Why is my government telling me what charitable programs I must support?

I love the arts and I love the parks and I love supporting programs in my community for kids.  So why can't I do that?  Because the government taxes my income at a ridiculously high level so that a few sanctimonious bureaucrats can decide what programs in the country deserve my support.  I get sick of hearing the big-government socialists say, "We need PBS - it is an important part of how we get our information and it would be terrible if it didn't get the government funding it needs to continue to operate."  First of all, every other radio station in the country stays on the air because advertisers (and therefore listeners) PAY for that station to operate because they VALUE its offerings.  So if PBS is so important, then how come the people that cry for it can't support it?

The same thing is repeated over and over again.  The government has to pay for child support, food, housing, job training, on and on.  It is a self-fulfilling prophesy.  When the government taxes us to death and spends our tax money on programs that should be the recipient of charitable giving, it destroys the capacity and desire of citizens to get involved and help each other at the community level.  As long as we are told that these challenges "are the government's job" then everyone else washed their hands and abdicates any responsibility they might have felt to be part of these solutions.

NOW I hear that someone(s) in Washington are talking about reducing the tax deductions people can take for charitable contributions.  That is the next obvious step to completely remove us from the equation.  When that happens we lose whatever connection we might have in managing how our own community would deal with our common needs.  This is one more step in the decades long power grab and buttresses the fear of people that do not want to give up their freedom.   Every time the government takes these decisions away from us and makes them for us, it is one more freedom lost.