Call this the charitable deduction acceleration legislation. In late January President Obama signed into law legislation designed to encourage more giving to the relief effort in Haiti. This isn't unprecedented. After the Southeast Asian tsunami in 2004 similar legislation was passed. Increasing charitable aid to Haiti is a noble goal, but is an accelerated charitable deduction for donations to earthquake relief efforts good public policy?

President Obama unveiled a $3.8 trillion budget today including $100 billion earmarked for job creation as the nation struggles with the worst recession in decades. Among the president's planned programs is the small business tax credit proposed in his State of the Union address last Wednesday. So what's in the proposal for nonprofits?

Presidential State of the Union addresses, even when delivered by a speaker as skilled as Barack Obama, tend to be compilations of big statements with relatively few specifics. The specifics of a President's policy initiatives are in his (or her) proposed federal budget, not in a speech, even one as highly touted as the State of the Union. Without overreading one 7,335-word speech, we take note of the following key points.