The Wall Street Journal reports [sub req.] on the lengths to which Bill Daniels went to preserve his intent for his foundation:

On July 29, 1998, two years before he died, cable-TV pioneer Bill Daniels wrote a letter to the board of his charitable foundation. "Remember that I am a conservative and want no money going to liberal causes," read the one-paragraph letter. "The only thing I have in common with liberals is my concern for the homeless, the poor and the downtrodden." Mr. Daniels also left a seven-page articles of incorporation, laying out 11 program areas the charity was to support.

Then there's this little tidbit:

The goal is to, in effect, keep Mr. Daniels alive for later generations of foundation staff who will take over responsibility after the current board members, all of whom knew Mr. Daniels personally, have retired. Mr. Daniels was married four times but had no children of his own.

I presume conservative religious charities -- groups that promote the idea that marriage is between one man and one woman and that sex is for making babies -- can consider themselves ineligible.

Phil points to this piece in the LA Times about a church that offers its congregants the option to donate via an ATM. Just what type of church might do such a thing?

Jeans are welcome at Stevens Creek Community Church, the 1,100-member evangelical congregation Baker founded 19 years ago. Sermons are available as podcasts, and the electric house band has been known to cover Aerosmith's "Dream On." A recent men's fellowship breakfast was devoted to discussing the spiritual wages of lunching at Hooters.

A theological debate for our times.

Robert Reich in the American Prospect:

In 1960, the moguls of America paid a marginal tax of 90 percent on their incomes, which translated into an effective rate -- after all deductions and credits -- of some 50 percent. They also paid hefty taxes on their capital gains. And when they died, their heirs paid estate taxes.

But in 1960, it was also the case that over two-thirds of Americans trusted government to do the right thing all or most of the time, according to survey research.

Now, the moguls pay an effective rate of about 15 percent of their incomes. They don’t pay anything at all if they have clever enough accountants and lawyers to park their loot in tax havens. Their capital gains taxes have been lowered, and their estate taxes are being phased out.

What’s more, they're richer today than ever before in history. The latest release of Forbes Magazine's annual listing of the richest 400 Americans is made up solely of billionaires -- for the first time.

And what of government? Now, according to surveys, two-thirds of Americans don’t trust government to do anything right.

Two more years and we may be batting 1.000.

Dick DeVos is running for Governor of Michigan against Democratic incumbant Jennifer Granholm. Michigan's economy -- dependent as it is on the auto industry -- is in the toilet. It's a tight race. The mainstream Michigan media, however, don't seem all that interested in reporting on Devos's philanthropy, which is surely an indication of where his heart lies. Leave it to the alternative weekly Metro News:

Although DeVos has released a list of 449 charities he's contributed to — including both personal and foundation contributions — when pressed to reveal how they reflect his beliefs, and how those beliefs would affect his agenda as governor, the candidate has remained mum.

For example, regarding the issue of abortion, DeVos has said only that he's "pro-life." When pressed by an AP reporter for the details of that position, DeVos campaign spokesman John Truscott said, "We're not going to get into parsing this a thousand different ways."

Yet DeVos has contributed to the anti-abortion group Right to Life of Michigan Educational Foundation, which opposes abortion even in cases of incest and rape. The Detroit News columnist Laura Berman contacted the group and reportedly was told that to get its endorsement a candidate must be "pro-life with no exception other than the life of the mother."

DeVos received the endorsement. And his foundation gave the group $125,000 from 1996 through 2004.

When the Lansing State Journal editorial board asked the candidate about embryonic stem cell research, he reportedly "wouldn't even venture a viewpoint." And columnist Tim Skubick reported DeVos saying the issue was "very complicated" and declined to take a position.

One of DeVos' beneficiaries, James Dobson, founder of the conservative Christian group Focus on the Family, based in Colorado with affiliates across the country, wasn't nearly so reticent on the subject of embryonic stem cell research.

"You know, the thing that means so much to me here on this issue is that people talk about the potential for good that can come from destroying these little embryos and how we might be able to solve the problem of juvenile diabetes," Dobson said on an August radio broadcast. "There's no indication yet that they're gonna do that, but people say that, or spinal cord injuries or such things. But I have to ask this question: In World War II, the Nazis experimented on human beings in horrible ways in the concentration camps, and I imagine, if you wanted to take the time to read about it, there would have been some discoveries there that benefited mankind."

Dobson's Focus on the Family received $570,000 from the Dick and Betsy DeVos Foundation from 1996 through 2004.

A little philanthropy to help ensure a 12-year-old victim of incest can't get an abortion.