Joe Biden, Sept. 18, 2008:
New York Times, April 16, 2009:
President Obama and his wife released their 2008 federal tax return on Wednesday, showing that they paid $855,323 in federal income taxes on a combined household income of $2,656,902…
The White House on Wednesday also released the tax return for Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. and his wife, Jill. They reported an adjusted gross income of $269,256 and paid $46,952 in federal income taxes.
The Bidens also reported donating $1,885 to charity, less than 1 percent of their earnings. In a press release, the White House said the Bidens have made additional donations to charity not listed on the returns.
“The charitable donations claimed by the Bidens on their tax returns are not the sum of their annual contributions to charity,” it said. “They donate to their church, and they contribute to their favorite causes with their time as well as their checkbooks.”
Apparently donations to plastic surgeons, cosmetic dentists, and hair-restoration clinics aren’t tax-deductible. Who knew?
As Hot Air points out, church donations are deductible. So why wouldn’t you claim them? I guess if you get caught out as a skinflint and a hypocrite who wants to raise people’s taxes in the guise of serving the greater good — let’s call it involuntary charity — while voluntarily donating only 0.69% of your own income to charity, you need to come up with some kind of excuse. “I gave at the office” is as good as any.
You know all those people who went to all those Tea Parties across the country yesterday? They don’t like being told what to do in the first place. And when they’re told they have to make sacrifices by somebody who’s unwilling to make them himself…
Update: I didn’t say Biden wasn’t claiming the Obama administration is going to lower some people’s taxes. Are you really that gullible?
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“Apparently donations to plastic surgeons, cosmetic dentists, and hair-restoration clinics aren’t tax-deductible. Who knew?” Best statement I’ve read in a while!! Still laughing.
I just don’t get it. I don’t believe Obama gave a cent of their donations out of the goodness of their heart (except maybe the something like $30,000 that went to Trinity), but at least he was sensible enough to make a show of it. Biden? He’s just stupid. At least make it look like you’re walking the walk.
You don’t publicize church deductions because it shows which way you lean.
Obama started donating tens of thousands of dollars to Rev Wright in 2004 when he first contemplated higher office, because he wanted a record of religious affiliation he could fall back on if questions concerning his muslim upbringing arose.
Obama never donated to any religion prior to 2004, and in 2008 when his relationship with Wright became suspect, he immediately started donating to the Catholic church.
You will never find Barack Obama writing a check to a muslim charity.
Expecting the richest among us to foot the bill is about as dumb as it gets. Who can afford to hire lawyers to hide their money in offshore accounts, or buy a home in a tax haven, or just up and move to another country? THE SUPER RICH!
The rich never end up paying overwhelming taxes (just look at Obama’s cabinet), they’ll just move somewhere with a better tax structure – or at least have their ‘primary residence’ there. The only way to profit from taxing the rich is to keep the taxes at a level that it’s more advantageous to just pay them than to hire a team of lawyers to AVOID paying them.
Oh, and that line about ‘95% of people in the country won’t have their taxes increased.’ No shit – 50% of the country doesn’t PAY taxes! I know lots of people that get more in their return than they even paid in for the year. I guess in that respect, any of us that actually pay taxes are giving to ‘charity’.
After reading it again, my post might be misinterpreted. That was a critique of the Obama admin’s ‘plan’ for increasing taxes on the top 5% to pay for all the pork they’ve been shoveling. Like I said, the rich will find ways to avoid paying, and the bill will just be passed down to the rest of us.
On the bright side, ‘no new taxes’ cost George Bush the elder the ‘91 election – so when Obama is finally forced to tax us regular people to keep the govt. afloat, it should be enough to get him out of office by 2012.
I just think it is interesting that the “evil” George W. Bush and Dick Cheney gave HUGE amounts of their incomes (which was much, much smaller than the Obama’s) to various charities, while the “enlightened” Obamas and Bidens gave single digit percentages. You never saw that on the front page. Of course, I am sure that the crazies would just say that Bush and Cheney should donate more because they need to make up for their sheer evilness. Or something. *rolls eyes*
“The rich never end up paying overwhelming taxes” – Scott F.
The super rich have an enormous tax burden in the US. The top 1% or earners (making $200k/year at least) pay 26% of the taxes.
Elle – I agree with you. I wasn’t saying they don’t pay, I’m saying that there is a limit past which they’ll find ways not to pay. It’s been repeatedly proving that every time you raise taxes on rich people, the pool of rich people in the country will almost assuredly shrink. This is economics 101 stuff that seems to fly right over the head of anyone with a (D) next to their name. I would go into a deep explanation, but the ‘Laffer Curve’ speaks for itself.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laffer_curve
Sorry for using wikipedia, it’s just the first site that came up with a good graph and simple explanation.
And if your in my great state, with another fabulous democrat as govenor, your going to be in bigger trouble.
Our great democrats want our state to have a constitutional congress, at a meer cost of 45 Million, so they can change our state income tax from a flat rate tax to a graduated income tax. The more you make, the higher your rate. Because it is not fair that you went to college, got a job, work really hard, and don’t give your money to those charities they believe in.
When we moved to Georgia, our state income taxes nearly doubled. Our property taxes, WITH the homestead exemption, quadrupled. Sales taxes remained about the same, but utility costs doubled.
Georgia also has a state lottery, whose proceeds supposedly go “for the schools”. Uh-huh. That’s no doubt why Georgia public schools are consistently among the worst in the nation (thank God for Mississippi).
We live in an area where approximately 65-75% of the populace is on welfare and has been for generations. They were all thrilled to see Obama win, because they’ve never worked or paid taxes in their lives. Crime is high, police are indifferent/incompetent/barely literate themselves/racist and unlikely to side with the minority here, who happen to be white.
Because of the crummy gang-infested schools, I homeschool. Because of the tax burden, my husband works 60-70 hours a week and is constantly exhausted. (I know: The more you work, the more you make, the more you make, the more taxes you pay. But it’s just not easy to live on 80-hour paychecks here after the welfare queens and crackheads take their cut.)
As for the charitable contributions, we never claim ours on taxes. We’ve paid for wells to be dug in Africa, we’ve supported English teachers/missionaries in China, we’ve given food and clothes and money to the poor and my husband has worked on their houses. But to me, claiming it on taxes feels like asking to get (at least some of) it back. Maybe that’s Biden’s excuse too. Maybe not.
I feel you Beige, I live in KY and the trips I have taken to Atlanta and the surrounding areas have been a case of what I don’t want KY to become. So saying that my stupid fellow kentuckians voted in a Liberal Democrate who stated publically he was going to raise taxes and increase spending. Now we have seen the taxes on everything increase, cigerettes, liquor, and the sales tax is next to go up and people are like, “Why is he raising taxes on us?” Stupid. While businesses are packing up and leaving the state and Ford is shutting plants down.
I can vouch for that one Aleric – because a lot of your businesses have been moving to my state, Indiana. Despite the fact we actually swung for Obama this time, we’ve managed to elect a pro-business Republican Governor. Oh, and since we’re talking about Democrats and how income tax increases don’t work, I might add this tidbit about our Republican Governor Mitch Daniels.
“In 2005, Governor Daniels led the state to its first balanced budget in eight years and, without a tax increase, turned the $600 million deficit he inherited into a $300 million surplus in a single year. Governor Daniels used this surplus to repay hundreds of millions of dollars the state had borrowed from Indiana’s public schools in previous administrations.”
So not only did the Republican pro-business, anti-tax route work, but they managed to replace the money the Democrats were robbing from the schools for decades. Despite what liberals seem to believe, capitalism isn’t evil. When businesses prosper, jobs are plentiful and pay goes up as companies are forced to compete for an ever-shrinking population of unemployed. A rising tide really does raise all boats.
Oh, and we finally decided to join the 21st century and adopt daylight savings time, or as the local Democrats call it ’spooky voodoo that makes the flaming sky God come earlier’. Sorry if I’m a bit over the top today, but tax season has a nasty effect on me.
What little I’ve seen of Kentucky and Indiana impressed me; they’re both beautiful states. There might be parts of Georgia that don’t suck right out loud too, but I haven’t found one yet.
Anyway–back to Biden. To me, the guy is the perfect illustration of the “banality of evil” principle. I don’t think he has some sinister master plan; I think he’s too stupid and incompetent to realize he’s being played by someone who DOES have a sinister plan.
“…the trips I have taken to Atlanta and the surrounding areas have been a case of what I don’t want KY to become.”
You want a textbook case of Democrats riding the banshee straight to hell?
Come visit Detroit.
Riding the Banshee would be an awesome band name.
I find it hard to believe Biden only made $269,256 last year.
I live in Texas, one of the few states that has not really felt the recession. No state income tax, 1.5% property tax, 8.25% sales tax and I don’t see thousands of starving children running the streets. I am not sure about the school rankings but they seem to be doing an okay job (teen pregnancy seems a little high but not sure how that compares to the rest of the country). Of course I expect my kids to get A’s and B’s, C’s mean they need to try harder.
Scott F,
My mistake then, sorry. Guess I’m just not used to hanging out with the smarties here at Deceiver. (Because if I hear one more “The rich don’t pay taxes” screed from my coworkers I’m gonna shriek)
I can’t believe Biden only donated $1,885 to charity last year. Definitely a skinflint. And Beige, I understand why you don’t claim your charitable giving on your taxes, but unfortunately if I acted on that principle we’d somehow owe 2 grand a year to the IRS.
Growing up in Virginia and hearing horror stories about “Taxachusetts,” I was pleasantly surprised when I moved here. The taxes are fairly reasonable, especially compared to all the esteemed states between here and where I grew up. We’d be paying four times as much property taxes in New Jersey, for pete’s sake. Of course, the new barebones budget for the Commonwealth just came out so all bets could well be off in the fall.
Beige and Minnow, I’m sorry to hear about the current situation in GA and Detroit. Minnow, how is your husband doing with all the automotive hoo-ha? I hope he’s hanging in there. I have a good friend who’s a mid-level executive at GM and the last few months have been really stressful for him.
Scott F. – that is the same reason Honda built their new plant in Indiana rather than along with their existing plants in Ohio. Taxes and no insentive to have them here and branching out. Damn shame too since GM is all but left Dayton.
My husband and I paid more in charitable donations than Biden. Most Americans did and we get paid a lot less than he does.
I think it is rather funny that Obama would donate to the Catholic church as everything he stands for is opposite of what I stand for and Catholicism.
“Minnow, how is your husband doing with all the automotive hoo-ha?”
Still hanging. He’s been job hunting for a fall back, but it’s really hard since his specialty is obscure.
On the good side, when the Italians toured his labs at the end of March, they were aghast at how deserted the labs were (there’s tumbleweed tumbleweeding down the halls right now).
On the very good side, one of the big shots said “We’sa have ten times’a da engineers you have. How you doosa all dis work by yourselfs? Where is all your helps?”
(BTW, that last quote was supposed to sound spaghetti, not Jar-jar Binksey.)
The town we live in (as opposed to “our town”, which this isn’t and never will be) recently lost a Cooper Tire plant, which means about 1400 people lost their jobs. I feel terrible for those people and their families, but I can’t blame Cooper. This town has nothing to offer but a bad smell and a ghastly, rotating Ray Charles statue. Yes, you read that right.
Oh yeah, claim the deductions for when it makes good spin for your political career, but conveniently forget about it when its something no one needs to make a big deal over.
As far as all this spending goes, I am glad they have learned how to shit money since evidently that is why there is so much of it around to throw out every open window. I’d like to learn how to do that handy dandy trick……maybe then we wouldn’t have to look so hard for employment in an area of the country that has a rate of 11.5% joblessness.
Koka, you may have hit upon what was meant by “Hope” and “Change”. And all I can say is “OUCH”.
Are Democrats proud of their Vice-President calling them unpatriotic for not paying taxes?
“And if your in my great state, with another fabulous democrat as govenor, your going to be in bigger trouble.” Sounds about like Ohio too, LN. When someone in this state wakes up and realizes all the “little things” our great, great governor is doing are going to add up to a tax/expense hell, they’re not going to be quite as happy as they are now. But let’s just continue to blame Bush.
And that’s a good point, AAW. What businesses haven’t run away over the taxes are about to run over these energy regulations going through. Although Honda also built a state over because the people in Indiana are far enough removed they don’t get paid nearly as well as the Ohio workers… but don’t tell them that
Back to Biden, I agree, D—–, that it’s hard to believe that’s all he made. I don’t know, there’s something funny about the whole thing… how typical with this administration. Maybe it’s just a Turbotax error?
“Although Honda also built a state over because the people in Indiana are far enough removed they don’t get paid nearly as well as the Ohio workers…”
Might not get paid as much, but that’s why we still have… jobs. How’s that paying $40/hr for some union moron to screw a bolt on a frame working out for everyone in Michigan and Ohio? Cause I kinda thought that was the reason they were moving here, and I support the moves we’ve made to make it possible.
Far as I’m concerned, I’d rather have 10,000 people employed making $10/hr than jack the costs up so high they move the plant, cause then no one is making anything.
I agree, Scott, that the union-run American manufacturers just did not plan very well for the future. I’m no business person, but I don’t think I’d run my company to where the legacy costs make me lose money on every car. However, my dad works for Honda, and they’ve just gotten incredibly stingy over the years, even when the economy was great. Being non-union brings them their own list of problems, but I’ll take those problems anyday over the ones created by the unions — like the fact that except for the plant in England, most Honda workers still have their jobs.
Hmm. I don’t even think it’s the unions that have driven business out of our area. It’s the utter lack of a work ethic, actually. Some businesses won’t even consider opening stores/branches here because more people would rather lie around collecting welfare than work, even part-time. They can’t even SPELL “customer service”, let alone define it. People move to the next county or the next state to enjoy better schools, decent roads, police protection, etc., and the idiots here react with spittle-flecked fury; they genuinely don’t understand why anyone would want to stop supporting them.