Biden’s tax returns have been brought up again, since Palin released hers yesterday.  Who is really middle class becomes clear when comparing the two.  The Palins meet the classic definition of middle class income, and their charitable giving is on par, maybe slightly below, the average based on IRS returns of all Americans.

The Bidens, however, make much more than middle class and give much, much less than average for their income level.  His campaign explained saying the Bidens give a lot of cash (like offerings at church) and time to their charities of choice.  They also said the Bidens loaded up a car full of supplies and drove down to the coast to help Katrina victims themselves.  I can see this (maybe not the ENTIRE Katrina story), because many Americans only have time to give, and that’s not deductible. 

However, I think the campaign could have come up with a better explanation.  Since Biden thinks paying taxes is patriotic, then deducting for charitable giving lowers his tax burden.  Therefore, he was being more patriotic by not deducting his charitable giving. 

So why deduct ANYTHING?  That $300 deduction lowered his taxes by $100 maybe.  I can’t explain that one, but I’m sure his spinmeisters could. 

Oh wait, they don’t want to remind Joe Six-pack that Joe Biden thinks taxes = patriotism.