Next line of attack?
Much will likely be made by the Bush Campaign and the SCLM out of this story.
September 3, 2004
Edwards Made Almost $39M in 10 Years
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Filed at 3:42 p.m. ET
Democratic vice presidential candidate John Edwards made almost $39 million in income in a decade, his campaign disclosed Friday.
(snip)
The couple paid 34.8 percent of their income in taxes during the 10-year span, $13.2 million.
New York Times
More below.
We may hear lots of disparaging talk soon about "rich trial lawyers" like John Edwards and how they are destroying our country by driving up health insurance and malpractice premiums, putting doctors out of business and generally being selfish, money-grubbing pricks.
But the truth is, the Edwards are exceptionally generous with their money compared to the notoriously cheap Republican Vice President, Dick Cheney.
More from AP story:
The campaign also reported that the Edwards paid 8.6 percent of their income to charity
Compare this with Dick Cheney's charitable donations between 1990 and 2000. From Boston Globe, "Campaign Notebook", 9/6/2000,Courtesy of OnTheIssues.org
Cheney bristled at questions yesterday about donating less than 1% of his income to charity in light of Bush's call to substitute giving for government activism. "You can disagree with that," he told reporters about his level of giving over the past 10 years. "I thought it was appropriate."
This is particularly disturbing considering how much the Bush Administration touts community service, volunteer work and charity organizations as preferred substitutes for government-funded social safety nets:
Charity has been an important theme in the Bush-Cheney campaign, in part as a substitute for government programs. "We must rally the armies of compassion," Bush has repeatedly told audiences, and has proposed expanding the permissible tax deductions for charitable contributions by those who do not itemize, as well as lifting the cap on corporate giving. He also disagreed with the reporters' arithmetic. While they counted only direct cash donations, he said that noncash items doubled the amount to more than $400,000, or 2% of his income.
So Cheney is proud of himself for donating at the most 2% of his income, while the Democratic candidate for Vice President donates over 8% every year.
This difference highlights the hypocrisy of the Bush Administration's policy, which suggests that individuals should be trusted to support private charity rather than funding government assistance programs. It is also another example of the greed that Cheney consistently exhibits, and the disregard he has for his fellow citizens in need, while he continues to make boatloads of money for himself and his cronies through his governmental connections. He really puts the "ick" in Dick.