The White House yesterday released the Federal 1040 form for the President and First lady. At first glance it becomes quite apparent why the president speaks so much about fairness.
The Obamas had an Adjusted Gross Income of nearly $2.7M and $172k in charitable gifts. That is a giving rate of 6.4%
Former President George W. Bush’s 2006 Federal 1040 shows an AGI of $643k and charitable contributions of $78k. That folk is 12% nearly double the giving of Obama and only less than a quarter of the income.
So why does Obama feel so strongly that we need to legislate fairness? It seems quite apparent that he is incapable of giving out of his own heart. Aparently everybody should be forced to give instead of having the choice to give. Right now Obama has the choice and he apparently is saying he’d rather keep the money.
There is much to learn from Jesus’s parable of the rich man
Matthew 19:16-24 (New International Version)
The Rich Young Man
16Now a man came up to Jesus and asked, “Teacher, what good thing must I do to get eternal life?”
17“Why do you ask me about what is good?” Jesus replied. “There is only One who is good. If you want to enter life, obey the commandments.”
18“Which ones?” the man inquired.
Jesus replied, ” ‘Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not give false testimony, 19honor your father and mother,’[a] and ‘love your neighbor as yourself.’[b]”
20“All these I have kept,” the young man said. “What do I still lack?”
21Jesus answered, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”
22When the young man heard this, he went away sad, because he had great wealth.
23Then Jesus said to his disciples, “I tell you the truth, it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. 24Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.”
Now that Obama has some wealth it is apparent he is choosing the path of the camel trying to get through the eye of the needle on his way to heaven.
Why didn’t we need all these new taxes and this big government 200 years ago? Because people contributed to society from their heart. Communities came together for the general good. Today people like the Obamas think they are above giving and contributing but they feel they can force the rest of us to contribute through legislation to make the world fair.
The Obama’s have been blessed in recent years with incredible income from book sales. Yet they can’t find it in their own hearts to help those in need with what ultimately belongs to God anyhow.
The same goes for Warren Buffet. If he has a guilty conscience because he only pays 17% in Federal income taxes, why doesn’t he find a nice food shelter, church, the list goes on, to contribute to until 30, 40, 50, 70% of his income is given away? Right now he has that power but instead he decides to impose his will on others to clear his conscience.
We don’t need a Federal Government to tell us it’s ok to give to those with less. That is the problem with this country today. Everybody feels guilty about those who go without but everybody looks to the Federal Government to do something about it.
Giving 6% on an income of $2.7M and Obama is complaining about others not doing enough? That we live in a new era of responsibility? What ever happened to leading by example?
Of course only a couple years ago, the Obamas were only giving 0-1% to charity. So maybe there is hope for them yet.
Well said.