Writer misled about Obama’s charity

Priscilla Weese made statements in an April 24 letter to the editor that conservatives are better at giving that are not true. Either she is terrible at math or she wants to stretch the truth to make a point.

She implied that President Obama was not generous with his money and did not share. Specifically she said that in President Obama’s 2010 taxes that he donated only 1 percent of his salary to charity.

According to his 2010 tax return, he and his wife, Michelle, gave approximately $245,000 on income of $1.795 million. This is about 13.6 percent of their income. Also ignored is the fact that in March of 2010 he donated his entire Nobel Peace Prize of $1.275 million to various charities. If this amount had been included in his income and counted as a charitable donation his percent of giving for 2010 would have been 49 percent.

Both percentages (13.6 and 49) are far above the giving of the average conservative. This shows that he is both generous with his money and backs up his talk about sharing.

John Stanaway

Wheaton