Some leftist ideas would be funny if they weren't so scary. Here are two liberals -- Robert B. Reich, a former U.S. secretary of Labor, and David Nasaw, author of a well-received biography, "Andrew Carnegie." Both are respected -- and off the wall. Let's hope they're not brain-trusters in a future Clinton administration. Nasaw is worried at the current increase -- increase, mind you -- in Americans' giving to private causes for human betterment. Why• Because this could undermine "faith" in government. Reich gets really ticked off at how the rich give to major universities, museums, symphony and opera -- "art palaces," he calls them. The poor don't go to those, he says. They only puff up the egos of the charity ball set. He'd cut their tax deduction in half. Both screwball perspectives were featured in recent op-ed opinion columns. For Reich, an objectionable slice of this year's $200 billion-plus in charitable donations -- a new record -- is going to "culture palaces ... where the wealthy spend much of their leisure time." Also to high-tuition universities that rich donors hope will take their unqualified children as "legacy" students. Such gifts are more like investments than contributions, Reich says. Charity benefits from a hefty income tax deduction. The Treasury this year will take in $40 billion less than it would without that tax break, says Reich, apparently assuming that rich people's money really "belongs" to the government. "The gap has to be filled," he says, by other taxes, spending cuts or fatter national debt. For Reich, the government automatically helps poor people but only about 10 percent of deductible contributions do. So he'd rewrite the tax code. Keep 100 percent deductibility for "real charities," but cut to 50 percent for arts and Ivy League giving. A couple of points here. One is the dubious assumption that programs made in Washington actually help the poor -- as opposed, say, to weaning them away from "welfare" and entitlements. Another is that "art palaces" don't enrich life for all. Did Reich never see school kids touring a museum, borrowing library books, practicing music? Historian Nasaw strangely attacks former President Clinton's new book, "Giving," for celebrating private charity. He says it "reinforces a lack of faith in the capacity of democratic governance to cure our social ills." But if new billionaires are bringing about a "startling expansion of the philanthropic sector," shouldn't that be a cause to cheer• Nasaw objects that charitable foundations "can pretty much do as they please with their grants." Their wealth should be commandeered "for widely agreed-upon public projects," he contends. "Our greatest fear should be that the growth of private philanthropy may be both a symptom and cause of our weakening faith in democratic government." That's your true voice from the left. May it not become dominant after the election.

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