Obamas Gave Less Than 1 Percent of 2000-2004 Income to Charity

[seriousstan]

March 25 (Bloomberg) -- Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama and his wife Michelle gave $10,772 of the $1.2 million they earned from 2000 through 2004 to charities, or less than one percent, according to tax returns for those years released today by his campaign.

The couple earned more than $2.6 million in 2005 and 2006 after the Illinois senator published a bestselling book in 2005. They donated $137,622 over those two years and made their church, Trinity United Church of Christ, one of the biggest beneficiaries of their philanthropy, donating $27,500. Obama is under scrutiny for his ties to the church because of comments made by its senior pastor.

The Obamas' charitable giving history was revealed as he became the first presidential candidate to release his tax returns for the decade and called on his rival for the Democratic nomination, New York Senator Hillary Clinton, to do the same. Obama didn't release his 2007 return today.

``Releasing tax returns is a matter of routine and we believe that the Clinton campaign should meet that standard and meet that routine standard now,'' said Robert Gibbs, Obama's communication director.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aHdvU_NJzIcI&refer=home

[jgraz]

1. .

:boring:

[Cha]

26. Nap's over..

get back to work! :) It's just a pathetic attempt at distracting hilary's sniper moment..caught on tape. Nothing like a liar caught on tape.

[papau]

46. no 2007 return - "business income" one number -04 "Sen"wife bribe?(salary increase from 90K to 300+K

[Yes We Did]

49. I just wish we could look at Hillary's tax returns... Oh wait!

Obama is the one who believes in transparency.

And I think you are referring to Michele Obama's income... But, isn't that around the time she got that promotion?

And the '07 return... Well, it isn't april 15th yet.

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

70. he's: not black enough, too black, gave money to church, didn't give enough

whine whine whine, nag nag nag, gripe gripe gripe,
caw caw caw!

[eallen]

77. My 2007 return isn't done yet. If yours is, congrats. But they're not due until April or August.

Making that a pretty damn silly nit to pick.

:hippie:

[phrigndumass]

2. correction: "reported" less than one percent to charity

[TwilightGardener]

3. Ten thousand is pretty damn good, when you've got two kids and

you're a state legislator.

[Hieronymus]

18. Damn right, charity begins at home. I'll bet he set up trusts for his kids.

[seriousstan]

19. So does greed.

[TwilightGardener]

24. Hey, do you think we'll see that 20 million from the Dubai deal popping

up on THIS year's Clinton tax return, or last year's? It's a shame Hillary's brothers can't collect any more pardon money, isn't it?

[Abacus]

59. What percentage of your income are you donating to charity?

[Angela Shelley]

4. Good for him!

[MadBadger]

5. So?

[HereSince1628]

6. And if Hillary would share her records we'd know what she gave

[grantcart]

7. yikes with that huge income this could be a problem

[CreekDog]

44. $240,000 per year is huge income?

it's a lot, but huge? no.

[grantcart]

54. The Clintons are earning close to $ 40 million a year in speaking engagements

business deals and book royalties. It was reported a while ago that Bill Clinton pocketed $ 10 million from a business deal in which nothing was done and they simply wanted to disband the partnership.

[Hepburn]

56. Where do you get that for two working professionals with years of experience....

...that $240K/year is a HUGE income?

:shrug:

[Lucky 13]

79. BLATANT LIES

I hope to god you accidentally left the sarcasm tag off your post and I just didn't get the joke. If it was sarcasm, I apologize in advance. If it was sincere, then you are a LIAR. Period. She can't get away with her lies anymore and neither can you.

IT IS A BLATANT LIE to say that the only income the two of them have is the $240,000 from her Senate salary. There are book deals, speaking deals, investments, trading, etc etc etc. Legitimate, illegitimate who knows? But YOU know and I know they make WAY WAY WAY more than $240,000 a year. Trying to convince anyone otherwise is INSULTING.

They are now worth something like $40mil made almost entirely in the 8 years since he left the white house. COINCIDENTALLY, these are the same 8 years for which they refuse to release their tax returns.

I'd bet dollars to donuts that when you do the math (if we ever see the tax returns), the percentage of salary they give to charity is comprible to Obamas - and they don't have two little girls they are trying to provide a future for.

There's a very simple solution to this. Release the tax returns. Show transparency. Until she does that, the Hillfolk have no right to tear him down for his charitable giving levels.

Jesus Christ. Have you people no sense of irony? No moral compass?

[mahina]

8. "They donated $137,622 over those two years..." Could you have a more misleading headline?

Too bad we can't check Hill's tax records to see what she gave.

How does this help, exactly? And who does this help?

[Saturday]

15. They earned 2.6 million, their donations are less that 1% of that.

What's misleading?

[wileedog]

31. is that 2.6 mil before of after taxes?

And what exactly is the "standard?" 5%? 10%?

What are their other debts? Do they both have large student loans that needed to be paid off? A new house?

How much did he send to poor relatives like Granny?

[azmouse]

34. The average American gave 3.1% of before tax income to charity.

http://www.justgive.org/html/don_info/howmuch.html

[wileedog]

57. You got that figure from a Charity site

Of course they are going to inflate it.

Try these guys:

http://money.cnn.com/magazines/moneymag/moneymag_archive/2006/08/01/8382167/index.htm

2.2%

Granted the Obmama's are still low, but we don't know their full economic situation. Again both probably had extensive student loans to pay off, I'm sure they want to ensure for the Children's future, etc.

I don't think they deserve to be raked because they are 1% less than the national average.

[CreekDog]

47. no, 137k of 2.6m is 5.3% NOT 1%

what's with your math?

[seriousstan]

17. Your reading comprehension is abysmal. The headline mentioned 2000-2004.

The headline is the original and it is correct. You are mixing years and percentages.

[mahina]

85. It's going to be a tough sell to the American people that the Obamas were stingy

and ONLY gave 137k. But hey, I guess that's your task.

[mopinko]

82. also doesn't count political donations which are probably

large, but not deductible.

[Sensitivity]

9. Why do Clinton Supporters CONSTANTLY MISSREPRESENT the facts?

I guess once you start lying you have no concience to make you stop.

[grantcart]

12. why do Clinton supporters keep raising issues that when the full facts are known

will actually reflect badly on Hillary?

[Saturday]

16. The facts are NOT misrepresented. Try reading it again.nt

[Independent-Voter]

50. HRC supporters are typically fairly low-educated. Math isn't their strong suit.

[peace13]

10. Where are Hill's tax reports?

Good that you can pick apart Obama. I send you peaceful thoughts and energy to carry you through this painful time. What holds me back from asking what % you gave in those years, the fact that I am trying not to get upset by this endless smear campaign. Have a great day.

[Saturday]

11. St. Obama doesn't tithe? nt

[peace13]

13. Great one there.

That is a win win for Hill, if he gives he hates America, if he doesn't give he is an out of step Christian. Go figure.

[Cant trust em]

14. $137,622 is a major donor

As someone who works in fundraising I'll tell you that this is nothing to sneeze at.

[Saturday]

20. $137,622 is not major if you made 2.6 million. nt

[gasperc]

35. oh christ, where is that railroad spike when I need it

[Catherina]

21. Correction. The Obamas tithe 10% to a church

that's been on the front lines of opposing the war, opposing the expolitation and demonization of the poor, fighting racism, xenophobia, sexism, and homophobia, providing meals and care to people sick with HIV, providing daycare for the children of unwed mothers so they can stay in school, and providing the core cadre for Peace Action.

And that's only what we know about from invading their privacy.

The Obamas are the sort of people who do their good deeds quietly and don't publicize them, unlike some loudmouth politicians we know.

[Justitia]

22. And the Clintons gave almost a MILLION BUCKS to Paula Jones - why??? -eom

[zulchzulu]

39. That was for Charity...oh wait, Bill gave Charity some other cash...she was HOT!

:sarcasm:

[NDambi]

63. lmao funnyyyyyyy n/t

[Coexist]

45. ouch.

[Lucky 13]

80. highest paid call girl ever.

[Bensthename]

23. Can't wait to see what Hillary is hiding. She didnt think it would last this long.

Haha .!.!

[TeamJordan23]

25. The Obamas just recently paid off their student loans. nm

[light catcher]

27. And what percentage of your income did you give to charity last year?

Just curious...

[DerekJ]

28. $137,622 is not enough...

Releasing 6 years of tax returns is not not enough ..
Releasing his earmarks is not enough ..
Leading by 170 pledged delegates is not enough...
Leading by 700,000 in popular vote is not enough...
Wining double the states is not enough...
Over 1 Million Donors, and ten times the money in the bank, sorry not enough ...
Going and answering every question about Rezko, and providing all kind of documentations about his dealings with him...hmm , ah , not enough


Every time you raise the bar, he exceeds it, but it’s always not enough

Meanwhile, Hillary is ducking sniper fire in Bosnia.

[zulchzulu]

36. Yep... giving an average of $730 a day to charity is just horrible

...or not...

Just when you see the Clintons stooping to subterranean levels politically, you have to see their fans stoppoing even further.

[gasperc]

37. the bar has been moved to Jupiter

Obama better start building a rocket ship to win the nomination :eyes:

[ecstatic]

29. WHERE ARE CLINTON'S RETURNS?

[zulchzulu]

40. < < < < crickets > > > >

[Lerkfish]

30. well, let's compare that to Hillary's 2006 joint return...what? you mean she hasn't released it?

well, then, let's wait until she does before we trash Obama, eh?

[SOS]

32. 2005-2006: 5.3% Headline is Bloomberg BS.

nt.

[TheDoorbellRang]

33. OH NOES!11!!!1

How much did Bill and Hill give. Let's compare them. Oh, wait. That's right. We still don't have their records to look at.:eyes:

BTW, how much of their income went to paying off their student loans, which Obama said they just finished paying off these past few years? Seems to me that alone would have been a big chunk of their income.

[zulchzulu]

38. Can you find out how much the Clintons gave since they are HIDING their records

The Obamas gave an average of $730 a day for two years and you have a problem with that.

Can you do your due diligence and see why the Clintons are hiding their records. Then we can compare a lot of stuff...

[tishaLA]

41. Imagine if they'd tithed 10% to TUCC

The world would be torn asunder from Sen and Michelle Obama giving money to their "racist" church tht "spews hate speech." The threads would never end. Hannity would have a vibrator up his ass all day to make the pleasure more intense, etc.

[BeyondGeography]

42. That's probably all they could afford

They were still paying off student loans at the time, two new kids, mortgage, retirement savings, cars, etc. on $240K/year before taxes. You can see they loosened the pursestrings up considerably once better money came in.

No there there.

[CreekDog]

43. i calculated 3.9% from 2000-2006

:shrug:

[scheming daemons]

48. And we know this HOW? Because *HE* released his tax returns.... Unlike Hillary.....

...

Sorry.... criticism over ANYTHING in Obama's tax returns is a non-starter until Hillary releases hers.


Transparency trumps all.

[Cant trust em]

51. I can't even believe we're having this conversation.

We're digging into how much people give to charity to criticize them? They only gave over $100,000; what any organization would call a major donor and bend over backwards to cultivate? Come on people.

[NYCGirl]

52. As their income grew, their charitable donations grew to 6%

The Obamas became more charitable as their incomes grew. In 2000, the couple gave $2,350 to charity, or about 1 percent of their gross income. In 2006, they donated $60,307 to charities, or about 6 percent of their gross income. In 2005, the Obamas list a $5,000 donation to their church, Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago, where the controversial Rev. Jeremiah A. Wright, Jr., was Sen. Obama's pastor. If Sen. Obama tithed more regularly to the church, there's no record of it in these tax returns.

http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2008/03/25/805820.aspx

[MrSlayer]

53. So?

$137,000 is plenty to just give away.

[Diane R]

55. Cripes. Give it up. They had to pay off school loans, and buy a house.

[seriousstan]

61. Yep, just getting by on $20,000 a month. Poor disadvantaged, only making 1/4 million/yr.

[book_worm]

58. unlike Clinton's they have a growing family, had student loans, and bought a house--btw where is H's

Tax Return?

[JoFerret]

60. He doesn't tithe at the church?

Sounds mean for a rich family.

[JoFerret]

62. The riches of the few

...are the savings of the many.
Eugene Debs.
He was right then.

It's right now.
It applies to whomever has the "riches'.
And the Obamas are set for a lifetime of snouts in the trough along with the rest.
'tis the way it is.

But doesn't make it right, or admirable.

[MadBadger]

64. I didnt realize making 200,000 total dollars per year makes you rich.

[ctaylors6]

71. It does put you in the top 2-3%

AGI for top 1% is approx. $350,000 & up

[MadBadger]

72. That doesnt make you rich though when raising two children.

[ctaylors6]

81. I completely understand

your point. I was mostly just stating objective numbers. The AGI of top 5% starts at about $150,000. Both Clinton and Obama seem to use $200,000-$250,000 as their threshhold for wealthy (or similar concept). For example, I believe both have said they'd repeal Bush tax cuts for families earning more than $250,000 per year. (http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/politics/obama/chi-032008-campaign-web21mar21,1,6114493.story) Also, Obama's social security/payroll tax plan would create "donut" from $100,000 - $200,000 where there'd be no additional payroll tax, then there'd be new payroll tax from $200,000 and up (currently, payroll tax stops at $100k). Obama set this donut amount reasoning that "Once people are making over $200,000 to $250,000," Mr. Obama says, "they can afford to pay a little more in payroll tax." (http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120528180300228815.html?mod=googlenews_wsj)

Who's "rich" is definitely a debatable concept. I have kids also, so I definitely hear you on that point. :) Here's a washington post article about all this and what some of the candidates have said: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/11/25/AR2007112501450_pf.html

[mattclearing]

65. How much did you give to charity in those years? n/t

[Orsino]

66. 200-2004 average annual income $300,000?

$2,200 in average annual giving doesn't sound nearly so pitiful as Bloomberg's framing.

[DemVet]

67. "Yes we can!" becomes "No we don't!"

What stingy people.

[Vinca]

68. I think the Obamas were very smart to pay off school loans and

other things when they first started making a little money. It's foolish to pay a fortune in interest if you don't have to. It obviously allowed them to up their giving in subsequent years.

[Onlooker]

69. I bet many of us give more than him

I certainly earn less that Obama, but give a lot more than 1%. I don't understand how politicians can be such idiots. Surely, he knew this would come out.

Also, as much as I like Obama, it doesn't reflect well on his values that he is so uncharitable. Those who are defending him are disingenuous. (That said, I don't think this is too big a deal.)

[MadBadger]

73. He was a State Senator and once he earned more money and became a US Senator, donated a lot more.

[MethuenProgressive]

74. Those trips to the secret bank account islands in the Caribbean aren't cheap!

I bet they tip the cabana boys more than 1%

[bevoette]

75. i can't believe somebody actually made a thread about this (nt)

[Maraya1969]

76. After taxes if's about 20% - 30%

[harun]

78. There is a difference between giving of one's wealth and one's income (n/t)

[theboss]

83. It seems like more than 5 percent to me

Oh...I see...this is a confusing article.

[Lucky 13]

84. This is like rolling in PIG SHIT then pointing out the mustard stain on Obama's tie from lunch.

And her tax returns are WHERE? The hypocricy around here is getting so thick it's a little hard to breathe.

The Clintons are worth something like $40 mil - almost made entirely in the last 8 years. She refuses to release any tax information for that time and yet you have the GALL to tear him down for "only" giving $137,000+ to charity? Until you have ANY information on Hill's taxes, do yourself and everyone else a favor... STFU. This makes you look like an irrational hypocritical idiot.

I cannot WAIT till her tax returns get out so you can choke on those numbers.

[2rth2pwr]

86. Piano lessons and summer camps are expensive.