Obama's give 25% to charity

[notsheigetz]

This story caught my eye because the links to it all over the internet headline the fact that the Obama's only paid 18% in taxes.

So what loopholes do you use to get your tax rate that low on the Obama's income? Donate 25% to charity.

I rarely have anything nice to say about them so I would like to congratulate them for this. I do find it interesting however that they preferred giving that money to charities of their own choosing rather than feeding it into the government treasury to be dispensed by politicians and bureaucrats. That didn't seem to fit with what I perceived to be the Obama philosophy.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000142 ... stpop_read

[clacy]

I'll give credit where credit is due.  I can respect someone calling for higher taxes more if they "put there money where there mouth is" as Obama did in this case.  Often times, it's the opposite and the guys calling for higher taxes giver very sparingly to charitable causes.

Btw, Romney gave almost 30% in 2011.  The media of course focused mainly on his low effective tax rate.

[Pointedstick]

I'll give credit where credit is due.  I can respect someone calling for higher taxes more if they "put there money where there mouth is" as Obama did in this case.  Often times, it's the opposite and the guys calling for higher taxes giver very sparingly to charitable causes.

Btw, Romney gave almost 30% in 2011.  The media of course focused mainly on his low effective tax rate.

Probably because a third of that (10%) went to the Mormon Church, and everybody knows that Mormonism is creepy and weird, so it doesn't count. 

[murphy_p_t]

I'll give credit where credit is due.  I can respect someone calling for higher taxes more if they "put there money where there mouth is" as Obama did in this case.  Often times, it's the opposite and the guys calling for higher taxes giver very sparingly to charitable causes.

Btw, Romney gave almost 30% in 2011.  The media of course focused mainly on his low effective tax rate.

Probably because a third of that (10%) went to the Mormon Church, and everybody knows that Mormonism is creepy and weird, so it doesn't count. 

Right-on...nothing like the true-blooded 'mericans at Rev. Wrights "church"

[MachineGhost]

And the Obamas gave it to a veteran'ss charity.  Hows that for irony?

Maybe the reality is the system is just too sprawling and monstrous to ever fix or reform it, even the President.

[notsheigetz]

And the Obamas gave it to a veteran'ss charity.  Hows that for irony?

Maybe the reality is the system is just too sprawling and monstrous to ever fix or reform it, even the President.

If the president really did conclude after 5 years in office that the money would be better spent giving it to charity then maybe there is hope for the future.

The cynic in me provides other explanations but I have been vowing lately to to not listen to him so much (I doubt that I will succeed however).

Giving it to Veteran's charities is ironic though, isn't it? I would rather he just bring all the troops home and make such charities unnecessary. I wonder if Bush feels compelled to make similar donations (actually I have read that the Bush's are also quite generous in their giving so maybe they do).

But at the risk of hijacking my own thread I went to Lowe's last week and saw Boy Scouts outside asking for donations. Having been a Boy Scout growing up I had to resist the impulse to ask if they were now giving a merit badge for begging. I remember when we wanted to raise money we sold popcorn and other snacks at football games or sold candy.

[Pointedstick]

I actually kind of disagree with that. They are still spending time trying to raise money for their organization. When my son was a cub scout, he went door to door selling candy bars for a buck. Even if people didn't want them, they would buy one and toss it, or take it to work and watch it disappear in seconds in the lounge. The girl scouts sell toxic but delicious cookies for maybe $4. But now my nephew is in cub scouts and the least expensive item on their popcorn list is $17 and I don't like popcorn all that much. You know what? I'd rather give them a donation. I really think they'd do better asking for small donations than trying to sell $20 popcorn to people in a crappy economy.

I was never in the *Scouts so I'm sort of speculating, but I would guess that the exercise is as much about raising the money as it is teaching the kids something. To that effect, it seems more appropriate to have the kids selling (learned skill: persuasion) rather than begging (learned skill: guilt-tripping).

[Ad Orientem]

Well done Mr. President. (Never thought I'd be typing those words before 2017.)

[RuralEngineer]

Well done Mr. President. (Never thought I'd be typing those words before 2017.)

You expect to be typing them after 2017?

EDIT:

And so my post isn't a total derailment, I have to give Obama props, especially compared to Joe Biden.  The Biden's averaged $369 per year for a decade according to this report:

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/story?id ... WnzqMpgvlY

[Ad Orientem]

Well done Mr. President. (Never thought I'd be typing those words before 2017.)

You expect to be typing them after 2017?

Not really. But I try to keep the flame of hope alive, however dimly.

[yankees60]

Well done Mr. President. (Never thought I'd be typing those words before 2017.)

You expect to be typing them after 2017?

EDIT:

And so my post isn't a total derailment, I have to give Obama props, especially compared to Joe Biden.  The Biden's averaged $369 per year for a decade according to this report:

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/story?id=5791846&page=1#.UWnzqMpgvlY