I'll second many of White Courtesy Telephone's comments about the Bush Administration's latest budget shenanigans. Turns out the Bushies are cutting funding for a small schools program, stating in the budget that the availability of funding from the Gates Foundation and other private sources lets it off the hook. WCT makes some astute observations about the "scrimmage between public and private responsibility:"

Foundations that elect to stand firm should, at the very least, help de-funded organizations make the case for restored public dollars and/or help these organizations find new sources of support.  Foundations, in their treatment of grantees, should be setting the example for other funders.  This means making general operating support grants and grants to strengthen nonprofit infrastructure.  It means supporting an organization over several years to help it grow.  It also means never chopping an organization off at the knees by suddenly withdrawing funding.

This is exactly right. Foundations can play a role in ensuring quality organizations don't shut their doors if government funding dries up. I would add, though, that this scrimmage should be played on two fronts. While doing all it can to shore up the long-term prospects of the sector, foundations need to call bullshit on government when calling bullshit is required. The move by the administration to justify cutting funding for programs when private funds are supposedly available is blatantly cynical. It's lazy government. It would be one thing if the administration had negotiated beforehand with the Gates Foundation to fill this funding gap. No chance of that. And where is the criticism from the foundation sector? As has been the case with most of the disasters brought to us by the Bush Administration, it's the sound of silence.