Giving Tuesday Give Me A Break

Good morning and Happy Giving Tuesday everybody! That's right. Today is another pseudo-holiday type fake event geared toward separating you from your hard earned income. But don't worry folks. How bad of a holiday could it be when one of the co-founders of Giving Tuesday is the United Nations Foundation? Well, I guess I just answered my own question.

That's right. The United Nations Foundation and the 92nd Street Young Men's and Young Women's Hebrew Association (more casually known as the 92nd Street Y) co-founded Giving Tuesday back in 2012 in order to offset the post Thanksgiving commercialism of Black Friday, Cyber Monday and holiday gift giving. I guess according to them nothing says Happy Holidays quite like trying to make people around the world feel guilty for spending the money they worked so hard for on the ones they actually personally know and love. They think they would be much better served by shaming you into dumping money into the quasi-government accounts and they will decide who will get your cash.

Sure, Christmas and the holidays are far too commercial - but it's also an opportunity for us to share treasured gifts with one another. Some of us are fortunate enough to give gifts that are quite expensive and others of us are fortunate enough to give and receive priceless keepsakes that didn't cost a thing but instead contain the essential great gift ingredients of someone’s pure heart, thoughtfulness and love.

I give to charities that I trust and respect like Samaritans Purse and the St Judes Childrens Hospital- I also give to cancer charities when I can-

I also give to causes all year round that I don’t agree with in the form of the taxes I pay and pay and pay-

Did you know that this year the average taxpayer had to work until April 23rd just to pay his or her taxes and to start earning income for themselves? That means that you must by law spend the first 113 days of the year working for Uncle Sam before you even begin to work for your own family. Of course you’ll need to add a few more weeks to cover your state and local taxes, property taxes, sales tax and God forbid the death tax.

And during those 113 days we have our hard earned money confiscated from us partly in order to be transferred over to countries that despise us, political boondoggles and causes we abhor, adults who refuse to work, and in order to pay for the health care, food costs, education and the housing of illegal immigrants and some legal immigrants who come over and far too often protest in our nation's streets because they have nothing but pure disdain for our rule of law and for the things that truly make America great to begin with.

Hey, I'm all for charity and I give to the charities I believe in ... and I'm not going to take  suggestions from the United Nations Foundation on where my money should go. You and I have worked long and hard and we deserve to feel nothing but joy this holiday season as we give toward those we love and hold closest in our hearts. Just remember … when people ask you today if you've given to the poor … just tell them that, “Yes, I did. I gave every penny I had until April 23rd … How about you?!”

Despite all of that I will also drop money in the red buckets for The Salvation Army because- like most Americans, giving is part of who I am…