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Andrew Sullivan posted a letter from a reader who works in in the arts, complaining that Obama's tax increase on the rich will negatively impact donations:

I work for a small, 5-year old non-profit arts organization in Illinois. A couple of our usual big donors have indicated we should be prepared for smaller donations this year, and possibly none in the next couple of years. The are mentioning Obama's tax plans and their need to save money now in anticipation of that. A lot of my colleagues in the not-for-profit world are really scared right now, and we are not happy with Obama.

Look, it is very convenient for rich donors to claim that Obama's tax increase on their income is the reason they are scaling back this year, especially in light of the economy crashing. Wouldn't you think it would have more to do with the recession/depression than Obama's modest tax increase? I'm anticipating this becoming a common excuse. If I'm correct - and I'm far from an economist - Obama is rolling back tax cuts that Bush gave the upper class. Donations weren't down before the cut, and they certainly didn't skyrocket as a result of those cuts, so it seems like a pretty invalid excuse.