Charitable donations: Liberals vs Conservatives

[bluffmanxx]

Bleeding Heart Tightwads

written by a liberal....

This holiday season is a time to examine who’s been naughty and who’s been nice, but I’m unhappy with my findings. The problem is this: We liberals are personally stingy.

Liberals show tremendous compassion in pushing for generous government spending to help the neediest people at home and abroad. Yet when it comes to individual contributions to charitable causes, liberals are cheapskates.

yes, spend other people's money but not mine!!!

A study by Google found an even greater disproportion: average annual contributions reported by conservatives were almost double those of liberals.

Other research has reached similar conclusions. The “generosity index” from the Catalogue for Philanthropy typically finds that red states are the most likely to give to nonprofits, while Northeastern states are least likely to do so.

Conservatives also appear to be more generous than liberals in nonfinancial ways. People in red states are considerably more likely to volunteer for good causes, and conservatives give blood more often. If liberals and moderates gave blood as often as conservatives, Mr. Brooks said, the American blood supply would increase by 45 percent.

[bluffmanxx]

Some interesting figures on charitable donations...

Gores' Charitable Giving Raises Some Eyebrows

In a 34-page 1997 federal tax return, Vice President Al Gore and wife Tipper reported giving $353 to charity

Vice President and Mrs. Cheney Too Generous?

On April 14th the White House issued a press release in which it described the details of Vice President and Mrs. Cheney's 2005 federal income tax return. The release stated the Cheneys made charitable contributions totaling $6.8 million, which represented 77% of their adjusted gross income for the year.

Biden gave average of $369 to charity a year

Democratic vice presidential candidate Joe Biden and his wife gave an average of $369 a year to charity during the past decade, his tax records show.

Palin's Charitable Contributions

Sarah Palin released her tax returns late last week and, surprise, surprise, she donated significantly more than Biden did. With an income that is almost a third of Biden's she donated almost TEN TIMES (in real dollars) what Biden has donated over the last few years.

[bluffmanxx]

Obamas’ Tax Returns Show Donation Spike

Senator Barack Obama and his wife, Michelle, sharply increased their charitable donations as Mr. Obama began to run for president and the family’s income increased from book sales, according to tax returns that the couple released on Tuesday.

Although the campaign has not released the couple’s 2007 return, it has said the Obamas gave $240,000 to charity in 2007. This compares with charitable donations as low as $1,050 a few years ago.

John McCain Discloses Data on His Charity Giving

In 2007, the Arizona senator reported $405,409 in total income and contributed $105,467, or 26 percent of his total income, to charity.

In 2006, Mr. McCain said he had $358,414 in total income and donated $64,695, or 18 percent of his total income, to charity.

[Niccivan]

Very interesting information!!!

Can't say I'm surprised Lots of religious, generous, and caring conservatives out there

[bluffmanxx]

Very interesting information!!!

Can't say I'm surprised Lots of religious, generous, and caring conservatives out there

from the original article linked in post #1

It’s true that religion is the essential reason conservatives give more, and religious liberals are as generous as religious conservatives. Among the stingiest of the stingy are secular conservatives.

According to Google’s figures, if donations to all religious organizations are excluded, liberals give slightly more to charity than conservatives do. But Mr. Brooks says that if measuring by the percentage of income given, conservatives are more generous than liberals even to secular causes.

In any case, if conservative donations often end up building extravagant churches, liberal donations frequently sustain art museums, symphonies, schools and universities that cater to the well-off. (It’s great to support the arts and education, but they’re not the same as charity for the needy. And some research suggests that donations to education actually increase inequality because they go mostly to elite institutions attended by the wealthy.)

[billynomates]

If you have to publicize how much you give to charity it is not giving for the right purpose

[spaceboy761]

I've been giving a more than usual this year due to my uncanny amount of survivor's guilt for still having a job right now.

[Dale]

good thread Dougie

Sort of knew this . In Canada its the same way I,m sure

[LadyWrestler]

I'm not the least bit surprised by this! Good thread!

[bluffmanxx]

If you have to publicize how much you give to charity it is not giving for the right purpose

not sure who you are referencing...nobody's individual giving was mentioned other than the political figures i used as anecdotal evidence. the studies were done by independent groups and the article was written by a lefty.

in any case, the characterization of conservatives as evil and greedy that is used often in the media as a presumed fact seems to be quite wrong. i just wanted to point that out.