Biden is soooooo generous

I am still trying to not bash the current administration but it is getting more and more difficult. After all, according to DHS I may be viewed as a rightwing extremist because I oppose illegal immigration, oppose abortion, believe in states rights as outlined in the Constitution and believe that all citizens of this great country should be protected and provided for without being judged based on race, creed, color or financial background. So, in an effort to speak up without arguing that our country is headed down the wrong path - I will take the time to reflect on the day itself - April 15, 2009 - TAX DAY.

Today, the White House released pieces of the President and Vice President's taxes. President Obama did very well for himself this year ($2.5M) with his recent book. It is interesting to note that he paid roughly 32 per cent of that back to the federal government in the form of Federal tax and 2.9 per cent in State taxes. President Obama also reports that he paid approximately 6.5% of his income to charities. Very impressive Mr. Obama.

On the other hand, Vice President Biden earned $269,256 (including income from his memoirs). Compare his contribution to the tax system with the President. Mr Biden paid roughly 17 per cent to Federal Tax and 4% to his home state of Delaware. Now for the kicker. Mr. Biden makes reference constantly to his Roman Catholic faith. However, when it comes to giving back to charity he apparently missed the 10% tithe that is present in virtually every Catholic church. No, Mr. Biden missed by an order of magnitude and donated .7% (less than 1 per cent) to charity.

Why is this an issue? From one of my previous posts I stated that Joe Biden reports a net worth of $63,000 . Net worth was a big issue during the election of 2008 (Palin is out of touch as her net worth dwarfs her constituents). Why did no one ask 'Why is Joe Biden only worth $63K when he has been collecting a salaray as Senator for 35 years.?' . One could assume that he was being philanthropic with his income and living a modest lifestyle. At less than 1 per cent being donated to charitable organizations - I think we can rule that out.

So, if Joe Biden is not overly generous with his money - where did it all go? Again I ask - is someone who makes in excess of $150,000 a year for a number of years and is worth less than $100,000 really the person we want a heartbeat away from the presidency when the economic future of our country is in such peril?

Where is the honesty?

Not that there are many of you out there reading my posts, but if you have read them you sense that I am rather annoyed with the media in the U.S. . Politics is a simple area to see how one-sided, skewed and self-promoting the media is in this country. There was a time, I have been told, that the media (print, radio, television) actually reported the news. They investigated all aspects of a story and provided that information for the world to consume.

That time is definitely either a dream, a point in history that has been passed by, or simply a creative thought that my parents shared with me as a child and I believed them. The news media, specifically print and television, is so focused on getting their story out there that they often create news instead of merely reporting it. Reading about Sarah Palin (you name the topic) it is very clear that a team of investigators took their charge to dig up information very seriously. This is something that the media should do. However they failed to do the same research on Joe Biden, Barack Obama and John McCain. Perhaps they think that everyone knows how much each of them spends on their wardrobes or how much money they have tied up in family business ....

That being said - it appears that they simply have a plan to report every negative aspect of the governors life in an effort to create/sway public opinion instead of simply reporting it. If they really were about informing the public they would have gone through the same level of investigation and speculation about Joe Biden. Something as simple as :"How can a United States Senator, for several years, be in a position to only be worth $63,000?". Talk about judgement - if he has nothing more that $63K saved after all those years living on the public dime, then how ready is he to be President? Balance a budget? Get us out of this economic crisis that he helped get us in to?

So, until the press decides to act as an unbiased observer and researcher - I will not recommend them for anything other than lining my daughter's rabbit cage and another reason to limit the amount of time my children watch television.