Posted on 04/11/2008 3:04:46 PM PDT by jpl
WASHINGTON - The federal tax bill for President Bush and his wife: $221,635. That's how much the Bushes owed on their adjusted gross income of $923,807 for the year 2007, according to a joint return released Friday. The Bushes have paid $203,894 so far, which means they'll need to break out the checkbook — they owe the government $17,741.
Their income total includes a $150,000 advance received by Laura Bush for the children's book she co-authored with her daughter, Jenna.
Last year, the president and Mrs. Bush paid $186,378 in federal taxes on their income of $765,801.
Bush's salary as president is about $400,000.
Almost 29 percent of the Bushes' income comes from interest on investments. The largest share of that interest was paid out from one place, The Lone Star Trust, according to the return released by the White House.
The White House also reported that Vice President Dick Cheney and his wife, Lynne, had an adjusted gross income of $3.04 million in 2007.
The Cheneys owed $602,651 in federal taxes on that income. They have paid $466,165 through withholdings and estimated tax payments, and will pay the remaining $136,486 upon filing their tax return.
The Cheneys' income includes the vice president's salary and a pension he gets as a former director of Union Pacific Corp. It also includes Lynne Cheney's book royalty income, a salary from her work at the American Enterprise Institute and a pension she gets as a former director of Reader's Digest.
The vice president's salary is about $212,000.
Mrs. Bush donated all net proceeds from her book advance to Teach for America and The New Teacher Project, according to the White House.
The Bushes contributed $165,660 to churches and charitable organizations, including the volunteer fire department in Crawford, Texas, where they own a ranch. The Cheneys donated $166,547 to charity in 2007, the White House said.
Is it appropriate for the sitting Vice President of the United States to be earning three million dollars in one year while in office?
“Is it appropriate for the sitting Vice President of the United States to be earning three million dollars in one year while in office? “
Yes.
Is it appropriate for the sitting Vice President of the United States to be earning three million dollars in one year while in office?
Why not? Put about $15 million in a muni and you can easily have a $3 million a year return without any conflict of interest of direct stock investments.
Wow, you get the class envy award of the day. How many Obama stickers you have on your car?
Successful people make money. The more successful you are the more you earn. In this case the VP gets a bunch of income from investments and dividends. His wife makes money too!
He also gives away a bunch of it that this article doesn’t talk about.
Saturday, April 15, 2006 12:20 a.m. EDT
Dick Cheney Donates Millions to Charity
In one of the largest sums ever donated to charity by a U.S. public official, Vice President Dick Cheney and his wife Lynne gave away nearly $7 million last year to help the poor and to medical research.
According to income tax information released by the White House on Friday, the Cheneys’ adjusted gross income in 2005 was $8,819,006.
The sum was largely the result of Mr. Cheney’s stock options from Halliburton and royalties from three books written by Mrs. Cheney.
The Cheneys gave more than three-quarters of their income - $6,869,655 - to several charities, including George Washington University’s Cardiothoracic Institute and a charity for low-income high school students in the Washington, D.C. area, Capital Partners for Education.
The Cheneys’ charitable generosity stands in marked contrast to that of their predecessors, whose sometimes stingy donations became a national embarrassment.
In 1997 for instance, Al and Tipper Gore contributed just $353 to charity, a sum that raised eyebrows even in friendly media circles.
The Los Angeles Times noted, for instance, that the Gores’ slender donation “caused some bewilderment in philanthropic circles because of the vice president’s ‘good guy’ image as an advocate for public service and social causes.”
The same year the Gores gave $353 to charity, they reported $197,729 in adjusted gross income.
We could always do like the democrats and elect known failures and lifetime politicians with no experience in the real world.
Isn’t that DU/Kos talk? It’s from INVESTMENTS!! Do you want everyone to quit investing in American companies? Federal employees have a sweet retirement plan, but the VP shouldn’t? Do you have any idea what the duties and responsibilities are at that level?
No...the Vice President should be a homeless guy..../sarc
As long as he’s not stealing it, so what. Most of the money he made did not come from his public service, what is your plan, tell them they can’t go out and make big bucks if they have had government jobs?
Yes...
They’re mere peasants compared to the Clintons.
Do you have comprehension disabilities or just read through a liberal's prism?
According to the article, "The vice president's salary is about $212,000."
That means that Vice President Dick Cheney earned $212,000.00. Other sources of income were from a pension, and probably other interest, dividends, royalties, etc.
Is that too much? Is it unfair?
True colors showing jpl!
I thought the republicans were the RICH! It was the criminal democrates all along! Ted, Kerry, Pelosi, the Clintons can we feel thier pain? Yes we can, in our pockets! hypocrites all of them
That seems like a lot to most of us, but Bush and Cheney would most likely have made more in the private sector over the last several years. Not enough conservatives are willing to make the personal sacrifice of public service. And money is only part of it. Think of what they and their families have to go through on the personal level. No amount of money can buy their service. It is a gift.
I would rather raise their salary and pay them more money out of the treasury than have them earning it in private investments while they're in office. If it were a Democrat like Al Gore I think we'd be a lot more critical here.
Once they're out of office, I have no problem with them making money in the private sector.
Of course not...that’s why there are nekkid wimmin watchin’ the Veep while he’s fly fishin’!!!!
If the particular investments under discussion were directly affected by their legal and policy decisions, then I could agree.
But both Bush and Cheney have been careful and above board in this area.
They should not do paid speaking engagements or book deals while in office (except if revenues generated go to purely charitable or political ends). They should not sit on a board. They should not accept expensive gifts that could be construed as bribes or kick backs.
But personal investments are different. If they have millions in personal wealth, it would be foolish for them not to have that money somewhere where it earns a return.
As long as their policy and legal decisions do not give special favor to their investments and they do not engage in insider trading, they should be making a good return on their investments.
Do you think they should just put all their money in the bank? Do you think they should not be allowed to sell any personal assets at a profit while in office?
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