[ars]

> that money _would_ have been local/state/federal money.

That isn't true, only a fraction of the money would have been taxed.

And that's exactly the point: We are incentivizing people to give 5 times as much money as taxes would have been.

If that money isn't allocated perfectly, well, there's 5 times as much of it, I think it'll be OK.

> The government ....

The government will never do a perfect job, this way we let people fill in the gaps.

> they've given you the ability to appropriate government funds.

You keep talking as if they deduct the full amount donated from taxes, this is simply not true.

[ckosidows]

You've got a point. My argument was misunderstood.

[srtjstjsj]

The high marginal tax rate is 40+% not 20%.

[ars]

The marginal tax rate is the wrong figure, you want to total tax rate.