ONTD Political

The Bidens donated less than 1.5% of income to charity in 2011, Obamas gave 22%

4:28 pm - 04/14/2012
President Obama and Vice President Biden released their tax returns today, ahead of Tax Day, which is on April 17 this year (since April 15 falls on a Sunday and Monday is a Washington, D.C. holiday).
Obama Biden park bench

According to the White House, "Together, [the Bidens] reported adjusted gross income of $379,035. The Bidens paid $87,900 in total federal tax for 2011. They paid $13,843 in Delaware income tax and $3,614 in Virginia income tax. The Bidens contributed $5,540 to charity in 2011."

In other words, the Bidens donated less than 1.5 percent of their adjusted gross income to charity.

The president and his family were more charitable, giving nearly 22 percent of their adjusted gross income in 2011 to charitable causes.

According to the White House, "[Obama] and the First Lady filed their income tax returns jointly and reported adjusted gross income of $789,674. ... The President and First Lady also reported donating $172,130 – or about 22% of their adjusted gross income – to 39 different charities."

Source
the_laugh 14th-Apr-2012 03:28 pm (UTC)
Oh come on, Joey
layweed 14th-Apr-2012 03:36 pm (UTC)
So........what?
bestdaywelived 14th-Apr-2012 03:42 pm (UTC)
Um, I would like to see Republican's tax returns to see if they donate money to anything that isn't a church/the NRA.
amyura 14th-Apr-2012 05:31 pm (UTC)
This. Mormons are REQUIRED to give 10% gross to the church in order to stay in good standing. I wouldn't call that charity even if it is tax-deductible.

If we went by my taxes, I give nothing to charity. I don't declare anything.
kyra_neko_rei 14th-Apr-2012 05:50 pm (UTC)
Also, how much of it goes toward church administrative costs, or interfering with other states' marriage-equality initiatives?
lickety_split 14th-Apr-2012 06:00 pm (UTC)
I don't declare anything either.
fickery 14th-Apr-2012 08:05 pm (UTC)
Same here. I give, but I don't declare it on my taxes.
ladypolitik 14th-Apr-2012 08:43 pm (UTC)
If we went by my taxes, I give nothing to charity. I don't declare anything.

Hah, same.
lone_concertina 15th-Apr-2012 03:23 am (UTC)
Same. Especially donated goods. I don't have the time for someone from Saver's to tally up how much my monthly bags of clothing and appliances are worth but even if I did I don't declare it.
lickety_split 14th-Apr-2012 04:00 pm (UTC)
LOL the way everything is phrased, I kept expecting to read that he'd only given like $3.
ladypolitik 14th-Apr-2012 04:08 pm (UTC)
LOL, right?
mahasin 14th-Apr-2012 04:05 pm (UTC)
I just love that people are upset by how little someone donated to charity. It's a donation not a fucking mandate.
cinco_series 14th-Apr-2012 04:18 pm (UTC)
Well that's politics and money/taxes have been a huge part of this campaign. Lbr democrats/SNL/Daily Show/... would be all over this if a republican vice-president donated so little.
danger0usbeans 14th-Apr-2012 04:45 pm (UTC)
No, they wouldn't. Republicans generally don't donate much except to their own churches.
grazie 14th-Apr-2012 09:48 pm (UTC)
Probably because the republicans preach that it's the private citizen's donation that will save the world. So expecting them to walk the walk is the least we could do.
sesmo 15th-Apr-2012 04:28 am (UTC)
Really? How much did Santorum donate? Or Newt?
illusivevenstar 14th-Apr-2012 04:21 pm (UTC)
And if you want to be a part of a political platform that says you should be helping the less fortunate, maybe you should walk the talk.

bestdaywelived 14th-Apr-2012 04:41 pm (UTC)
He's built a Habitat for Humanity house. I think doing physical labor shows more of a commitment than donating money.

The Romneys get so much credit for donating, but they're really just tithing to their church (who likes to interfere in government workings!) and donating back to themselves, so that is worse, IMO.
caerfrli 14th-Apr-2012 05:58 pm (UTC)
The Democrats say the state should help the unfortunate. The Republicans say they should depend on charity.
roseofjuly 14th-Apr-2012 08:11 pm (UTC)
Donating to charity is not the only way to do that.
rex_dart 14th-Apr-2012 08:19 pm (UTC)
um, it's the republicans who say that charities and private donations should ~take care of all our problems~.
ladypolitik 14th-Apr-2012 08:41 pm (UTC)
....And the Bidens walk the talk, so.

Non-existing argument, I guess.
bestdaywelived 14th-Apr-2012 04:42 pm (UTC)
Agreed. I don't get the big fucking deal. Like, we expect Republicans to be greedy, so they get a pass.
wldrose 14th-Apr-2012 04:57 pm (UTC)
And Jill Biden has spent huge hours on her charity work for military fams, I mean we are talking 100's of hours. I also think that since she is a working teacher she is employed making things better.
spiffynamehere 14th-Apr-2012 05:16 pm (UTC)
...Okay, so?
baked_goldfish 14th-Apr-2012 07:07 pm (UTC)
lol the Weekly Standard. By tax forms, sure. Who declares all their donations on their taxes? I don't, even in years when itemizing would be more than declaring a standard deduction. Also, let's be real. The Bidens paid 23% of their income to federal tax. The Romneys paid, what, 14%? I'll take someone who pays their taxes over someone who uses donations to their shitty racist, misogynist, homophobic church as one of many ways to skirt paying their taxes.
tabaqui 14th-Apr-2012 11:17 pm (UTC)
This.
bushy_brow 15th-Apr-2012 12:35 am (UTC)
Thank you!
roseofjuly 14th-Apr-2012 08:08 pm (UTC)
And? The Obamas also made twice as much as the Bidens.
rex_dart 14th-Apr-2012 08:22 pm (UTC)
tbh since i prefer to get my help from the government to waiting for a private charity to decide i'm ~worth it~, i'll take good work in the government to lots of donations any day.

but lol @ the idea that everyone always declares all their donations. tbh if i were rich as fuck i wouldn't bother saving the receipts since who gives a fuck if i don't get the tax deduction? i'm fucking rich.
ladypolitik 14th-Apr-2012 09:25 pm (UTC)
alryssa 15th-Apr-2012 05:02 am (UTC)
Accurate.
leprofessional 15th-Apr-2012 01:47 am (UTC)
There are some people who are not charitable. They can be democrats or republicans. I am amused by the defensive comments in this post tbh.
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