U.S.A. Today (9/12/2008) When Vice President Dick Cheney was campaigning in 2000, he defended his family's charitable donations of $209,832, or about 1%, of the $20.6 million he earned from 1989 to 1999. "It's a private matter … a matter of private choice," Cheney said in 2000. Last year, Cheney and his wife, Lynne Cheney, donated more than $166,000 to charity, or about 5.5% of their income, according to the Chronicle of Philanthropy.
Barak Obama did not come from a wealthy family or have business connections via his family like George W. Bush. In 2000, Obama had to borrow money for the airplane ticket to attend the Democratic National Convention in Los Angeles, and when he went to pay for the car rental, his credit card was declined. I'm sure paying for their college loans, raising a family with two young children made it a tough to donate money to charity. To their credit, as the Obama's income increased, so did their donations. The 2008 article noted compared with the two presidential candidates, Biden's income is much more modest. His earnings in the past decade ranged from a high of more than $320,000 in 2005 to a low of $210,797 in 1999.
. Last year [2007], Cheney and his wife, Lynne Cheney, donated more than $166,000 to charity, or about 5.5% of their income, according to the Chronicle of Philanthropy.
What about Senator McCain?
McCain reported giving more than $202,000 — a quarter of his income — to charity in 2006 and 2007, the only years for which his campaign released his tax returns. His campaign didn't release information about his wife's charitable contributions, however. In 2006, her total itemized tax deductions, a category which includes charitable contributions and other deductible items such as mortgage interest, was $569,737, or 9.3% of her income.
To be brutally honest: McCain could afford those donations because of his wife is pretty wealthy. And she is pretty much in the same category of donations as everyone else was before they got elected to the White House, where donations increased.
So the real story here is there is no story.
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Date: 24/3/10 05:03 (UTC)Barak Obama did not come from a wealthy family or have business connections via his family like George W. Bush. In 2000, Obama had to borrow money for the airplane ticket to attend the Democratic National Convention in Los Angeles, and when he went to pay for the car rental, his credit card was declined. I'm sure paying for their college loans, raising a family with two young children made it a tough to donate money to charity. To their credit, as the Obama's income increased, so did their donations. The 2008 article noted compared with the two presidential candidates, Biden's income is much more modest. His earnings in the past decade ranged from a high of more than $320,000 in 2005 to a low of $210,797 in 1999.
. Last year [2007], Cheney and his wife, Lynne Cheney, donated more than $166,000 to charity, or about 5.5% of their income, according to the Chronicle of Philanthropy.
What about Senator McCain?
McCain reported giving more than $202,000 — a quarter of his income — to charity in 2006 and 2007, the only years for which his campaign released his tax returns. His campaign didn't release information about his wife's charitable contributions, however. In 2006, her total itemized tax deductions, a category which includes charitable contributions and other deductible items such as mortgage interest, was $569,737, or 9.3% of her income.
To be brutally honest: McCain could afford those donations because of his wife is pretty wealthy. And she is pretty much in the same category of donations as everyone else was before they got elected to the White House, where donations increased.
So the real story here is there is no story.