Yet Another Reason...

...I will be voting Republican in this election.

Here's a new number I just heard on the Today show: $995. That's the MOST money Joe Biden has given to charity in the last ten years--the MOST!!! I won't go into specifics of my own numbers (not because I'm ashamed, but because I know my friends read this blog and it's tacky to talk about money among friends), but Scott and I give considerably more than that. . . considerably. (The bulk of it goes to our church, but we also support a number of local and national charities.) Now, I consider us a pretty average American couple. Certainly we have more than many, but we are by no means wealthy. Yet, when I compare our numbers to those of Joe Biden, I am astounded. The average family in America gives 2% of their income to charitable organizations. The Democratic nominee for Vice President gives less than one hundredth of one percent.

Here are the numbers (year, adjusted gross income, charitable donations, percentage of income):

1998--$215,432--$195--.0009%

1999--$210,797--$120--.00056%

2000--$219,953--$360--.0016%

2001--$220,712--$360--.0016%

2002--$227,811--$260--.0011%

2003--$231,375--$260--.0011%

2004--$234,271--$380--.0016%

2005--$321,379--$380--.0012%

2006--$248,459--$380--.0015%

2007--$319,853--$995--.0031%

(An aside: Republicans are often criticized for being greedy and Democrats are certainly on record as supporters of our welfare system. It strikes me as ironic that studies have shown that conservatives give more than liberals. Here's one story, but a simple Google search will yield dozens: http://abcnews.go.com/2020/story?id=2682730)

Here's another number: $15,000. That's how much Biden spends on train tickets each year, commuting between his $3 million home in Delaware and Washington, DC. But don't worry, he doesn't pay for those.

Do you think this man can really relate to the economic issues of middle America?

Oh, by the way, here's a report on John McCain's giving (a very different story): http://philanthropy.com/news/updates/4437/john-mccain-discloses-data-on-his-charity-giving

And here's the Obama info (better than Biden, but nowhere near McCain): http://taxprof.typepad.com/taxprof_blog/2008/03/obama-releases.html

Here's Palin's (not as good as I had hoped, but still outshines Biden by a country mile): http://philanthropy.com/news/updates/5900/gov-palin-releases-tax-returns-reveals-charitable-giving