been razed under eminent domain, major charities will be lucky if they've managed to raise one percent of the total cost of Katrina. Congress, recognizing the reality that only the federal government possesses the means to deal with the calamity, has already allocated $58 billion--over 70 times the amount raised by charities--to flood relief along the Gulf of Mexico. As Bush says, that's only a "down payment." > > Cutting a check to the Red Cross isn't just a vote for irresponsible government. It's a drop in the bucket compared to what you'll end up paying for Katrina in increased taxes.
So, to clarify, he thinks the federal government should foot the bill for fixing Katrina. He also thinks giving to charities allows the government to abdicate this duty. Then somehow he also thinks that the fact that the federal government has earmarked 7000% the amount private charities have raised to help recover from Katrina is also bad because it'll raise taxes.
He could have saved everyone a lot of trouble if he just wrote "Everything Republicans do is bad." Okay, Ted, let me appologize to you on behalf of everyone else that you have to pay taxes, and people are going to ask you to donate to charity also. Any other inconveniences you would like me to atone for? Doesn't it suck that sugar tastes so good, but has so many calories. It would be awesome if the federal government would fix that for free too.