Beto O'Rourke defends meager donations to charity, saying he sacrifices through public service

[brooklynite]

Dallas Morning News

WASHINGTON — Beto O'Rourke defended his meager rate of charitable giving on Tuesday night, saying that he doesn't report all of his donations to the IRS and in any case, he contributes in other ways through his work in politics.

"I've served in public office since 2005. I do my best to contribute to the success of my community, my state and now, of my country. There are ways that I do this that are measurable. And there are ways that I do this that are immeasurable," he said.

O'Rourke released 10 years worth of tax returns Monday night, joining a growing list of Democratic presidential contenders to put their personal finances on display. He and his wife, Amy, filed jointly and reported $366,455 adjusted gross income in 2017.

They paid $81,019 in federal income tax that year and donated $1,166 to charity — a giving rate of just 0.3%, which is well below the national average. Nearly all of that went to Annunciation House, an organization that helps migrants.

[book_worm]

1. Who cares?

He also has a young family to support.

[murielm99]

2. Not only that,

he may give most of his donations to political causes. Those are not tax deductible. That is true of my family. We are generous to Democrats and Democratic organizations.

[brooklynite]

5. As a matter of policy, we match every political dollar with a charity dollar...

[Autumn]

3. His net worth was an estimated $9 million in 2015. Supporting his young family won't be a problem.

[book_worm]

11. As long as Trump doesn't release his taxes

I'm not going to attack any democrat on their taxes.

[Autumn]

14. I can agree with that. But it is a huge! topic for discussion. That, and how cheap Bernie is

on his charitable deductions.

[pangaia]

16. LOL...

Some people are quick and witty.
Others are quick and vicious.

I would put you in the former category.

[Autumn]

17. Really? I don't mean to be viscous, just truthful.

Sometimes the truth can be vicious.

[pangaia]

18. No No No

I out you in the quick and WITTY category....

[Autumn]

22. Better put me in the can't walk and talk at the same time category, or in this case

the can't read, post and talk at the same time category

[pangaia]

23. It's OK. I can't spelle.

[Autumn]

24. Me ether.

[catbyte]

19. The "former" category means the first category. It would've been the "latter" otherwise.

Just FYI.

[Autumn]

21. Sorry I misread the post

Talking and posting at the same time will have a dipshit effect on the brain.

[sacto95834]

29. Yeah. It's up to him and his wife...

I mean she is only a billionaire heiress, but if they don't donate to charity that is up to them.

[Loki Liesmith]

4. Can't imagine caring

[SayItLoud]

6. OMG the media is going to look for every tiny issue on every Blue candidate.

If they coverage of in their view "how little" a candidate gave to charity whey the F not compare it to the sitting potus who robbed from his own in name foundation. Robbed people who donated to his "foundation/charity" then had their money mis appropriated to buy HIM stuff? I don't know why someone hasn't sued him directly for fraud.

[Indygram]

10. The media has gone after Biden and Beto as if they want Trump to win

Those are the two with the best chance to win. They are pushing candidates that can't win, too. They may as well just push Trump again. People fall for this stuff every time, too. It's frustrating to watch...

[Indygram]

7. My daughter doesn't donate any cash

But she volunteers at least 10 hours of her time every single day, donates things she no longer uses or needs. Her taxes indicate she doesn't do anything. Not everything is monetary.

[murielm99]

9. You can get tax deductions

for things you donate. We used to give vouchers at the library. I think second hand clothing stores do the same, if they are charitable organizations.

[Indygram]

13. I have never claimed donations and volunteering. It's a pain in the butt.

When I give my first thought isn't to write it down to get a tax break. I'm thinking about trying to help the person.

[spooky3]

15. But you can't get a deduction for your time. I think

She’s saying that we can’t get a complete picture of contributions to charity from tax returns.

Also the $ averages are affected by tithing to churches. For some people those donations also benefit them by being part of a community, and in some cases they are going to enrich Trump loving evangelists.

[WeekiWater]

8. I truly love how weak the attacks on our candidates have been.

We have a really solid group running.

[awesomerwb1]

12. Yawn....next.

[Politicub]

20. Can we stop the charity shaming?

This is a personal choice. People are trying to infer meaning from contributions, but they end up just guessing.

I wish people would be more straightforward. Instead of trying to be cute by grasping at their virtual pearl necklace, just say you don’t like someone. It’s easier and saves time.

[Autumn]

25. Yeah me too. Only I don't get paid for doing it like he does.

[beachbum bob]

26. we gave nearly 4% of our $65,000 in retirement income to charity, so shame on Beto

and donated time to Habitat for Humanity as well my wife's church's monthly offering


I didn't check but how much did Bernie give the last 2 years of million dollar income Put in perspective, trump probably gave way less as a % than beto did.

[Freethinker65]

27. He should just say he does not keep great records to get tax write offs

Honestly, I make charitable donations lots of times without getting a receipt. This year at tax time, there was no need to itemize with the increased standard deduction. I donate and give when it is the right thing to do.

I also volunteer hours yearly at a food pantry, a forest preserve, for my community, etc. I do none of those things for a tax write off.

[SWBTATTReg]

28. I would love to see rump's donations to charity, and not the $20000 oil painting of himself that...

was found at another golf course of his, in short, he claimed that he donated it when in fact he moved it to another location, committing tax fraud.

Pathetic.

Donating is a personal thing w/ folks...they have personal family issues (are they supporting elderly parents etc., other siblings, etc.?, are they still paying for school?, are they still paying for their home? We all know the story here, it's just life). Lots of stuff gets in the way of making donations sometimes.

Does the entity that they are donating to follow their beliefs (like beliefs similar to donator beliefs usually means more donations). Also, keeping track of donations is a pain, receipts if you can find of donated goods, estimated market value of donated goods, pictures of and receipts on donations made, each wave of donations must be tallied on a particular IRS form that lists donations. Also, if donations exceed a certain amount (I think over $500 on an item), then you have to have an outside evaluation of the donation made for donation purposes (I also don't know what tax laws changed too, in the 2017 tax cut and jobs bill, there could have been some changes to how donations are claimed / made in the tax code).