A few days ago, both Barack and Michelle Obama released their 2008 tax returns. The Huffington Post published an article examining their returns, and the amount of money they donated to charities. I’ve included a portion of the article below, but you can find the full text here.
When Barack Obama released his 2000-2006 tax filings during the height of the presidential campaign, he was criticized for slightly-less-than-biblically-
In those years, Obama (serving as Illinois state senator, then U.S. Senator) never offered more than six percent of his income to charity. Twice he gave less than one percent of his earnings.
Fast forward a few years, and the Obamas' returns tell a different story -- both of a higher income bracket and a far higher rate of charitable giving.
The White House released the filings for both the President and the First Lady on Wednesday. Combined, the family brought in an adjusted gross income of $2,656,902, mostly from the sale of the President's books. The Obamas paid $855,323 in federal income tax. And they donated $172,050 - or about 6.5% of their adjusted gross income - to 37 different charities.
Here are the notable donations made
$25,000 to the Catholic Relief Services
$25,000 to the United Negro College Fund.
$5,000 to the American Red Cross
$5,000 to the Boys and Girls Club
$5,000 to the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation
$1,000 to Columbia University
$5,000 to the New Orleans Area Habitat for Humanity
$5,000 to St. Leo's Residence for Veterans
$2,000 to the Haiti Foundation of Hope
$5,000 to the Illinois Coalition Against Sexual Assault