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April 16, 2006
Spinning The Cheney's Amazing Charitable Contributions
Dick and Lynne Cheney gave an astounding amount of money to charities last year, but you'd be hard pressed to know it from reading the MSM stories on their taxes and income.
"Bush Pays Taxes, Cheney Awaits Refund" was the headline on the Associated Press story in the Los Angles Times about the first and second family's tax filings; "Bush Pays $187,768 in 2005 Taxes; Cheney Gets Refund" Bloomberg.com crows. Another version of the AP story in the Helena, Montana Independent Record began with this for a first paragraph:
WASHINGTON — President Bush and the first lady paid about $187,000 in federal taxes this year on income of about $735,000. Vice President Dick Cheney and his wife made more than 10 times as much, overpaid the tax man and are looking for a $1.9 million refund.
Most of the MSM outlets just went with this somewhat misleading AP story which saved the real story about the generosity of the Cheney's until the fifth or sixth paragraph. In case you are wondering what the real story, here it is:
In one of the largest sums ever donated to charity by a U.S. public official, Vice President Dick Cheney and his wife Lynne gave away nearly $7 million last year to help the poor and to medical research.According to income tax information released by the White House on Friday, the Cheneys' adjusted gross income in 2005 was $8,819,006.
The sum was largely the result of Mr. Cheney's stock options from Halliburton and royalties from three books written by Mrs. Cheney.
The Cheneys gave more than three-quarters of their income - $6,869,655 - to several charities, including George Washington University's Cardiothoracic Institute and a charity for low-income high school students in the Washington, D.C. area, Capital Partners for Education.
How many of the Hollywood liberals who hate Cheney's guts and would tell you he was Adolph Hilter's long lost son if they thought you'd believe it -- many of whom made far more than the Cheneys -- donated seventy-five percent of their income to charity? How much do you want to bet that number is zero?
What you've got here is a prime example of the "selective editing" of the MSM, otherwise known as liberal media bias. They hate Cheney's guts, think he's evil and therefore the fact that he's donated more money to charity in one year than almost any public official in recorded history merits no more than a offhand mention buried in a story about how he gets a $2 million refund (incidentally because he OVERPAID by that amount).
You can bet that if William Jefferson Clinton and his lovely wife Hilly had donated $7 mil to charity even now, the MSM would be all over it and if they weren't the Clinton's would be sure everyone knew they did.
And speaking of vice presidential donations to charity, does anyone remember the MSM making a huge deal when in 1997 Algore reported $197,729 in income and a whole $353 in charitable contributions -- less than the typical middle class slob making $50,000?
Posted by Steve at April 16, 2006 11:52 AM
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-->Comments
Fuck off, Steve, you elitist pig. We can't all be war profiteers. Love, Us That Earn Less
Posted by Middle Class Slob ![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.pardonmyenglish.com//nav-commenters.gif)
at April 16, 2006 06:18 PM
The jury remains out as to whether or not leftism is a mental disorder.
Posted by MJohnson at April 16, 2006 07:27 PM
I don't think the jury is out at all, MJ: liberalism is a mental disorder as the commentabove proves. That Lynne Cheney is a shameless children's book profiteer. Last time I checked deferred comp earned in '98 and '99 was profit from seven or eight years ago, not profit from anything Halliburton is doing today.
Posted by Steve at April 16, 2006 07:58 PM
Wow, here you have a perfect opporotunity to say something positive about the vice president and instead you spin it into something negative about the left.
how proud you must be.
Posted by daftright at April 16, 2006 09:15 PM
Actually, the headlines are even more misleading than it looks. If you read the story, the Bushes are ALSO getting a refund--of $39,909, which they're applying to next year's taxes.
And in the "put your money where your mouth is" category, you'll note that the Bushes paid 35% tax on most of their investment income and gave to Hurricane and Earthquake relief and a food bank--to the tune of $75,000 on an income of $738,000.
It's interesting that they want to spin Bush as owing taxes (like he's so stupid he can't figure out how much to pay), when actually he overpaid his taxes, just as Cheney OVERPAID his, and both are getting refunds. They also strangely leave out the fact that the Cheneys paid 2.4 million into the system.
For some reason, they have taken two families with the same tax situation (overpaid and are owed a refund) and spun them in two different ways.
Maybe the mainstream media doesn't know what "applying the refund to next year's taxes" actually means.
Have the Clintons released their taxes yet? It wouldn't surprise me if they did. Lately they're all about telling everybody how rich they are and how they should pay more taxes.
Posted by Kerry at April 16, 2006 10:12 PM
"Wow, here you have a perfect opporotunity to say something positive about the vice president and instead you spin it into something negative about the left."
Wow, you had a perfect opportunity not to be all whiny and mushy and you blew it.
I'll try not to hwurt your twiddle feewings next time.
I don't need to say anything nice about Dick. I know he's a good guy.
Posted by MJohnson at April 16, 2006 11:00 PM
MJohnson - I want to make sure I'm understanding you correctly...
Are you in favor of pointless partisan bickering or are you simply against those wo openly don't like it?
Posted by daftright at April 17, 2006 10:47 AM
Actually I'm against those who engauge in it while in the process of condemning it.
Posted by MJohnson at April 17, 2006 01:07 PM
But look at the two situations. The MSM is up to something here.
The focus is on Bush PAYING taxes and Cheney having a REFUND.
Yet Bush got a refund, also, and Cheney paid far more into the system than Bush.
Why are they letting Bush skate when he's getting a refund, too?
Answer: Bush is in for the long haul, and nothing can be done about it now. They still fear a potential Cheney administration, so the long knives are pointed at Cheney now.
It will be interesting to see if the "I-hate-Bush" contingent of the Democratic party will similarly give up on the president and step up the attack on Cheney. 2008 is coming soon.
Posted by Kerry at April 17, 2006 01:14 PM
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