# Simply Giving Money to the US Government. **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [November 17, 2018, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simply-giving-money-to-the-us-government/824707 "2018-11-17T22:12:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![iamthewalrus\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/258eb7/32.png) [@iamthewalrus\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamthewalrus_3)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2018, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simply-giving-money-to-the-us-government/824707/21 "2018-11-27T22:45:32Z")
> [@Jim\_B](#): > > e me a wild idea (I assume GD is the right forum for this:)). Why isn’t it possible for someone to make a donation (if you will) to the US government or even some state government? > > You could even earmark it for whatever social services you want, like Medicare or Medicaid for example. > > My question: Is this already possible (I know there is a department just for people to donate money if they have a twinge of conscience for something–seriously)? And if it isn’t, should it be? It is definitely already possible. Here’s [the instructions for donating to the Federal Government](https://www.treasurydirect.gov/govt/resources/faq/faq_publicdebt.htm#DebtFinance). They apparently get [around $40,000 a month](https://www.treasurydirect.gov/govt/reports/pd/gift/gift_2018.htm), so I’d be surprised if other states haven’t tried to get in on that action. Looks like you can also [Donate to Social Security](https://www.ssa.gov/agency/donations.html). If other programs have similar things set up, you could earmark your donation in that way as well. ---
**Author:** ![Anny\_Middon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/bc79bd/32.png) [@Anny\_Middon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anny_Middon)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2018, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simply-giving-money-to-the-us-government/824707/22 "2018-11-27T23:32:36Z")
Can you donate for another specific program? For instance, could someone who is very supportive of space research donate to NASA? Actually, the one I’m really interested in is even more specific. Suppose Whitaker decides to do away with the Mueller investigation by stopping funding to it. This would enable the administration to be able to truthfully say that they did not stop the Special Counsel’s efforts while actually in effect stopping them. (AIUI this was proposed at one point.) Could concerned citizens start a crowdfunding effort to pay for the investigation? I think in these circumstances a lot of money could be raised in a pretty short period of time. ---
**Author:** ![iamthewalrus\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/258eb7/32.png) [@iamthewalrus\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamthewalrus_3)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2018, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simply-giving-money-to-the-us-government/824707/23 "2018-11-28T00:27:55Z")
> [@Anny\_Middon](#): > > Can you donate for another specific program? For instance, could someone who is very supportive of space research donate to NASA? According to some searches, NASA is legally allowed to accept donations, although it’s something of a challenge to figure out how to actually make those donations. > [@](#): > > Actually, the one I’m really interested in is even more specific. Suppose Whitaker decides to do away with the Mueller investigation by stopping funding to it. This would enable the administration to be able to truthfully say that they did not stop the Special Counsel’s efforts while actually in effect stopping them. (AIUI this was proposed at one point.) Could concerned citizens start a crowdfunding effort to pay for the investigation? I think in these circumstances a lot of money could be raised in a pretty short period of time. Christ, I hope not. Whatever you think of Trump, I hope you can see that allowing random individuals to fund state investigations of their pet causes would be all kinds of terrible. The justice system should _absolutely_ not be directed by individuals with deep pockets. ---
**Author:** ![PhillyGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ed655f/32.png) [@PhillyGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PhillyGuy)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2018, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simply-giving-money-to-the-us-government/824707/24 "2018-11-28T02:56:32Z")
> [@Jim\_B](#): > > You could even earmark it for whatever social services you want, like Medicare or Medicaid for example. It is up to Congress to say how much money the government will spend on various purposes. Donald Trump donates his salary every quarter to a specific program, most recently the Small Business Administration. This is one of the littler things he does demonstrating lack of respect for democratic norms and procedures. Gates is right not to follow such an example. ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2018, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simply-giving-money-to-the-us-government/824707/25 "2018-11-28T16:39:30Z")
Let’s all be clear. Bill Gates has given a significant portion of his wealth to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, which he controls. He received tax benefits for those contributions, even though the majority of those funds have yet to be used for true charitable purposes. The Foundation invests those funds in a variety of investments that continue to grow. The Foundation must give away a portion of its assets annually to maintain its tax status as a charitable foundation, but his actual giving to charitable purposes is no where near the amount that is publicized because it’s sitting in the Foundation. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2018, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simply-giving-money-to-the-us-government/824707/26 "2018-11-28T19:02:22Z")
> [@CookingWithGas](#): > > Also note that our system taxes your _income_, not your wealth. Our system taxes wealth upon death. Whatever his motives, Gates’s donations to his foundation avoid a significant future estate tax liability. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2018, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simply-giving-money-to-the-us-government/824707/27 "2018-11-28T19:48:08Z")
Back in the 90’s didn’t Ted Turner pay off the US debt to the United Nations to the tune of a $1 billion or so? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simply-giving-money-to-the-us-government/824707.md?page=1)