Thursday, February 16, 2012

Rick Santorum and tax records

THEY'RE OUT! Rick Santorum has released his tax records. The news, as I saw it, was broken by Politico.

What does this returns show us. Many things, but I am going to concentrate on one specific thing, charitable giving. Here it is:

YearTotal EarningTaxesTax %Charitable
Giving
Charity %
2007$668,480$167,75925.1%$13,3832.0%
2008$952,630$262,08227.5%$21,9902.3%
2009$1,127,266$310,21227.5%$29,8222.6%
2010$923,411$263,44228.5%$16,2891.8%


I'm not going to begrudge his charitable giving - far from it. For one, he has several dependents, he is paying taxes at a much higher rate than Romney and he is still giving of his wealth to charity. And it is far better than Joe Biden.

However, for a guy who tries to claim he cares more for the poor than his opponents, I'm thinking Romney's 14% charitable giving is a lot more generous. Okay, let's take the LDS tithe out of it, Romney is still giving 4% of his wealth to various charities. I'm not even going to cover Santorum's charity that only gave out 39% of its intake or his PAC that only gave out even less of its intake, with most of it going to expenses. (Yes, by referencing the topic, I may be disparaging Santorum. Read the linked article for more information and make up your own mind.)

Like VP Biden, Senator Santorum may claim he gives of his time as well as money. That is all well and good. There are plenty of stories of Gov. Romney giving of his time and talents to charitable causes (and not just Church related charitable causes).

My final point. If we, as Republicans, want to make the claim that charities will pick up the slack if we cut taxes and welfare payments, we (all of us, especially our wealthy) had better be ready to give more to charities than what we currently give. Otherwise, we will have to be satisfied with government welfare programs and hope our leaders provide constant oversight to prevent waste and abuse. As Mike Huckabee recently stated*, "Last time I checked, the bare minimum of a believer is a dime out of a dollar that is supposed to go to take care of the widows, the poor, the orphans. It is the job not of the government, but of Christian believers to stand up and reach out to the people in need."

* Caveat: Huckabee's, like my own, Romney's, Santorum's, and Gingrich's, belief system is based on Christianity. I am not claiming all Christians are Republicans, nor that all Republicans are Christian. If your belief system is different; by all means, practice your belief system.

† Taking into account that Romney's taxable income is 14%, and neglecting that that money he pays taxes on are being double-taxed.

p.s. If my calculations above are incorrect, they are my mistake and no maliciousness was meant. I am calculating percentages based on Income, not AGI.

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24 comments:

Machtyn said...

I tried to be as fair as I could in this article. Yes, my bias shines through. It is, after all, an opinions sharing site. And this article, while baring fact, is littered with opinion.

Nancy said...

Not to mention all the quiet charities that Mitt gives to and does not claim on his taxes. A friend posted this to me a few weeks ago: "Another story from someone who went to school with Mitt is that they had a mutual friend who fell seriously ill and Mitt quietly rescued them financially and I was told in a rather big way. It was not made public, of course, but a few people knew and the secret has trickled out. I'm glad to know it. I'm glad to know the kind of person he really is."
I know there are many more stories like this we will never hear about.

Anonymous said...

Where's 2011? Hiding more 4K donations for clothing?

Ellie.

Anonymous said...

Santorum doesn't tithe enough to cover the Catholic beliefs he spouts off. A maximum of 2.6% tithing ain't gonna cut it for the way he talks.

I'm willing to bet Romney, being the good Mormon he is, tithed atleast 10%, if not more, from his days in the private sector, when he was making the really big bucks and being taxed accordingly. After all, Romney tithed and donated to charity at 15% with income from investments, which is taxed at a lower rate.

Many claim Santorum is more authentic than Romney, but actions speak louder than words-- once again.

Anonymous said...

Whoa! Santorum makes a lot of money. Unfortunately, it's from lobbying.

Anonymous said...

notice that only one of the candidates actually gives the 10% tithe as stated in the bible. Maybe Rick and Newt dont offer much money but they sacrifice a lamb for offering.

Publius Nemo said...

It's amazing when everyday Joe's like ourselves donate more of our money than these candidates with exception to Mitt Romney. Politicians like Rick Santorum always claim they stay in office because of all the good they are doing but really they are in it for themselves. Typical politician. Remember that he suggested that he did his own taxes "around the kitchen table"? I think Newt would file that whopper under "Pious Baloney".

Machtyn said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Machtyn said...

Okay, I didn't let him have it in the article, but I will here. My wife's father raised 13 kids and even took in foster children. He paid a full tithe (as far as I know). My dad, on an upper-middle income salary, raised his 5 kids and paid a full tithing. Me on a middle income salary right now, with 2 kids pay a full tithing, but even when I was single and was considered "working poor", I paid my tithing.

There are people who are in foreclosure; who, with a financial advisor, have cut everything possible out of their budget, will not let go of their faith and tithing. http://www.usatoday.com/news/religion/2008-09-23-tithing-housing_N.htm (LDS are not represented in this article, at least not explicitly.)

Pious baloney, indeed.

Anonymous said...

To be fair, isn't tithing emphasized a lot more in the LDS church than in most other faiths? It seems like it is to me, but then I'm not very familiar with other faiths.

-Martha

Anonymous said...

But, it is rather ironic that the man who people claim is not 'Christian' enough, lives the Biblical law of tithing better than the other candidates, maybe with the exception of Paul. I don't think we lnow his charitable giving yet, do we?

-Martha

Noelle said...

I don't know Martha, but I do know that Mike Huckabee said at CPAC he would vote for a full tithe payer, defined as paying 10 cents on the dollar. I have a reasonable level of confidence that Huckabee is not LDS, so I think it is safe to say that other Christian denominations also teach tithing as paying 10%.

Noelle said...

And Machtyn, a slight correction - my parents only raised 12 children. One of my sisters died as a newborn. But not only did my parents take in numerous foster children, but they also took in other people as well. My parents faced constant money troubles, but ALWAYS paid a full tithe.

BOSMAN said...

Martha in the Catholic church, it is 10% if you are able.

Santorum is able.

Anonymous said...

I doubt either of them keep every receipt everytime they do something charitable. No matter, they still give much more than liberals. Liberals are only charitable with other people's money.

kfoxnewell said...

Terrific article. Very concise and informative. It is so important to our country that we elect the right person as our leader. Santorum can not possible win in the general. Mitt Romney stands head and shoulders above him with conservative principles and true leadership ability proven time and time again.
And, yes, 10% tithing is practiced by most conservative Christians. Thank you for sharing this information. Wake up America before it's too late!

Anonymous said...

It's the lobbying that will hurt him. Additionally it will hurt him with his favorables as the great unwashed see he isn't one of them at all. He and his wife are both attorneys, he's a lobbyist, and he thinks American conservatives are going to be fooled by a sweater vest. We conservatives are truly stupid, too bad for tricky Ricky, just not that stupid.

Anonymous said...

Thanks, guys. Yes, I know that most religions teach 10%. But what I don't know is how much it is truly emphasized. How much is it really pushed? Is it an afterthought, or is it like the LDS church, where you are called in at the end of every year to declare whether or not you are a full tithe payer. The LDS probably hold the feet to the fire a little more.

-Martha

Anonymous said...

Although money is a fair point to discuss in which Mitt clearly is head and shoulders above his rivals, I would also point out charity in donation of time and talents completes the total picture of a man. He gave free time returning to Bain when troubled times hit. He donated his talent and time to the Olympics, His bio said he served full time as a bishop and Stake president, including his time as governor and full time mission to France, I am well over twenty years! In a fair and balanced world his rivals should be peeing their pants! What value is placed upon time? KJV Insight on Mitt found here ... I Corinthians chapter 13!!!

Anonymous said...

I admit to being a little disappointed in Rick's charitable giving. In spite of having many children, he doesn't have to pay for health care benefits like so many of us do. Santorum will be okay for life with the best health care available. Still, he certainly is more charitable than Joe Biden.

I just want to note here, that the LDS Church does not force anyone to pay anything. We are taught to pay "10 percent of all our increase annually," and we are encouraged to meet with our Bishop at the end of the year. We declare whether we are a full tithe payer or not. Nobody audits us; we are never sent a bill. Sometimes people misunderstand how tithing is practiced in our Church, and I just wanted to make it clear that no one is compelled to pay in any way.

AZ

Anonymous said...

AZ, thanks. I did leave the wrong impression when I said we are called to declare our tithing for the year. Yes, it is up to us to do so with our Bishop. No one forces anyone. I'm glad you clarified that.

-Martha

Crystalf said...

I certainly would like to see a breakdown of what portion of that paltry 1%-2% charitable giving was to his church & what other "charities" the remainder went to. As a Catholic, his tithing does matter to me, and I don't want to hear any more sob stories about his supporting a large family or the other choices he has made in his life. We taxpayers are supporting his family's healthcare & his enormous pension.

I'd like a breakdown of who is paying him & get the "lobbyist" title affixed where it belongs.

Let's make him answer to his shady real estate deals too. Could he really be a good adversary to Obama's cronyism??

Anonymous said...

Martha it is emphasized in the mormon faith, but forced in some others...forced meaning the hat or bucket is passed around for everyone to watch who drops money in and who doesnt.

jprockwall said...

The amount of charitable giving is, of course, an entirely personal decision. However, for one who champions a strict adherence to biblical teachings, you would think that Mr. Santorum would know that the Bible teaches that believers are to pay an honest tithe (10 % of ones income). Many of the “faithful” to whom Mr. Santorum is directing his “Christian Values” campaign rhetoric, pay even more than this divinely appointed minimum amount ...”ten cents on every dollar, a dollar on every ten”.