The LuLac Edition #788, Apr. 20th, 2009

PHOTO INDEX: BIDEN AND OBAMA IN THE SENATE BEFORE THEY BECAME THE TOP DOGS.

RENDER UNTO CAESAR..

Unlike a few of his Cabinet nominees, President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden paid all of their taxes and it was on time. Obama has been preaching to Congress about investing in the future, i.e. education and according to the news released this week, the Obamas have been setting aside money for their kid's education. The First Couple dropped more than $47,000 on their daughters' schooling last year. And that's on top of thousands more they poured into trusts for their kids, according to their tax returns released Wednesday. The Obamas could afford to be generous to their children, thanks to raking in $2.73 million, mostly from sales of Obama's books, "Dreams from My Father" and "The Audacity of Hope" - down from the $4.2 million they made in 2007. Of course, lots of their cash went to the government, with $855,323 forked over to the IRS, and well as an additional $77,883 to the State of Illinois. On top of what they were required to give, the President and First Lady also dug plenty deep to contribute $172,050 to 37 charities, giving away about 6.5% of their taxable income. The biggest payout was $25,000 to the NAACP. One organization that wasn't among those listed as recipients of the Obama largess was his former church, the Trinity United Church of Christ, which he quit during the campaign because of its controversial pastor. Before releasing the numbers, Obama held himself up as an example of the kind of person who should be willing to roll back his tax rate to what it was in the '90s. "We need to end the tax breaks for the wealthiest 2% of Americans so that people like me, who are extraordinarily lucky, are paying the same rates that the wealthiest 2% of Americans paid when Bill Clinton was President," he said. Obama was able to contrast his generosity with the anti-tax "tea parties" that conservatives held across the country, complaining that Americans pay too much. "For too long, we've seen taxes used as a wedge to scare people into supporting policies that actually increase the burden on working people instead of helping them live their dreams," Obama said, touting his administration's tax-cutting plans. "We've passed tax cuts that will help our economy grow," he said. "We've made a clear promise that families that earn less than $250,000 a year will not see their taxes increase by a single dime." Meanwhile, Obama's second in command, Senator Joe Biden looked like a piker compared to the President in both income and taxes paid. Biden made less than a tenth of what his boss did, but he was a lot more than a tenth less generous. Biden and his wife, Jill, earned adjusted gross income of $269,256, and and gave away $1,885, including $550 worth of old clothes. Biden did not comment on how patriotic he felt to pay taxes but donating old clothing is both a good thing for humanity and for a tax exemption.

*from combined news reports and White House Press Release.