Weird Philanthropy: Donors Give to National Debt

July 26, 2011; Source: abcnew.com | As the debate on the national debt grinds on in our nation’s capital, some individuals have decided that they can do their bit by contributing, however humbly, to the retirement of that debt. Altogether this year people have donated a total of two million to the debt reduction fund housed at the Treasury’s Bureau of Public Debt. McKayla Braden, a spokeswoman for the Bureau, reports that most of the gifts are somewhere in the range of $20 – $30 but that there have been the odd contributions in the six figures.

Braden also reports that the bureau has recently had to buy new calculators because the old ones did not have the capacity to go over ten trillion. We wonder what “metrics” these donors are using to measure the effectiveness of their giving. Especially since the money they donate will go into the general fund. There is something in all of this about the motivation for giving. However, this article reports that Paul Baker, presumably a taxpayer of Elizabeth, Colo., said he absolutely would not consider donating until lawmakers “figure out how to quit spending our money like drunken sailors.” – Ruth McCambridge