Mark Perry illustrates how easy it is to be “charitable” when it is not your own money you are giving away:
1. Between 1998 and 2006, the Bidens’ adjusted gross income (AGI) averaged $236,000 per year, and their average annual charitable contributions averaged just $283, or only $5.44 per week. That compares to an average annual charitable contribution of $1,916 for taxpayers with AGI between $15,000 and $30,000 (according to IRS data). In other words, taxpayers in one of the lowest income brackets ($15,000 to $30,000) were almost 7 times as generous as the Bidens with only about 10% of their income!
2. The Obamas were a little more generous than the Bidens, giving an average of $2,187 annually ($42.06 per week) between the years of 2000 and 2004, on average AGI per year of $243,000, which means the Obamas were just barely more charitable in their giving than those making less than only $30,000 per year.
This is probably not isolated to the Executive Office or the Democratic party either. And now, these two guys, along with the 535 folks in Congress get to be charitable with roughly $3 trillion of other people’s money – about $5.6 billion each.
