Oh, "unimaginable wealth" -- how shocking. The amount that Brian Williams contributes to charity is not public knowledge. But Newt Gingrich's contributions are available. Though his adjusted gross income was $3.1 million in 2010 (is that "imaginable wealth"?), Gingrich donated only $81,133 to charity, or 2.6 percent of his income -- below the average rate for his income group.
Gingrich and the liberals seem to think that paying taxes is "patriotism" -- to quote Joe Biden, who gave a grand total of $368 annually to charity in the decade before 2008. By their own standard, their patriotism is a little rusty. Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner was only the most prominent, but far from the only Obama appointee to acknowledge that he hadn't paid the taxes he owed. And the IRS recently announced that 36 members of President Obama's executive office staff owe the government $833,970 in back taxes.
Conservatives think people should obey the law, and that includes paying taxes. But we don't worship the state or its "Greedy Hand" (see Amity Shlaes).
Far from being embarrassed about his wealth, Romney has every reason to be "unimaginably" proud. He didn't inherit his money (He gave away his inheritance), and he didn't earn it by parlaying his government post into contracts for services as a "historian." He earned every penny through his own talents in the private sector. He then paid all the taxes he was required to pay.
Beyond that, Romney's tax returns reveal the most generous charitable donor in recent history. The Romneys donated about 14 percent to charity in 2010 and about 19 percent in 2011. The average donation for people at the Romneys' level of income is 6 percent.
Would Romney's money have done more good if he'd forked those extra millions to the IRS rather than to the Mormon Church and the other charities they selected? Well, that would certainly have provided a few more bucks for Solyndra and the urgently necessary high-speed rail stretch from Fresno to Bakersfield. But, on balance, private charities are probably a better bet for improving the world.
You'd think Gingrich would understand that.
To find out more about Mona Charen and read features by other Creators Syndicate columnists and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate web page at www.creators.com.
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