Clinton Charitable Contributions Went To Clinton Foundation

The New York Times notes that most of the Clinton's charitable contributions went to their own foundation, which has yet to give away much of the money:

During that time, the Clintons paid $33.8 million in federal taxes and claimed deductions for $10.2 million in charitable contributions. The contributions went to a family foundation run by the Clintons that has given away only about half of the money they put into it, and most of that was last year, after Mrs. Clinton declared her candidacy.

Comments

[Countess]

They are such humanitarians it makes your heart break. My sympathy goes out to people who know them.

[PragmaticProgressive]

So, if I designate my savings account as a charity and say I will give the money away in the future, does that count as a charitable donation?

[PingMama]

Yes.

This amount of donation is a tax deduction. It's one thing if you gave this money to unaffiliated charities, but by giving it to themselves, they ripped the federal government off by not paying taxes on $10MM they essentially gave to themselves.

[NoGoodNamesLeft]

they didn't give the money to themselves. ONce the foundation has that money, they can't get it back.

[Sylmason]

Gotta love those sleazy Clinton's. They gave their money to themselves. LOL>>>>>>>>>>>>>> slick willie and his crazy wife loose lizzy are just pathetic.

[nellie]

Apparently.

There's nothing illegal here, but it just leaves more of a sour taste about the Clintons. Of course, compared to what we have on the Republican side, Hillary is a far superior choice for president.

[savertime]

Well, if you're going to lower the bar.

[SharonB]

It sounds like it. And, if you balance your own statements­...don't forget to write yourself a hefty little check each month to pay for your management services.

[ljsfolly]

Like her callculated voting in the Senate and her friends now backing her on the NAFTA story that while she was cheerleading the NAFTA she was "privately" againest it with those select friends does it surprise anyone at all that she and he would dump money into their own charity (themselves) when she decided to run/declared herself a candidate? I am sure she decided to run while Bill was still in the oval. I can see her deciding even the decor while seeing herself there. The clintons show over and over and over they will do anything and have done a whole lot all looking at how it would be seen when she was campaigning. Funny if she was thinking about how this donation stuff would look now, why did she wait until when the news call the Friday night dump to expose the tax returns?

[AnninCA]

The donations are just what you really get to do when you become wealthy. Funding change that makes a difference in lives is a real luxury item. When you have been as successful as they have, then you get to enjoy doing just that.

And....it'­s a tax write-off.

[PingMama]

Here's the problem:

This is a charitable tax deduction. So, they ripped off the federal government by not paying taxes on $10MM by giving it to themselves.

Understand?

[nellie]

Not quite accurate. They've donated half, and the rest is unspent. It isn't as if the money has gone to personal expenditures.

[PingMama]

However, when you and I take a tax deduction on charitable giving, it usually goes to unaffiliated charities and it's a tax break. It reduces your adjusted gross income, so you pay less taxes.

By giving that money to their own charity, they reduced the amount of taxes they would have had to pay.

It just doesn't look good. And, we don't know how much money of that charity did pay for any of Bubba's personal expenditures.

[tester]

And Bill Gates' money went to the Gates Foundation. SO WHAT? Does it mean that the Gates', the Clintons' or whoever else didn't give away any money? Of course THEY DID.

PETTY Huffpost pickings.

[rrafiringa]

The Gates didn't give only a small percentage of their fortune to their foundation, they gave away most of it. The Clinton's foundation is what I call Eagle shit. The little drop to the people that makes them all happy and teary eyed in admiration, while the real clockworks are in the shadows.
We've all have heard about foundations being used as shelters for illegal activities. I'm not saying that it's the case for the Clintons, but they don't exactly have a reputation of honesty.
Creating a foundation like an NGO for instance would be a way to launder money and evade taxes.

[PingMama]

Gates isn't running for president.

[savertime]

The Gates have received honors and awards for their very visible charitable contributions. Don't try ti compare this newly formed Clinton Foundation for burying money. Besides, Clinton is paid hefty mangement, travel and director's fees.

[lysistrata]

Unless there is any real, concrete evidence the Clintons did something wrong, you people should just shut up. This whole business about their income is crazy

The economy is in the tank, the President has disappeared and is not doing his job and all you can think about is sliming the Clintons.

[SharonB]

Oh, please! If this was Obama or McCain, you would be sharpening your butcher's knives to hack them to pieces and you know it.

[Tejano1]

great idea. i'm starting the Tejano1 Foundation for Sniper Fire Survivors. i'll donate my entire check, pay myself a hefty salary, and write everything off on my taxes. brilliant.

[NoGoodNamesLeft]

the Clintons receive NOTHING from that charity.

[billrott]

How do you know that? I have not seen the expenses of the foundation or the tax returns of the foundation releases. Have you? If so, please share the link to the information. If not, please stop spreading falsehoods.

[SharonB]

Hillary, I told you, we see through this little disguise of yours.
Can't you post anything at all but that one lie that you cannot prove in any way?

[ebbtide]

Makes me wonder just who is running the charitable foundation. Do they make a terrific salary and get substantial raises every year? I am sure they don't do the work out ot the kindness of their heart.

[NoGoodNamesLeft]

look it up, it's all available online. No one is hiding anything

[billrott]

Please provide a url link. Thank you.

[Grannysue]

Gee, I think I'll start my own charity and say I gave it money, yes they used some to do good no doubt, but come on, the media blasted Obama and his wife who earned 997,000. during the same time frame, which was mostly due to his book sales, which by the way, he wrote. Yet, they won't say a dam word about this. This is fraud pure and simple.

[Binea]

ha ! Don't that just figure.

[NC4Obama]

Yeah and they wouldn't use that charity money to help get endorsements from people.... well yeah they would do that.

[Megaflow]

I'm supporting Obama in this campaign, but really -- I'm amazed that so many people are trying to find something dirty in this Clinton charity news. What charity gives away most of it's money, especially in it's first few years? Charities need money for staff and infrastructure, they need to put money in trust for a rainy day, they need to spend money on building a reputation and influence (very important in the charity world) and they usually do a lot of services OTHER THAN simply giving money away.

There are a lot of things to knock about Hillary (and I'm the first to do it), but this seems pretty far-fetched unless other facts come to light that haven't even been hinted at so far.

[AnninCA]

Just a kind of cynicism that is unseemly. Bill's foundation has done some very important work around the world.

[rrafiringa]

Can you provide a concrete example?

[YWCYWC]

Charity is very important. But let's be a realist, when your friends and your business associates are sitting on the boards of charities, and their spouses are CEO's and CFO's, and board members of influential corporations, there may be a little bit of tit for tat... So while charities are vital for many social programs and scientific research, there is also a lot of politics behind the scenes.

Unfortunately in the case of the Clintons, they have lost so much credibility that anything they touch is suspect and that's what makes Hillary Clinton such a poor choice as a substitute for GWB.

[YWCYWC]

Please read this Washington Post article. Things aren't always as they appear... so the saying goes. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/02/26/AR2007022601542.html

Here are a couple excerpts -

"The retired chief of the IRS branch that oversees tax-exempt nonprofits said family-run foundations are commonly created by wealthy Americans, allowing them to earn tax breaks by donating to a charity whose future good works they can control. Such charities need only to give 5 percent of proceeds each year to maintain a tax exemption.­"

another excerpt... in talking about omissions in Hillary Clinton's disclosure while in the Senate...

"Such omissions deprive the public of the right to scrutinize their political leaders' financial dealings and identify possible conflicts of interest, the former chief of disclosure for the Federal Election Commission said.
Kent Cooper, who retired after two decades overseeing the FEC's public disclosure office, said congressional ethics committees have not enforced the ethics disclosure requirements forcefully. As a result, he said, candidates "know there is no great consequences, and so the habit has developed that people dismiss an omission as a clerical error, when in fact it is a crucial piece of the puzzle about a member's finances that is being hidden.""

Most intelligent voters (and this is not to suggest you are not) will do their own analysis.

[TheWesternBreed]

In general I don't trust the honesty of a dishonest man. That's why I'm cynical and suspicious in advance whenever Bill C. is involved.

[mommadona]

Awww -he's learned a life lesson from the Bush Dynasty...­.

A TRUE D.L.C. moment, fer shure.....

Betcha the rest is plopped into those 'off-shore' accounts..­..

Yep. So Yale, So Bushco,
http://www.edu-cyberpg.com/Literacy/govprograms.asp

So Clintonian.

Can't tell the one dynasty from the other without a program.

[1dogs2]

Perhaps this why the tax returns were made public in a Friday afternoon "garbage dump."

[SLone08]

Wow! Giving all that money to your own charity... that's awfully decent of them.

[NoGoodNamesLeft]

do you have any understanding at all of how a charitable foundation works? Apparently not.

[billrott]

Would you please elaborate on how charitable foundations work? Thank you.