Specop 007
Diamond Member
It would seem "Hope and Change" is going to be paid for by YOUR money. Of course those who most want to help the little guy dont want to actually pay for it themselves! Much easier to promise the most worthless help by taking money from the most successful.....
It makes me wonder how many of the "Save the Children" liberals on this board actually put their money where their mouth is.....I doubt very few, beyond the national average anyways.....
Much easier to SAY we need to help them rather then actually DO anything.
Article
For Obama, charity really began in the U.S. Senate
By Bob Secter | Tribune staff reporter
April 25, 2007
Giving, service and compassion are recurrent themes on the campaign trail for Sen. Barack Obama, but the Democratic presidential contender has only recently dug deep into his own pockets to support charitable causes.
Obama has enjoyed a robust household income throughout his political career in the Illinois Senate and the U.S. Senate. But for most of that time he has reported comparatively little by national standards in charitable contributions on his tax returns, records released by Obama show.
Public attention to charitable gifts has led to uncomfortable moments for prominent political figures. Then-Vice President Al Gore came in for withering ridicule in 1998 when his tax return showed he had contributed just $353 to charity. So did then-President Bill Clinton, after a review of old tax returns revealed that he had once claimed a $75 deduction for donating a suit with ripped pants to the Salvation Army, as well as $2 for a pair of used underwear and $9 for six pairs of used socks.
Obama's household income has been inflated the last two years from the proceeds of lucrative book deals he signed shortly before entering the Senate in 2005. He pledged to turn over $200,000 of the book money to charity.
On their just-filed 2006 tax return, Obama and his wife, a hospital administrator, reported taxable income of $983,626 and claimed deductions for $60,307 in charitable donations. In 2005 they earned a combined $1.65 million and gave away about $77,300.
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.
Both Obama and his wife, Michelle, declined to respond to questions about their charitable donations.
Gene Tempel, executive director of Indiana's philanthropy center, said 89 percent of U.S. households give to charity each year and Americans expect to see personal generosity from public servants as well. "They have a bully pulpit to influence the behavior of others and they have an opportunity to lead by example," Tempel said.
Elected officials and political candidates are not required to release their tax returns, and Obama may be the only major presidential contender to have done so this year, making it difficult to compare his charitable giving with that of his rivals.
President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney released their 2006 returns this month. Bush and the first lady reported gifts to charities and non-profits totaling $78,100 on income of $765,801. Cheney and his wife had income of $1.6 million and gave $104,425 to charity.
Politicians who do make their returns public typically say they are doing so in a show of transparency. But Democratic strategist Chris Lehane said the disclosures also lead to a "naked moment" for those politicians by giving voters a glimpse of what they're like outside the limelight.
High price for being chintzy
Candidates who skimp on personal donations risk a political price, said Lehane, a former spokesman for Gore who also worked in the Clinton White House.
"For a Democrat in particular, given that they tend to be professing a 'we, not me' message, it's always an opportunity to step on the third rail if your charitable contributions don't stack up," Lehane said.
Obama has worked as a community organizer in poor South Side neighborhoods and has served on the boards of prominent Chicago-based philanthropies. His commitment to community service plays a central role in the two best-selling books he has published, and he often talks about the importance of reaching out to those in need.
"There's a lot of talk in this country about the federal deficit," he told Northwestern University graduates last year at commencement ceremonies. "But I think we should talk more about our empathy deficit -- the ability to put ourselves in someone else's shoes, to see the world through those who are different from us: the child who's hungry, the laid-off steelworker, the immigrant woman cleaning your dorm room."
Obama released several years of past tax returns during his 2004 U.S. Senate run and has made subsequent returns public as well. Illinois' other senator, Democrat Dick Durbin, also discloses his annual taxes. Over the last decade, Durbin has consistently devoted a share of his income to charity that is above the national norm, sometimes double.
Obama signed two book deals worth nearly $2.3 million before entering the Senate. He received about $1.2 million of the book money in 2005, but tax records show the Obamas lived comfortably before then.
From 1997 through 2004, Obama earned dual paychecks for his work as a state lawmaker and as a lecturer at the University of Chicago Law School. Over the same period, his wife, Michelle, worked first for the University of Chicago and then for the University of Chicago Hospitals. Their household income also was augmented in most years by thousands of dollars Obama earned from practicing law, giving speeches or serving as a director of charitable foundations.
It makes me wonder how many of the "Save the Children" liberals on this board actually put their money where their mouth is.....I doubt very few, beyond the national average anyways.....
Much easier to SAY we need to help them rather then actually DO anything.
Article
For Obama, charity really began in the U.S. Senate
By Bob Secter | Tribune staff reporter
April 25, 2007
Giving, service and compassion are recurrent themes on the campaign trail for Sen. Barack Obama, but the Democratic presidential contender has only recently dug deep into his own pockets to support charitable causes.
Obama has enjoyed a robust household income throughout his political career in the Illinois Senate and the U.S. Senate. But for most of that time he has reported comparatively little by national standards in charitable contributions on his tax returns, records released by Obama show.
Public attention to charitable gifts has led to uncomfortable moments for prominent political figures. Then-Vice President Al Gore came in for withering ridicule in 1998 when his tax return showed he had contributed just $353 to charity. So did then-President Bill Clinton, after a review of old tax returns revealed that he had once claimed a $75 deduction for donating a suit with ripped pants to the Salvation Army, as well as $2 for a pair of used underwear and $9 for six pairs of used socks.
Obama's household income has been inflated the last two years from the proceeds of lucrative book deals he signed shortly before entering the Senate in 2005. He pledged to turn over $200,000 of the book money to charity.
On their just-filed 2006 tax return, Obama and his wife, a hospital administrator, reported taxable income of $983,626 and claimed deductions for $60,307 in charitable donations. In 2005 they earned a combined $1.65 million and gave away about $77,300.
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.
Both Obama and his wife, Michelle, declined to respond to questions about their charitable donations.
Gene Tempel, executive director of Indiana's philanthropy center, said 89 percent of U.S. households give to charity each year and Americans expect to see personal generosity from public servants as well. "They have a bully pulpit to influence the behavior of others and they have an opportunity to lead by example," Tempel said.
Elected officials and political candidates are not required to release their tax returns, and Obama may be the only major presidential contender to have done so this year, making it difficult to compare his charitable giving with that of his rivals.
President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney released their 2006 returns this month. Bush and the first lady reported gifts to charities and non-profits totaling $78,100 on income of $765,801. Cheney and his wife had income of $1.6 million and gave $104,425 to charity.
Politicians who do make their returns public typically say they are doing so in a show of transparency. But Democratic strategist Chris Lehane said the disclosures also lead to a "naked moment" for those politicians by giving voters a glimpse of what they're like outside the limelight.
High price for being chintzy
Candidates who skimp on personal donations risk a political price, said Lehane, a former spokesman for Gore who also worked in the Clinton White House.
"For a Democrat in particular, given that they tend to be professing a 'we, not me' message, it's always an opportunity to step on the third rail if your charitable contributions don't stack up," Lehane said.
Obama has worked as a community organizer in poor South Side neighborhoods and has served on the boards of prominent Chicago-based philanthropies. His commitment to community service plays a central role in the two best-selling books he has published, and he often talks about the importance of reaching out to those in need.
"There's a lot of talk in this country about the federal deficit," he told Northwestern University graduates last year at commencement ceremonies. "But I think we should talk more about our empathy deficit -- the ability to put ourselves in someone else's shoes, to see the world through those who are different from us: the child who's hungry, the laid-off steelworker, the immigrant woman cleaning your dorm room."
Obama released several years of past tax returns during his 2004 U.S. Senate run and has made subsequent returns public as well. Illinois' other senator, Democrat Dick Durbin, also discloses his annual taxes. Over the last decade, Durbin has consistently devoted a share of his income to charity that is above the national norm, sometimes double.
Obama signed two book deals worth nearly $2.3 million before entering the Senate. He received about $1.2 million of the book money in 2005, but tax records show the Obamas lived comfortably before then.
From 1997 through 2004, Obama earned dual paychecks for his work as a state lawmaker and as a lecturer at the University of Chicago Law School. Over the same period, his wife, Michelle, worked first for the University of Chicago and then for the University of Chicago Hospitals. Their household income also was augmented in most years by thousands of dollars Obama earned from practicing law, giving speeches or serving as a director of charitable foundations.
