Charitable Donations of the Presidential and Vice Presidential Candidates

Anyone have a soapbox for me to borrow? One thing I abhor about politics is the spinning – there is always an angle and you can’t trust any sources.  I don’t trust Fox News any more than I trust CNN to give the FACTS.  But one thing that I’ve learned to trust in this world is numbers – they just don’t lie.

I’ve done a little digging and found the actual PDF files of the candidates’ tax returns.  I got them from this website: taxhistory.org. It could all be a scam, but they do have all of the candidates tax returns listed & it is pretty easy to read them if you’re familiar with your own tax returns.

Here are some numbers that I’d like to share with you:

Barack Obama – AGI (adjusted Gross Income) = $4,139,965.
Donations to Charity = $240,370
Percentage of AGI to charity = 5.8%

Joe Biden -         AGI = $319,853
Donations to Charity = $995
Percentage of AGI to charity = .3%  (that is POINT 3 percent)

John McCain -   AGI = $386,527
Donations to Charity = $105,467
Percentage of AGI to charity = 27.3%  (more on this in a minute…)

Sarah Palin -      AGI = $166,080
Donations to Charity = $3325
Percentage of AGI to charity = 2.0%

These are just numbers, and I would like to note where McCain’s donations went – they were all cash donations to the McCain foundation.  And here are some McCain Foundation facts:

• Cindy and John McCain are the primary contributors to the McCain Foundation
• The McCain Foundation received $176,508 in donations in 2007
• If John McCain accounts for $105,467 – that is approximately 60% of the Foundation’s contributions.
• The Foundation dispersed approximately $78,250 to various charities ranging from animal welfare ($500), Craniofacial abnormalities ($35,000), clearing mines ($25,000) and various educational and cultural programs ($12,250).
• If you take 60% of the foundations donations and say that those came from John McCain, that accounts for $46,950.  As a percentage of his AGI, that equals 12.1%.

And just a little side note…if you combine the AGI’s and contributions of the other 3 candidates, their percentage of donation is 5.2%.  I think it is pretty shameful that my husband & I donated more to charity (as a percentage) than all three combined.

It isn’t the government’s responsibility to take care of the people.  It is the people’s responsibility to take care of the people.  Just my humble opinion.

But those are some pretty convicting numbers, if you ask me.