Kathianne
09-20-2008, 02:04 PM
Some of these are not like the others, unless one is truly confused:
http://www.reason.com/news/show/128900.html
Joe Biden, Straw Man
Is paying taxes patriotic?
Katherine Mangu-Ward | September 19, 2008
Both sides are making a big deal this election season about how they're never going to question anyone's patriotism. But clearly the moratorium only applies to guys and gals running for executive office.
Sen. Joe Biden (D-Del.), for instance, seems concerned about adequate patriotism on the part of people in households making over $250,000. They need to pay more taxes, he said this week: "It's time to be patriotic...time to jump in, time to be part of the deal, time to help get America out of the rut."
Could it be that Biden is a real, live, walking, talking straw man? Advocates of personal responsibility and private charity love to hold up this particular character for inspection: the guy who believes that state welfare programs exempt him from the obligation to personal charity. The guy who believes that paying mandatory taxes and making private donations are one and the same. I've always been skeptical that such a character exists. But here we have him, in the gleaming golden flesh.
Lest there be room for doubt, Biden stuck by his remarks and tacked on, "Catholic social doctrine as I was taught it is, you take care of people who need the help the most." ed.; though this bit on Catholic doctrine is not related to government. Keep in mind, not letting the right hand know what the left hand is doing...
When Biden released his tax returns last week, many jumped on his none-too-impressive record of charitable giving. Despite income somewhere in the $210,432 to $321,379 category during the last 10 years (rich!), the Bidens have given between $120 to $995 to charity annually, between 0.06 percent and 0.31 percent of their income. The average taxpayer bringing in more than $200,000 makes over $20,000 of charitable contributions, according to the IRS.
Biden's miserly charitable giving jibes fairly exactly with the findings in Arthur Brooks' Who Really Cares? which reports that "those who say they strongly oppose redistribution by government to remedy income inequality give over 10 times more to charity than those who strongly support government intervention, with a difference of $1,627 annually versus $140 to all causes," a gap not explained away by discrepancies in religious giving. Last year, the tax returns of Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) show charitable giving of 27.3 percent to 28.6 percent of his income.
The thing about charity, of course, is that it isn't and shouldn't be mandatory. Biden may have excellent reasons for not giving—perhaps he keeps his charity within his large family. Perhaps he is a secret devotee of Ayn Rand. But his remarks this week are unambiguous: For people in his income bracket, giving money to government is a good and patriotic thing to do....
http://www.reason.com/news/show/128900.html
Joe Biden, Straw Man
Is paying taxes patriotic?
Katherine Mangu-Ward | September 19, 2008
Both sides are making a big deal this election season about how they're never going to question anyone's patriotism. But clearly the moratorium only applies to guys and gals running for executive office.
Sen. Joe Biden (D-Del.), for instance, seems concerned about adequate patriotism on the part of people in households making over $250,000. They need to pay more taxes, he said this week: "It's time to be patriotic...time to jump in, time to be part of the deal, time to help get America out of the rut."
Could it be that Biden is a real, live, walking, talking straw man? Advocates of personal responsibility and private charity love to hold up this particular character for inspection: the guy who believes that state welfare programs exempt him from the obligation to personal charity. The guy who believes that paying mandatory taxes and making private donations are one and the same. I've always been skeptical that such a character exists. But here we have him, in the gleaming golden flesh.
Lest there be room for doubt, Biden stuck by his remarks and tacked on, "Catholic social doctrine as I was taught it is, you take care of people who need the help the most." ed.; though this bit on Catholic doctrine is not related to government. Keep in mind, not letting the right hand know what the left hand is doing...
When Biden released his tax returns last week, many jumped on his none-too-impressive record of charitable giving. Despite income somewhere in the $210,432 to $321,379 category during the last 10 years (rich!), the Bidens have given between $120 to $995 to charity annually, between 0.06 percent and 0.31 percent of their income. The average taxpayer bringing in more than $200,000 makes over $20,000 of charitable contributions, according to the IRS.
Biden's miserly charitable giving jibes fairly exactly with the findings in Arthur Brooks' Who Really Cares? which reports that "those who say they strongly oppose redistribution by government to remedy income inequality give over 10 times more to charity than those who strongly support government intervention, with a difference of $1,627 annually versus $140 to all causes," a gap not explained away by discrepancies in religious giving. Last year, the tax returns of Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) show charitable giving of 27.3 percent to 28.6 percent of his income.
The thing about charity, of course, is that it isn't and shouldn't be mandatory. Biden may have excellent reasons for not giving—perhaps he keeps his charity within his large family. Perhaps he is a secret devotee of Ayn Rand. But his remarks this week are unambiguous: For people in his income bracket, giving money to government is a good and patriotic thing to do....