I'm Not Changing My Vote, But I Am Not Impressed
This came out in mid-September, but I just found out about it today.
Sen. Joe Biden gave $3,690 to charity... over 10 years.
In case you're interested, here's more about all four of the candidates' giving.
Conservatives have scolded him quite harshly for this, and I have to say that in the absence of any additional information - which I did not locate with el Google - I agree. That's pathetic, especially for a person in elected office.
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Me Elsewhere
I guess he itemizes, is that how they can tell? It seems pretty pathetic for a Senator. I usually try to give at least 5% of my income.
The New York Times
August 25, 2008
Obama Aides Defend Bank’s Pay to Biden Son
By CHRISTOPHER DREW and MIKE McINTIRE
During the years that Senator Joseph R. Biden Jr. was helping the credit card industry win passage of a law making it harder for consumers to file for bankruptcy protection, his son had a consulting agreement that lasted five years with one of the largest companies pushing for the changes, aides to Senator Barack Obama’s presidential campaign acknowledged Sunday.
Mr. Biden’s son, Hunter, received consulting fees from the MBNA Corporation from 2001 to 2005 for work on online banking issues. Aides to Mr. Obama, who chose Mr. Biden as his vice-presidential running mate on Saturday, would not say how much the younger Mr. Biden, who works as both a lawyer and lobbyist in Washington, had received, though a company official had once described him as having a $100,000 a year retainer. But Obama aides said he had never lobbied for MBNA and that there was nothing improper about the payments.
Campaign officials acknowledged that the connection between the Bidens and MBNA, the enormous financial services company then based in their home state of Delaware, was one of the most sensitive issues they examined while vetting the senator for a spot on the ticket.
[....]
Consumer advocates say that Senator Biden was one of the first Democratic leaders to support the bankruptcy bill, and he voted for it four times — in 1998, 2000, 2001 and in March 2005, when its final version passed the Senate by a vote of 74 to 25.
Travis Plunkett, legislative director of the Consumer Federation of America, a consumer group that opposed the bill, said that Senator Biden had provided a “veneer of bipartisanship” that eventually helped the credit card companies win over other Democrats. “He provided cover to other Democrats to do what the credit industry was urging them to do,” Mr. Plunkett said.
[....]
I always wonder about these types of statistics. I mean, I wonder about how well itemized those deductions are, or whether they even claim everything. What's more important to me than amount, though, honestly, is what charities we're talking about here. I mean, I don't care if McCain gives 1/4 of his income away if he's giving all to God Hates Fags, you know?
I'm one of those who prefers to give time to money, and I never claim the money I donate in cash or goods--then again, I don't have an accountant, which I assume he does. Would be interesting to know how much time/hands-on support they all donate, compared with dollar amounts (and where they spend it, like Grace said).