Tuesday, March 25, 2008

Why some politicians feel that generosity must be legislated...

"In 2002, the year before Obama launched his campaign for U.S. Senate, the Obamas reported income of $259,394, ranking them in the top 2 percent of U.S. households, according to Census Bureau statistics. That year the Obamas claimed $1,050 in deductions for gifts to charity, or 0.4 percent of their income. The average U.S. household totaled $1,872 in gifts to charity in 2002, according to the Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University.The national average for charitable giving has long hovered at 2.2 percent of household income, according to the Glenview-based Giving USA Foundation, which tracks trends in philanthropy. Obama tax returns dating to 1997 show he fell well below that benchmark until 2005, the year he arrived in Washington."

See the full article in the Chicago Tribune..

2 comments:

B-Blogit said...

This is a really interestig article. It makes you think twice about any canidate to vote for.

What would the country be like if the national average was at 10% like donations to some churches.

Rebecca said...

Great writing about politics, it's my favorite topic. Too bad it's hard to find personal blogs that lean toward the conservative. (Minus the all politics all the time - too contrived )