Presidential Charity

The statistics should come as no surprise.

The Obamas have not given very much to charity until he became a US Senator (and into the public spotlight). Once again this points towards his belief in government solutions. Below is a table of Obama's charitable contributions for the past several years:


The Obamas are by no means scrapping by. They are making a pretty descent income. And with his book sales, their income has skyrocketed the last three years in comparison to the "average Joe". He talks about helping others but it appears that he has not done it personally.

As a Christian, I tithe to my church and support other charitable ministries that help people in my community. I make a descent living and I try to give back (and feel that I need to give more at times). It is surprising that the Obamas have not given more to their church over the years.

Obama's idea of charity is government entitlements - a return to the socialist leaning "New Deal" that Roosevelt instituted during the Great Depression of the late 1920s and 1930s. It is a belief that the government can do a better job of helping people than a church or non-profit organization.

A Wall Street Jounral article from October 24th warns that the Democrats might be contemplating restrictions on what is a charitable contribution. They want a litmus test on organizations around who they help and who they hire.

What does this potentially mean? Gifts you make to colleges, churches, and other non-profit organizations will be scrutinized by the government because of who they support. If the government does not like them - they will not qualify. The gifts I make to the conservative Christian university where I got my MBA (and rated in the top 50 by Newsweek) probably would not qualify.

This is just another reason that I cannot support Obama.