Howard Husock notes one "surprise" of the State of the Union was that Obama offered a "modest concession" on charitable giving tax.

"What might well be called President Obama’s State of the Union soak-the-rich tax proposal included a surprising exception:  a significant increase in potential capital gains taxes on the sale of inherited assets would spare charitable giving from the effects of the proposed change.  In this modest concession, the President, who has long sought to rein in the value of the charitable tax deduction, is, for the first time, demonstrating a willingness, even as he proposes to raise other taxes, to hold steady the favorable tax treatment of a key type of charitable giving—one which, in fact, appears to be of increasing importance in maintaining or increasing the level of U.S. charity overall." -- Howard Husock, Forbes