One Percent Giving

Tax returns released by the Barack Obama presidential campaign show that Obama and his wife Michelle gave less than 1 percent of their total $1.2 million income to charity from 2000 through 2004.

The Obamas reported that they gave $2,350 to charity in 2000 — 1 percent of their $240,505 adjusted gross income — $1,470 (.5 percent) in 2001, $1,050 (.4 percent) in 2002, $3,400 (1.4 percent) in 2003, and $2,500 (1.2 percent) in 2004.

The total for the four years was $10,770, “a lowball figure compared to other politicians,” the New York Post reported in a story headlined “Those Stingy Obamas.”

The Obamas increased their charitable contributions to $77,315 in 2005, when their adjusted gross income was $1.65 million — including $1.2 million from Barack Obama’s book royalties.

And in 2006, the Obamas contributed $60,307 — 6.1 percent of their $983,826 AGI — including $22,500 to controversial pastor Jeremiah Wright’s Trinity United Church of Christ and $13,107 to the Congressional Black Caucus.

from Newsmax.com article