Quigley, Fran2020-10-202020-10-20201523 Virginia Journal of Social Policy & the Law 39https://hdl.handle.net/1805/24133The approach to addressing economic and social needs in the United States strongly favors individual and corporate charity over the establishment and enforcement of economic and social rights. This charity/justice imbalance has a severely negative impact on the nation poor, who struggle with inadequate access to healthcare, housing, and nutrition, despite high overall U.S. wealth. This article suggests a two-part approach for remedying the charitv/justice imbalance in the United States. First, the U.S. should eliminate the charitable tax deduction, a policy that does not effectively address economic and social needs, forces an inequitable poverty relief and tax burden on the middle class, and lulls the nation into a false sense of complacency about its poverty crisis. Second, the U.S. should replace the deduction with ratification of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. This two- part process would reverse the U.S. legacy of avoiding enforceable commitments to economic and social rights. Charity would take a step back and justice a step forward.en-USArticle