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Western New Yorkers again are being labeled a miserly bunch.

Intuit Inc. ranked Buffalo as the second “stingiest” city in the country when it comes to charitable giving.

The software company, maker of TurboTax, based its listings of “most giving” and “stingiest” cities on federal tax filings for 2004, analyzing all returns, not just its customers’.

Buffalo, known as the “City of Good Neighbors,” trailed only San Antonio in the stingiest category. The most giving city was Salt Lake City, Utah.

The Intuit study examined the deductions taxpayers claimed for charitable contributions on Schedule A of their 2004 federal tax forms.

The latest ranking comes on top of two other national charitable giving analyses since 1998 in which the Buffalo Niagara region fared poorly.

The study could be explained by the high taxes in our area.  That leads to a reduction in discretionary income.  Also, we are forced, under penalty of imprisonment, to support charitable and non-profit organizations through our taxes. 

Unfortunately, that method of support does not allow us to determine the worthiness of an organization.  Bureaucrats decide who gets our money.  It is not possible for bureaucrats sitting in distant places to be able to make informed decisions about local needs.  That leads to many bad decisions and waste.

It would be much better if the government provided no support to non-profit groups and enabled individuals to make informed decisions to support the groups that are doing a good job.

Charity should not be sustained with money taken by force from others.  It is common for people heading charitable organizations to receive six figure incomes because cost accountability is diluted with government support.  

Source: Buffalo News - Generosity of WNYers questioned in survey

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 If you don’t believe it, read this.

US contingency plans for air strikes on Iran extend beyond nuclear sites and include most of the country’s military infrastructure, the BBC has learned.

It is understood that any such attack - if ordered - would target Iranian air bases, naval bases, missile facilities and command-and-control centres.

The US insists it is not planning to attack, and is trying to persuade Tehran to stop uranium enrichment.

The UN has urged Iran to stop the programme or face economic sanctions.

But diplomatic sources have told the BBC that as a fallback plan, senior officials at Central Command in Florida have already selected their target sets inside Iran.

That list includes Iran’s uranium enrichment plant at Natanz. Facilities at Isfahan, Arak and Bushehr are also on the target list, the sources say.

Read it all: BBC NEWS | Middle East | US ‘Iran attack plans’ revealed