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do something that we think will really matter for people. Dan is the leader and he is such a wonderful human being. I’m thrilled that conservatives have now realized that helping your fellow man and woman to have opportunity and to save their lives is real conservatism. I’m also encouraged that the makeup of those who deliver care to the poor is embraced by liberals and conservatives alike. I happen to be a Christian. None of the great religions in history ever said that you got to have a certain political philosophy to get involved. In fact, every one of the great religions of the world say: all of you are not practicing religion if you don’t help those who have less than what you have. Dan Coats also said something interesting. The mechanical calculation of who’s on welfare and who is not is not the measure of success. I used to have a 100 people but now when I add up the numbers, I have 90. The question is what happened to the 10? It’s not successful if the 10 aren’t going to end up productive. I mean how many people are on the welfare rolls is an indication of how successful our welfare reform is. But what I want to know is: Are they nurturing families? Are they supporting themselves? Are they helping others around them? If I just reclaim one person, what a success. And frankly, folks, that’s what the charitable tax credit SPECIAL EDITION FALL/WINTER 2016
is about. The charitable tax credit is not just to get people to give their money, it’s to also have them go down and visit these organizations and say, what can I do to help, when they believe that going there will make a difference. When you’re at the end of the bench and you don’t think you’re going to get in the game, you don’t practice as hard as when you know you might be called in, in the next minute. And what the charitable tax credit does is to send a signal to Americans that you matter, you count, you can make a difference. You can give back. You can improve. That’s what it’s all about. And, so, first of all, we’re trying to say to the public: it does matter what you think, it does matter what you do. You, in fact, can make a difference and we’re asking you to do it and I will tell you these local community organizations that serve the poor will devise the most creative, unbelievable ways to help people help themselves. Have you ever been to a homeless shelter? This is hard work. This is the stuff of which saints are made. Modern day saints. These people are out there struggling every day and they’re beating their head against a wall trying to serve their fellow man. They don’t know if they’re successful or not. It’s tough, it’s frustrating, it’s difficult. And what this charitable tax credit says to the people who are doing this is, it’s like giving them a shot of adrenalin. It’s like putting a bucket of water on a flower that’s been out in the desert, it’ll bloom, it’ll give people a reason to have AMERICAN OUTLOOK | 13