No one said that the Clintons were not generous.

[Raven]

I admire the fact that 10% of their income apparently went to charity. If I took 10% of my income and gave it away there would be no heat in my house. But they had the money and they gave it away. Good for them.

My question, which is not necessarily a knock on the Clintons, is:

Is it good for our country if our elected officials make millions because they have been elected officials?

I don't want my President and his or her spouse to be poor but just how much should the White House be worth and if it is worth multi-millions, what will people do to gain it?

The troubling thing about these tax returns is not where it went but how it came and why it came to them.

Another question I have is...if someone is making so much more money than I am, can they really be expected to understand my daily struggle with a budget? This is the same question that has been raised about health care and insurance...if you haven't struggled with this or even felt the burden, do you really understand what regular folks face?

So the issue is not so much what the Clintons made or what the have, but what this country has become when it comes to its elected leaders. Food for thought.

[DesertFlower]

1. i guess they are generous and need the

tax deduction. we made $180,000 last year. we gave $5,000 to charity. $18,000 would have been too much -- that's money that we save for retirement, unreinbursed health care, etc. always have to worry about long term care which is not covered under health insurance or medicare.

[MonkeyFunk]

4. they paid 33% of their income in taxes

I don't think they got much of a write-off.

[Texas Hill Country]

6. that is a hell of a lot more than they really had to, I am sure they had tons of write off they...

could have used, but opted to pay max because of all the screaming meme's that would attack them instantly if they wrote anything off.

[joshcryer]

10. Exactly. They didn't write it all off as some people here are pretending.

It's crazy to suggest that. They wrote off maybe 2% of their taxes as far as I can tell. I think that's fair.

[BeyondGeography]

12. They did it so snookered people like you would write posts like that

and overlook the pigs-feeding-at-the-trough behavior that made them that money in the first place.

And, of course, it worked.

[Raven]

14. Um, I pay about 33% of my income in taxes after write-offs. I don't

feel that I should get a medal for paying what I fairly owe. I'm sure they took their fair share of write-offs...lets not make them heros because they paid their taxes!

[Texas Hill Country]

17. actually, no they opted to pay 33% up front, so didnt take write offs.

[Raven]

18. Why would someone do that? n/t

[tularetom]

2. There is something seriously amiss

When there is enough money floating around in this country that bill clinton can be paid over $50 million for giving speeches and we have millions without health insurance, people forced to choose between food and medicine, and people with jobs living in their cars because their job doesn't pay enough for them to afford a home.

Supply side economics and redistribution of wealth through tax policies that favor the wealthy have brought this situation about. Clinton obviously doesn't want to change that.

[DesertFlower]

5. one of the things that bugged me was

hillary lending her campaign 5 million and then expecting her supporters to pay her back. why not just give the 5 million to the campaign? it just seemed "sleazy", but hey that's just my opinion.

[Raven]

9. I'm sure that's why she didn't want to release these returns. n/t

[joshcryer]

11. A lot of his speeches were overseas. Bill Clinton is still highly regarded here and overseas.

The same cannot be said of many other Presidents still alive except for Carter (and Gore).

[tblue]

3. I don't think you have to be poor to care about the poor. I don't hold their money against them.

Just look at the Kennedys. And Bill Clinton at least started out poor, and John Edwards wasn't exactly born with a silver spoon in his mouth. What they have in the bank is not the issue for me anyway. How do they vote, who & what do they champion, what are their priorities? Those are the questions I ask when it comes to voting for a candidate. If you're waiting for a poor man/woman to become president, it's gonna be a long wait.

[Raven]

7. The Kennedys didn't make it in the WH. How about a middle income

person in the WH? Have you given up on that too?

[onenote]

8. if someone is making more than you can they understand your struggle?

I don't know -- does that mean that you don't understand the struggle of people who make less than you do? Or are a different color or gender or sexual orientation than you? Or who live in different places than you?

Think about it.

[Hippo_Tron]

13. There are much easier ways to make money than being President

People seeking the office just for the money they will make once they leave is the last of my worries.

[Raven]

15. Really? And you think that GWB really toiled in this job? Really

stayed up nights worrying, really exercised his brain? Think again...money and power and ego.

[Hippo_Tron]

24. No, but Bush isn't in it for the money

Power and ego, absolutely. But you won't find someone who wants to be President that isn't interested in power and ago to a certain extent.

Bush could've stuck with running a baseball team into the ground and made more money for less work than he does running the country into the ground. Granted, he works a hell of a lot less than previous Presidents.

If you look at Carter and Clinton's before and after pictures, you can see that they didn't do it for money.

[MethuenProgressive]

16. After all the clamor for teh "secrets" in the returns - all that's there is success and charity.

I know it's not what some wished to find, but I have no problem with it!
Peace!

[ElsewheresDaughter]

21. It is such pitiful behavior

[KittyWampus]

19. Raven, Bill Clinton has pimped himself and his days as POTUS out to foreign nationals.

IMO, an abuse of the Public Trust placed in him.

[ElsewheresDaughter]

22. shame on you

[Raven]

23. I love your one liners. Too bad they don't make sense. n/t

[ElsewheresDaughter]

25. ah that figures ms kettle

[nichomachus]

20. Well it's a lot easier

to give 10% if you make 100 million. In fact, if you make 100 million, you could give away 50% and still have a pretty cushy life.

You can't make a direct comparison between people who make $20,000 a year and people who make $20 million a year in terms of how they spend their income.