Palin’s Charitable Giving Shames Bidens

Heh.

Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin made considerably less money than rival Sen. Joe Biden, but the Palin family gave more to charity in the last two years than Biden has in the last eight combined, according to Palin’s tax records released Friday afternoon.

Palin, the running mate of presidential candidate Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), and her husband Todd reported meager earnings from 2006 and 2007, at least by presidential-politics standards.

In 2006, the Palins paid $11,944 in taxes on $127,869 in income. In 2007, they paid $24,738 on $166,080.

But in 2006, they donated $4,880 to charity, and in 2007, they donated $3,325.

By contrast, Biden (D-Del.), Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama’s running mate, has donated a total of $3,690 since 1998 despite his higher Senate salary, according to an analysis posted by National Review.

1. Biden perhaps had less change left to put in the collection plate at his Catholic Church because he was spending so much of his income at Home Depot (no one in Wilmington has ever seen him there) or at Katie’s Diner (which closed 15-years ago)

   Posted by on October 03, 2008 at 2205 hrs




2. This is no suprise....  Its well documented that conservatives are FAR and away more charitable than liberals.  WELL documented. 

   When it comes to liberals, they believe in helping people… Helping people with other peoples money that is… Its kind of reverse charity… You get points for thinking people need help… and then finding a way to make someone else help them.

   Its the thought that counts right libby-lou’s?

   Posted by on October 04, 2008 at 0007 hrs




3. Could it be that the Palins snookered their way to four times the wealth of the Bidens?

   Naw, that would have no bearing.

   Posted by capper on October 04, 2008 at 0031 hrs




4. Please capper, explain.  Considering that both of the Palins work honest jobs, as compared to a U.S. senator,please explain.

   Posted by on October 04, 2008 at 0251 hrs




5. Or Biden outsources his charitable giving to the US Taxpayer.

   Posted by Marcus Aurelius on October 04, 2008 at 0757 hrs




6. Or Biden outsources his charitable giving to the US Taxpayer

   Precisely.

   After you’ve paid the AMT a couple of times, it’s clear that the Democrat tax-takers are trying to drive charities out of business.  There’s no money left over for charity...particularly if you are a high-tax-State resident (like Doyle’s Wisconsin).

   Posted by dad29 on October 04, 2008 at 0824 hrs




7. This is no suprise....  Its well documented that conservatives are FAR and away more charitable than liberals.  WELL documented. 

   Well documented by whom?

   What a laughable statement.

   Posted by on October 04, 2008 at 0901 hrs




8. Chat - ever hear of Google?  This took about ten seconds…

   http://newsbusters.org/node/9323

   http://www.beliefnet.com/story/204/story_20419_1.html

   Posted by on October 04, 2008 at 0921 hrs




9. Well documented by whom?

   It is very well documented in this book:  Written by a self-described liberal professor.  When he started doing the research for this book, he went into it with the assumption that it would prove liberals are more compassionate, and came to the opposite conclusion.

   http://www.arthurbrooks.net/whoreallycares/excerpt.html

   Here is part of an excerpt from the book:

   To evaluate accurately the charity difference between liberals and conservatives, we must consider private, voluntary charity. How do liberals and conservatives compare in their private giving and volunteering? Beyond strident slogans and sarcastic political caricatures, what, exactly, do the data tell us?

   The data tell us that the conventional wisdom is dead wrong. In most ways, political conservatives are not personally less charitable than political liberals—they are more so

   The compassion of American conservatives becomes even clearer when we compare the results from the 2004 U.S. presidential election to data on how states address charity. Using Internal Revenue Service data on the percentage of household income given away in each state, we can see that the red states are more charitable than the blue states. For instance, of the twenty-five states that donated a portion of household income above the national average, twenty-four gave a majority of their popular votes to George W. Bush for president; only one gave the election to John F. Kerry. Of the twenty-five states below the national giving average, seventeen went for Kerry, but just seven for Bush. In other words, the electoral map and the charity map are remarkably similar.

   These results are not an artifact of close elections in key states. The average percentage of household income donated to charity in each state tracked closely with the percentage of the popular vote it gave to Mr. Bush. Among the states in which 60 percent or more voted for Bush, the average portion of income donated to charity was 3.5 percent. For states giving Mr. Bush less than 40 percent of the vote, the average was 1.9 percent. The average amount given per household from the five states combined that gave Mr. Bush the highest vote percentages in 2003 was 25 percent more than that donated by the average household in the five northeastern states that gave Bush his lowest vote percentages; and the households in these liberal-leaning states earned, on average, 38 percent more than those in the five conservative states.

   People living in conservative states volunteer more than people in liberal states. In 2003, the residents of the top five “Bush states” were 51 percent more likely to volunteer than those of the bottom five, and they volunteered an average of 12 percent more total hours each year. Residents of these Republican-leaning states volunteered more than twice as much for religious organizations, but also far more for secular causes. For example, they were more than twice as likely to volunteer to help the poor.

   Posted by on October 04, 2008 at 0942 hrs




10. Where does it say that Palin has four times the wealth of the Biden’s?

    Here’s a good breakdown of their net worth.

    http://www.benningtonbanner.com/ci_10616289?source=most _viewed

    Most of their net worth is tied up in their house, which by the way Todd and his friends did most of the construction on (maybe he’s the one to ask about the mood at Home Depot)

    And even with her big salary as Governor ($125,000) that’s still less than the 87 MATC administrators are paid. 

    There is no massive family wealth in the Palin family. Her parents were schoolteachers. 

    Biden isn’t super wealthy either, but he and his wife make about 2x the income and have had 20-years more (power of compounding) to develop wealth. 

    By the way, the Palin’s have to support five kids (their choice I agree) which puts a strain on disposable income.  And still with all that, the Palin’s could donate 10x to charity what Biden could do.

    Posted by on October 04, 2008 at 1004 hrs




11. To: Any liberal

    Where is it documented that liberals are more charitable with their own money?

    Posted by on October 04, 2008 at 1012 hrs




12. Thanks for the link, Steve.  You talk about a hit piece from the fair and balanced Associated Press.  This article shows once again that the media is biased.

    Posted by on October 04, 2008 at 1033 hrs




13. But Biden is more patriotic because ostensibly he paid more in taxes (or at least wants others to pay more in taxes).

    Anyone find it ironic that under Obama’s tax plan that Members of Congress would not have their taxes raised if that salary is their primary income?

    Even considering that so many are independently wealthy, they benefit from the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts that lowered capital gains taxes which Obama has said he wasn’t going to repeal… (until the economy recovers)

    Posted by on October 04, 2008 at 1105 hrs




14. 2004 State by State Comparison.

    Who are the Nation’s cheapskates?

    Posted by on October 05, 2008 at 0707 hrs