Romney’s equating of taxes and charitable giving sparks debate

[jsr]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/romneys-equating-of-taxes-and-charitable-giving-sparks-debate/2012/08/18/63bea3e6-e891-11e1-936a-b801f1abab19_story.html

Romney’s equating of taxes and charitable giving sparks debate
By Rosalind S. Helderman

Are taxes a form of charitable donation?

Republican presidential challenger Mitt Romney seemed to suggest that he might think so last week, when he responded to questions about how much he pays in taxes by suggesting that people should take into account his total contributions to the government and charities.

The comment was a quick one — a by-golly insistence that despite paying a relatively low tax rate on his vast income, the millions he has given to charity show that he’s not a greedy guy.

But experts who research public attitudes on philanthropy on both sides of the political spectrum said it was an inadvertently revealing moment.

[TeamPooka]

1. When a church builds my road or sidewalk in front of my house...

without asking me to go to their church then I'll equate the two.

[treestar]

2. I've heard the claim he gave his inheritance to charity

Tithing is not "charity" even though the church may use some of it for charity itself. It may count as a tax deduction?

[intaglio]

3. According to churches in the USA tithes are charitable giving

and, yes, that tithe does count as a tax deduction.

I investigated this last year when US churches trumpeted the "fact" that Christians supposedly give more to charity than atheists. I was unable to work out if there was a double whammy because money churches gave to other charities was included in the greater rate of charitable giving.

[DonRedwood]

5. dictionary meaning of TITHE: a tithe is a tax. He says "I paid lots of taxes" he means "tithe

that's my guess.... a tithe is a tax is a tithe is a tax is a...."Oh, I paid lots in taxes!"

[PDJane]

4. Since he continually mentions charitable giving in the same breath as his taxes,

I would have to assume he does equate the two. As far as I am concerned, giving to your church isn't charitable giving, for the most part. True charitable giving goes to things other than the glory of the church.

[Scuba]

6. When the Mormon church turns around and donates to the Romney campaign, that's not charity....

... that's a scam.