If you’re Joe Biden it begins with your money not his. I saw this post on Laura’s Miscellaneous Musings and couldn’t help but copy it. The original source is cited on her blog plus I’ll cite it here as Ed Morrissy’s Hot Air
Don’t miss this very interesting post by Ed Morrissey.
Although they made less money than Senator Biden, in each of the last two years Sarah and Todd Palin’s charitable donations nearly matched or exceeded what Biden gave to charity over the last eight years combined.
“…in 2006, they donated $4,880 to charity, and in 2007, they donated $3,325. By contrast, Biden (D-Del.)…has donated a total of $3,690 since 1998 despite his higher Senate salary.”
As Morrissey notes, in this campaign both Obama and Biden have stressed the importance of taking care of others. It appears, however, that for the most part they only want to do it with other people’s money.
Seems kind of stingy for both of them, though Biden’s donations seem amazingly low.
I’d like to see this kind of donation itemized with church donations broken out. Giving to your local church so the pastor can buy a new car or so they can hire Ken to put in fancy AV equipment is hardly on a par with giving disaster relief to help Katrina victims. I’m not saying there’s anything wrong with giving to a church, but it’s not “charity”.
Comment by Daryl — Sunday October 5, 2008 @ 6:23 pm
“Giving to your local church so the pastor can buy a new car or so they can hire Ken to put in fancy AV equipment is hardly on a par with giving disaster relief to help Katrina victims”
Interesting… Even if the the pastor’s old car is a 1965 maverick hatchback that just threw a rod, and new AV equipment so the ever increasing aging parishioners can hear the Sunday sermon from the back of the church because that is where there wheelchairs can fit? Giving to Katrina “Vitcims” is charity because they were just plain ass stupid. Do you have anymore lame ass generalities you would like to throw around?
Comment by Scott — Sunday October 5, 2008 @ 7:34 pm
Sure:
Supporting someone whose main purpose in life is to tell you there is a magic being in the sky who can hear everyone talking (or thinking) at the same time and magically influence events on earth is your own personal business. If you want to send them your money to support the delusion, or help others participate in it, it’s up to you, but it’s hardly charity. At best it’s a club. At worst, a scam.
Regarding Katrina: What else is charity but helping people less fortunate than you, even if that misfortune includes being stupid. You can choose which unfortunate people you want to help, and you can try to exclude the unintelligent ones if you want.
Comment by Daryl — Sunday October 5, 2008 @ 7:51 pm
“If you want to send them your money to support the delusion, or help others participate in it, it’s up to you, but it’s hardly charity. At best it’s a club. At worst, a scam.”
Isn’t this just helping people who are stupid?
Comment by Scott — Sunday October 5, 2008 @ 9:02 pm
Touche!
Comment by Daryl — Sunday October 5, 2008 @ 11:08 pm
I hope I didn’t come across too harsh in my earlier comment, regarding both churches and Katrina.
Most churches have a charitable arm that does true charity, helping people down on their luck. And by “scam” I’m referring to faith healers getting rich off people’s miseries, and that ilk. I’m not accusing anyone’s neighborhood pastor!
And I also don’t think that all, or even most, Katrina victims are stupid. It wasn’t any more “stupid” to own a house in a low-lying area of hurricane-prone New Orleans than it is to own a house in earthquake-prone Southern California. Those people who lost everything in the flood weren’t stupid, they were unfortunate. Hopefully they had insurance, but that takes weeks or months to pay back, and in the mean time they were surely in legitimate need of charity.
Comment by Daryl — Monday October 6, 2008 @ 6:31 am
You can build an earthquake proof house but a flood proof house, when you’re building below sea level, is a bit harder.
As to the harshness of your comment, it was quite harsh but no more so than many of mine have been to your kind. 😉
Comment by Don — Monday October 6, 2008 @ 7:12 am
Oh Boy, we all drift towards the middle. Government, get out of my life and I’ll give my hard earned money to whoever I want, it’s mine. I’ll build whatever house I want in any place I choose and if something happens to it I’ll deal with it. I am not a “Victim” I am unfortunate. I am not a “Perpetrator” I am fortunate. Again, Government, get out of my life until I infringe or cause harm to someone’s personal or civil rights. Instead guard and protect the nation we live in to protect our unalienable rights to the pursuits of happiness.
Comment by Scott — Tuesday October 7, 2008 @ 6:51 pm