Straw in the wind?

Charities are hurting during this economic downturn. So I was surprised to see the angle taken by The New York Times: More Charities Seek Tax Break for Donors, Costing U.S. Billions.

I tend to agree with the sentiment, we've allowed far too much capital go live in the nonprofit arena free from taxes—I'm looking at you, Harvard and Yale. But that's not what concerns the Times, they're afraid that too many "clubs" are masquerading as charities.

That's not where the real money is. But given this attitude as a predicate, could there be a move afoot to rein in (or tax) the charities?