I’m trying to wrap my head around this, maybe someone smarter than me can answer it.
Our illustrious President has made a big show about donating his salary to the National Parks to benefit battlefield maintenance.
1. How does one go about ‘donating’ money to the government? Can the government even accept unexpected money? I suspect he would have to write the check to the Treasury, but absent any legislation specifically directing that money to a specific account, how does it get earmarked for the National Parks? Can Zinke do that on his own?
2. WHO writes the check? Does Trump funnel it through his so-called charitable foundation so he can take the tax write-off? Funneling it through a legit 501(c)3 is the only way I can see it working (and we all know his personal 501(c)3 is not exactly legit, but that’s a different topic.
3. With Trump’s intention to cut 1.5 BILLION in funding from their budget, does he now cut 1.5B less $78K from their budget?
I know a little bit about accounting, and how this would all work is beyond me. It would probably cost more in government accountant salaries to be able to manage these microscopic funds than the donation is worth anyway.
But its a wonderful, feel-good photo-op for the Prez, that’s for sure.