The Obamas Write a $15,000 Check for Haiti Recovery

I guess Michelle won’t be buying a new purse this week.

He thinks nothing of spending taxpayer money but he’s a cheapskate with his own!!!!!!!!!!

Four nights at his vacation home in Hawaii cost $16,000.
A drop in the bucket for a multi-millionaire.
Probably equivalent to us giving $15.00

Probably equivalent to us giving $15.00
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There is nothing the matter with a $15 contribution.
Quit your sucking and whining.

I gave far more than that in carbon credits .

Is G W Bush really the type of person people want involved in handling their donations?
I think I’ll donate to the Red Cross.

Compare and contrast to Pres. Obama, who trots out the PR flacks to trumpet his terribly wondrous generosity.
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The President’s contribution is made public to set an example as President and encourage others.

Pat, people like George W. Bush do their charitable giving without fanfare or drawing attention to themselves. That’s what Christians do.
Compare and contrast to Pres. Obama, who trots out the PR flacks to trumpet his terribly wondrous generosity.
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And apparently you like to judge and insult the President like a good “Christian” would.
The President’s donation is made public to set an example and encourage others to do the same – Haiti is a terrible, major disaster.

Brad & Angela gave $1 million (about a weeks combined income), Madona gave $250K – perhaps what she earns in interest before noon? Generous by most standards but these people have astounding wealth and it’s no sacrifice. My disabled neighbor gave a weeks of his income (a mere 16K a year) and THAT is sacrifice and THAT is a philanthropic spirit.
But for the Obama’s to give a combined 15K?! Here’s your change chumps! 15K? Pathetic! This level of parsimony shocks me. It’s her wardrobe expense for a week. Shocked the hell out of me. If I had that much money and gave that little I sure as hell would keep it a secret. I sure as hell would not be bragging about it. Chump change! Pathetic

And apparently you like to judge and insult the President like a good “Christian” would.
Posted by: tierra | Jan 20, 2010 10:08:41 PM
Who said Ferd Berfle is a Christian? I believe “Ferd” was referring to Mr. Bush who has made his belief public.
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So Ferd flaunts Christian values and then displays a complete lack of them himself. Cool.

I don’t find anything wrong with the amount of $15K. It’s enough to buy some much needed water and blankets for the old and young. What I find wrong is that the $15K comes from a book, “The Audicity of Hope”, a book that is embarassing to read, a book that most blindly admirers of Mr. Obama would stay in line for to buy with their hard-earned money.

John says: ” But for the Obama’s to give a combined 15K?! Here’s your change chumps! 15K? Pathetic! This level of parsimony shocks me.”
John, how small and petty you are. Where is your 15,000.00? How much did your hero, Palinstein give? More to the point, I’ll bet you didn’t even give 10.00.

Any gift or kindness should be valued but that utterly begs the question these public gifts are intended to address.
If you are wealthy beyond the dreams of the vast majority and want to call attention to your charitable contributions (aka tax deductions) for the purpose encouraging others to make a sacrifice (and that IS the purpose of these very public showings) then there is plenty wrong with flaunting a $15K donation from TWO very wealthy people.
One need not be ostentatious nor insult the many hungry and homeless Americans who suffer hard times and also are in need; but when what you want to communicate and publicize is the spirit of generosity and philanthropy then, I am sorry, when you are this wealthy, a paltry $15K is a bit pathetic, it hardly qualifies as “extraordinary compassion” (give us a break!) and, as already hinted here, it reeks more of parsimony than philanthropy.
When you are this wealthy then $15K gift is, indeed, “chump change.” I think the words “chump change” and “pathetic’ were appropriate and, indeed, too kind.

For The Record: And na na na na to you too! Now off to bed with you little one.

“there is plenty wrong with flaunting a $15K donation”
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The President and First Lady’s donations are made public BECAUSE he is the President.
It is done to publicize the relief effort fund set up by Clinton and Bush, to set an example and to encourage people to donate.

Everyone who knows her has said that? What a generality that is! No wonder so many here laugh at you!
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Yes, that was a mistake.
MANY who have know her have said Palin is a hypocrite and a phony. Her former associates, people who dealt with her in civic politics, people who knew her in office in Alaska, people on the McCain campaign . … the list is extensive.

Posted by: John | Jan 21, 2010 1:30:32 AM
Dude, I never said you weren’t a Christian – I said you never said whether you were or not. Chill out.

“The President and First Lady have been inspired by the way that millions of Americans have responded with tremendous generosity to the Haiti crisis”.
After a whole week, the President of the United States is INSPIRED by the people to donate??? What kind of leadership is that??? Evidently not by example. Oh, and Michelle Obama tapes the PSA telling us “WE” need to donate, but it takes six days for her to figure out “WE” also includes HER.
And then to send a White House spokesman out to toot the horn for them. Shameless.

The President and his family’s contribution was made public in order to set an example, to encourage people to contribute and to bring extra attention to the fund being overseen by Bush and Clinton.

Tierra, I believe a more appropriate response would be to state your opinion of the book under discussion – not to compare it with another book.
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It’s entirely valid to compare 2 books by politicians, regardless of your limited viewpoint.

Posted by: For The Record | Jan 21, 2010 12:32:22 AM
Still waiting on those answers… And your list of embarrasing parts of her book. You read it right?
Posted by: For The Record | Jan 21, 2010 1:22:03 AM
Tick tock…

Posted by: For The Record | Jan 21, 2010 2:22:43 AM
I’d much rather discuss a book with some actually worth. What did you think of ‘Profiles in Courage’?
Posted by: tierra | Jan 21, 2010 2:28:29 AM
That’s what I thought…You never read it.

Posted by: Off the Record | Jan 21, 2010 2:52:43 AM
I’ve read it, and its a very interesting read FULL of American history and politics. You’ll actually learn something by reading it.

Speculation on the discussion preceding the donation.
Obama: So how much do I really need to give?
Rahm: Well, it has to be at least 5 figures…you’re a millionaire afterall. Don’t want people thinking you’re cheap.
Obama: Okay then, 10,000.
Axelrod: Well, Mr. President, the problem is that will look like you did the absolute minimum to hit five figures. Maybe you could give a little more.
Obama: Okay, 12,500.
Rahm: Well that is more, but a round number like 15,000 would look better.
Obama: Fine. Fifteen then. You better make sure this gets leaked though.
Rahm and Axelrod (in unison): Don’t we always?

Apparently, talmag, your computer isn’t equipped with Google, or you don’t know or care about the truth.
Barack Obama consistently gave 1 percent of his income to charity. In his most charitable year, 2005, he earned $1.7 million (two and a half times what George W. Bush earned) but gave about the same dollar amount as the President.
If you want to go back even farther into Bush’s record, before he was President, you’d find this:
George W. Bush’s giving from 1991-1993.
As far as Bush is concerned, in 1991, the future president, then a private citizen, reportedly had income of $179,591, and charitable contributions of $28,236. In 1992, Bush reported income of $212.313, and contributions of $31,914. In 1993, Bush reported income of $610,772, and contributions of $31,292.
Beats the heck out of Gore’s $358 in 98 when he was V.P.
You can try and spin this any way that you want, but it’s been proven in study after study that conservatives are highly charitable…they just don’t use that charity as a self-promotion tool.

I will respond to Tierra and her inane attempt at misdirection with “Profiles in Courage.” I have read BOTH PiC and Going Rogue, Tierra, so I will gladly discuss the two books. However, surely you realize this is an apples and oranges discussion at best.
Both books are interesting reads, in my opinion. BOth authors had ghost writers who helped them write, but Kennedy never acknowledged that. Many politicians have ghost writers– some like McCain are quite open about the role of a co-author helping out and give credit to the writer, others like Hillary Clinton are less willing to admit there was major assistance. (And this is not a criticism of Hillary as a politician or public servant– I supported her in the primaries and even contributed money to her campaign several times.) Letting a professional writer work with you to produce a political biography does not trouble me in the slightest.
The thing is, PiC is not ABOUT Kennedy. It is not a memoir or an autobiography. It is presented as a work of scholarship, as if Kennedy had done the research and was presenting the results of his study of eight courageous US Senators from various points in our long history. There are admirable men profiled in the book, men who did memorable and brave acts. Nothing to dislike here.
Sarah Palin’s book, on the other hand, is the story of the author’s own life. She, too, did many admirable and brave things. There were a few moments while reading it that I thought she needed a better editor, but there was nothing cringe-worthy in the book. I seriously doubt that most people who complain about the book have actually read it– they criticize Palin for adopting an attitude not present in the work, or for saying things not said in the work.
I too anxiously await Tierra actually responding to the call for specifics with, well, specifics. Should she provide any, I will be glad to address them, since I have the book, and have read and understood it.

Jen B, here are Barack’s charitable donations breakdown. First of all, simply stated, you lied about Barack’s 1% of his earnings given. Lie.
March 25, 2008
Barack and Michelle Obama Donated $240,000 to Charity Last Year
By Grant Williams
Barack Obama, who is seeking the Democratic presidential nomination, donated $240,000 to charity in 2007, according to his campaign, and has released information about his charitable gifts dating back to 2000.
The data show that the Illinois senator’s giving was higher over the past three years, when he and his wife, Michelle Obama, were making more money and he was beginning to run for president.
The Obamas have not yet released their federal tax return for 2007, so it is unclear what percentage of their total income their charitable contributions represented last year or to which organizations their gifts were made.
— Suzanne Perry contributed to this article.