Patterico's Pontifications

4/17/2006

The Difference Between Al Gore and Dick Cheney

Filed under: General — Patterico @ 9:15 pm



Hugh Hewitt notes that Dick and Lynne Cheney’s 2005 charitable giving totalled $6.87 million (to be precise, $6,869,655). That’s a sizeable sum, I suppose — but it’s only $6,869,302 more than the $353 that Al and Tipper Gore gave to charity in 1997.

P.S. Hey, it’s at least as relevant a pair of data points as Michael Hiltzik used to falsely claim that Hugh Hewitt’s blog traffic is in serious decline . . .

16 Responses to “The Difference Between Al Gore and Dick Cheney”

  1. Don’t forget Hillary trying to deduct donations of Bill’s old tighty whiteys to the Salvation Army – that’s real class..

    Deacon Bleau (938eb2)

  2. Hellary probably deducted the cost of the condoms that Slick Willie evidently didn’t use. LMAO
    Where are the returns for the leadership of the dim-wit party. Howling Howie, Dusty Reid, Hanoi John and Drunken Ted’s return should make interesting reading. They should also include the total family income as the President and VP did. The American people would riot if the saw where these leftie slime balls have their money hidden, and how little tax they pay with their hidden overseas accounts. I won’t hole my breath until those losers tell the truth.

    Scrapiron (9f37aa)

  3. You know, of course, that Dick Cheney had to start a war to create major profits for Halliburton so that he could in turn profit from the war…

    He’s soooooo greedy and such a liar. I’m sure all this “charitable giving” stuff is merely a smoke screen to mask the obscene war profiteering …

    Harry Arthur (b318a5)

  4. Pat, I would argue that that’s a perfectly relevant pair of data points. I saw an item somewhere that that’s something like 78% of the Cheneys’ gross income, and Gore’s was something like .79% of theirs.

    [Well, Gore gave much more in other years. I picked a couple of data points that best made my point, regardless of whether it was a fair representation of the truth over time. Sound familiar? — P]

    CraigC (28872d)

  5. This is a joke: To the tax experts, is shooting a lawyer a charitable deduction for the ammunition or imputed income for the public relations enhancement?

    nk (956ea1)

  6. Hugh Hewitt notes that Dick and Lynne Cheney’s 2005 charitable giving totalled $6.87 million (to be precise, $6,869,655). That’s a sizeable sum, I suppose — but it’s only $6,869,302 more than the $353 that Al and Tipper Gore gave to charity in 1997.

    At lest, what they gave as tax deductions.

    actus (ebc508)

  7. I think it’s generally a mistake to participate in a “who’s most compasionate?” contest, but this discussion is not unlike that generated by the Europeans who suggested that our level of contributions to the Tsunami relief efforts were inadequate (as defined by them of course).

    I always get very nervous when anyone suggests that they know what I should give to those “less fortunate.”

    Nor is it true “compassion” to confiscate others’ resources to give away, as governments, particularly those of the quasi-international sort, so love to do.

    Harry Arthur (40c0a6)

  8. Al Gore’s miserly contributions actually fit right in with the Left-wing’s principles. They truly believe that charity should be funneled through the Government. In other words, taken from you by increased taxation and then distributed to “worthy” charities selected by the bureaucracy. It’s in every socialist’s blood…. they can’t help it.

    Bill Schumm (33ab73)

  9. The figure that is interesting to is the Gore’s adjusted income of $197,729. Al Gore, through his family, has significant property & business interests in Tennesse. He’s a founder of the (very lame) Current TV Channel. He gives seemingly hundreds of speaches for speaking fees.

    So where does the money go? A trust? A company? A foundation? There is something else going on here besides the less than 200k in reported income.

    Ben Calvin (ffefb7)

  10. Well, our friends at The Liberal Avenger were upset because Vice President Cheney got such a big tax refund. Somehow, they just couldn’t understand that the size of the refund had nothing to do with how much he pays in taxes, but with the fact that he had overpaid!

    The post author, in a subsequent comment, said:

    it’s quite strange – oddly wrong – that a multi millionaire, Dick no less, to be recieving a $2 million check from the Govt.

    Someone needs to teach our liberal friends the facts about economics.

    Dana (dd8e7e)

  11. Dana, Comment #10.

    No, no, no. Think of it as lending the government money for up to one year at no interest. Let people who want to do it, do it all they want. It helps the deficit and keeps the fed rates low.

    Seriously, I understand what you mean. I heard an adenoidal liberal braying about it on an NPR talk show. You do know that exactly one-half of our population has an IQ below normal, don’t you? (Not that I necessarily exclude myself from that group.)

    nk (759880)

  12. NK, I don’t think that liberals are necessarily stupid; some of them are quite intelligent. But I do think that they proceed from incorrect starting premises, and that if there is one discipline in which very few of them have any understanding or experience, it’s economics.

    Dana (dd8e7e)

  13. Then, of course, there’s the interesting trend, which has been going on for many years now, of people living in more politically conservative areas giving more to charity than people from more liberal areas.

    Mississippi, the poorest state in the nation (as ranked by taxpayers’ adjusted gross incomes), is the home of the most generous people. Mississippians, with an average AGI of only $34,720, gave an average of $4,770 per year in tax year 2003 (the last for which we have data), while the residents of Connecticut, the wealthiest state in the nation, with an average AGI of $67,136, gave $3,585, or 27th in the nation. The good citizens of Massachusetts, ranked third in the nation in AGI, at $58,408, gave a whopping $3,122 to charity; that was good for 49th place.

    Every single one of the top twenty states in charitable giving was carried by George Bush in 2004; of the bottom ten states, John Kerry carried nine.

    Dana (dd8e7e)

  14. Mr Calvin: the income figure for Al Gore was from 1997, when he was Vice President, before he had his lame cable channel and before he could get paid (other than by Buddhist nuns) for speeches.

    Dana (dd8e7e)

  15. This could be relevant. I read somewhere of an amazing principal about giving to charity, I think it was called tithing.I’ll get back to you when I figure out where I saw it.

    Kirkland (6eba5e)

  16. With regard to people in politically conservative areas giving more to charity than liberals, you also have to consider that conservatives are generally more successful and therefore have more money to give. Probably a lot more liberals receive charity than give it, thanks to their defective approach to life in general.

    J.D. Lees (fe59a2)


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