by This week’s deadline for submitting our federal income tax returns was accompanied by the ritual publication of the returns of the President and the Vice President. As usual, I was interested to see the charitable giving choices of our elected leaders. President Obama gave 5.9% of his earnings to charity, except that number is much higher — 19.6% — when his Nobel Peace Prize is included. (The prize does not constitute income, so the donation is not deductible either). By contrast, Vice President Biden gave just 1.4% of his earnings to charity. That struck me as scandalously low. I would be embarrassed if my returns were published and revealed such a number. Which makes me wonder: first, do others have the same reaction to the revelation that the Vice President only gave 1.4% of his earnings to charity; and second, what would our charitable giving be like if everyone’s returns were made public (or at least that statistic)?
Contributors
Akhil Reed Amar
Yale University
Patrick Brennan
Villanova University
William Brewbaker
University of Alabama
Robert Cochran
Pepperdine University
Alberto Coll
DePaul University
Perry Dane
Rutgers University
Okianer Christian Dark
Howard University
Anver Emon
University of Toronto
Marie Failinger
Hamline University
Rebecca French
University at Buffalo
Richard W. Garnett
University of Notre Dame
Frederick Gedicks
Brigham Young University
Michael Helfand
Pepperdine University
Paul Horwitz
University of Alabama
Samuel J. Levine
Touro Law Center
Mary McConnell
Juan Diego Catholic High School
Mark Movsesian
St. John's University
John Nagle
University of Notre Dame
Michael Paulsen
University of St. Thomas
Russell Pearce
Fordham University
Ellen Pryor
Southern Methodist University
Shelley Saxer
Pepperdine University
Michael Scaperlanda
University of Oklahoma
Steven Smith
University of San Diego
Suzanne Stone
Yeshiva University
Brian Tamanaha
Washington University in St. Louis
Darryl Trimiew
Medgar Evers College
Robert Vischer
University of St. Thomas
Howard Vogel
Hamline University
Archives
- December 2010 (6)
- November 2010 (9)
- October 2010 (13)
- September 2010 (17)
- August 2010 (18)
- July 2010 (10)
- June 2010 (19)
- May 2010 (30)
- April 2010 (29)
- March 2010 (37)
- February 2010 (5)
- January 2010 (1)
You would think that a prominent politician, knowing his returns would be publicized, would go out of his way to be a little more generous than usual. And I guess that might have happened in this case: 1.4 is at least a positive number.
Perhaps he considers his service to his country a sufficient enough sacrifice for the common good.
(nearly shot ice tea out my own nose as I wrote that)
As someone who was raised to hold a fairly literal interpretation of the Biblical command to tithe 10% of one’s income, even the president’s 5.4% donation seems rather skimpy to me. I am always surprised, however, at how little many people actually give to charity on any sort of regular basis. Perhaps Biden assumes that his lack of generosity is not going to be noticed or commented on? He is, after all, only the Vice President, not the President himself. At a time when many charities are scrambling to make ends meet due to the economic downturn, I find his actions to be in very bad taste. They also set a poor example for other wealthy Americans who can still afford to be generous.