Monday, February 20, 2012

Rick Santorum - He's Eighteen of "Us"

Recently, Rick Santorum released his Form 1040 U.S. Individual Income Tax Returns for the years 2007 to 2010 inclusive.  I realize that this information has been covered by the mainstream media with a slant on how much tax Mr. Santorum paid, particularly in comparison to the size of Mr. Romney's tax bill.  I'd like to put a slightly different slant on the data, comparing Mr. Santorum to average American families.

Let's open by looking at a graph of data that I gleaned from the U.S. Census Bureau website showing the median household income for American families from 1990 to 2010:


That should help us put the financial data that we are about to see into context.

Here are screen captures showing the first two pages of the Santorum family Form 1040 for 2007:



Here are screen captures showing the first two pages of the Santorum family Form 1040 for 2008:



Here are screen captures showing the first two pages of the Santorum family Form 1040 for 2009:



Here are screen captures showing the first two pages of the Santorum family Form 1040 for 2010:



Now, here's all of the pertinent data summarized on a chart:


Notice that over the four years from 2007 to 2010, the Santorum family gross income was $3,644,884.  Admirable, don't you think?  In those same four years, the median household income for an American family was $199,758 or just under 5.5 percent of the Santorum family total gross income.  To put that another way, the Santorums made as much as 18.2 median American households.  

As well, over the four year period, the Santorum's donated a total of $81,484 to charity, roughly 2.2 percent of their gross income.  Over the four year time frame, they paid a total of $1,003,495 in taxes for an average tax bill of 27.5 percent.

Here is another interesting bit of trivia from the 2008 return:


Just in case you wondered what the retail of an Audi A6 was in 2008, here's the pertinent data:


I have absolutely no problem with someone making good money.  What I object to is candidates of all political stripes using the "working class background" mantra to attract voters.  Yes, Mr. Santorum's  grandfather worked in a coal mine.  My grandfather was a farmer but that doesn't mean that I have  any right to consider myself part of the farming community.  Unfortunately, his "two-generations removed" connection with blue collar America has absolutely nothing to do with whether or not he understands what it's like to struggle to feed and family, pay a mortgage and other debts on a working-class, median American income.  I'd certainly say that a four year gross income of $3.6 million means that his reality is so far removed from ours.

Mr. Santorum, a few words of advice.  Now that we've actually seen your tax returns, stop pretending that you are one of us.  We’ll vote for you (or not) based on the quality of your character and your platform, not because of who you tell us that you are.  You don't seem to mind being candid with America about your stand on birth control and homosexuality.  Now, be just as candid with Americans about your standing as a very high income earner.

16 comments:

  1. Santorum is a nut - worse than even Palin. Really scary stuff!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Richard Santorum is nuttier than squirrel shit. I would rather have Gary Busey in the White House.

    ReplyDelete
  3. santorum would trim us all to fit the template in his mind of what americans should be--he'd lop off all the diversity, the uniqueness of each person, the freedom of each person to choose his own life, and offer the bloody mess that remains as a tribute to his god. i don't know why he's even running for president of the united states, as he doesn't seem to like the country very much.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I've seen several comments in various places saying Santorum is a nut. I don't think he is a nut. I think he has evil intent and unfortunately he has faithful followers. That is very scary.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Maybe he is the anti- christ. Ya ever think of that?

    ReplyDelete
  6. Don't "christians" generally tithe 10% of their income? Looks like Mr. Santorum needs to cough up 280K more to be a good boy.

    ReplyDelete
  7. To the man who invoked Gary Busey:
    DON'T GIVE THE BASTARDS IDEAS, DAMMIT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    ReplyDelete
  8. I first heard about Santorum years ago when he wanted to bar taxpayers from accessing weather information from taxpayer supported NOAA, vital to the safety and livelihood of millions of people. Then I found out he received political contributions from AccuWeather! What a fraud.

    http://rawstory.com/exclusives/byrne/santorum_weather_ban_accuweather_421.htm

    ReplyDelete
  9. Good luck, America. Your Republican party is a collection of nutjobs.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Broadcasting to liberal bloggers while taking pot shots at Republican politicians. Wow, you sure are brave.

    I think the biggest story on this page is that median household income rose consistently (in real dollars) from 1990-2007, then only dipped slightly. The rich are not getting richer at the expense of the poor. Every US economic class, without exception, has improved drastically over basically every period of the last 100 years. Furthermore, if you look at other studies, we see that individuals have been moving consistently upwards between the classes (their kids start on the bottom and work their way up as they get older). These results are not the result of a govt program. Trade creates value.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That dip after 2007 is what scares us. Without a change in course, we have bad times ahead. Only an absolute fool would blame President Obama for that, by the way.

      Delete
    2. Yeah... You ever here of this crazy, new-fangled economics term "inflation"? See, if the number didn't rise, that means we'd all be losing money. I don't think anywhere here it says the rich get richer at the expense of the poor, but if all this government spending basically has the middle class in holding pattern, and someone needs to pay for it, maybe the fair thing would be to charge more to those whose incomes have increased 800%, rather than .08%?

      Delete
  11. Well said.....honesty and integrity is everything but cant help but think he's a victim of the whole electoral process where packaging and presentation are everthing......also that that his income pales into insignificance against the cost of his campaign......in that respect it becomes a non issue

    ReplyDelete
  12. Santorum is a fuckin' asshole ... people like him joined the Brown Shirts in Germany in the 30's ... people like him hate anybody not exactly like them ... they burn crosses on people's front lawns and if our society allowed it ... they would be the first to burn homosexuals at the stake ...

    ReplyDelete