Another study confirms red staters are more generous than blue staters

Via Politico:

Red states give more money to charity than blue states, according to a new study on Monday.

The eight states with residents who gave the highest share of their income to charity supported Sen. John McCain in 2008, while the seven states with the least generous residents went for President Barack Obama, the Chronicle of Philanthropy found in its new survey of tax data from the IRS for 2008.

The eight states whose residents gave the highest share of their income β€” Utah, Mississippi, Alabama, Tennessee, South Carolina, Idaho, Arkansas and Georgia β€” all backed McCain in 2008. Utah leads charitable giving, with 10.6 percent of income given.

And the least generous states β€” Wisconsin, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Vermont, Maine and New Hampshire β€” were Obama supporters in the last presidential race. New Hampshire residents gave the least share of their income, the Chronicle stated, with 2.5 percent.

β€œThe reasons for the discrepancies among states, cities, neighborhoods are rooted in part in each area’s political philosophy about the role of government versus charity,” the study’s authors noted.

But it’s not just about politics β€” β€œreligion has a big influence on giving patterns.”

I reference this article not to brag about the act of conservatives giving in and of itself, but to point out once again how liberals shamelessly lie about the generosity of conservatives. How many times have you heard or read a liberal talking about how conservatives want to “starve the poor”, “kick old people to the curb”, etc? They say that because they believe government should be allowed to confiscate whatever amount of money they need so bureaucrats can best decide how YOUR money is going to “help” others. This is one of the many problems I have with the liberal philosophy on the role of government in our lives, which I wrote about back in 2009 when it was reported how little the Bidens donated to charity:

I don’t doubt the Bidens have given generously of their time to worthy causes of their choosing. The fact that they have given so little of their money to charitable causes doesn’t really bother me. What does bother me is that Joe Biden and so many of his liberal pals in city, state, and federal government don’t mind being more generous with MY money than they are with their own. They’re famous for declaring that they are β€œmore charitable” towards others than conservatives, but the dirty little secret is that their β€œgenerosity” involves taxing Americans higher and higher so that they (the government) can decide best where that money goes. That’s not β€œgenerosity.” Where I come from, excessive taxation and redistrubution of it is called β€œtheft” – and socialism.

And while we’re on this topic, let’s not forget that this is not the first in depth report that confirms what we already knew about fellow conservatives:

George Will wrote in March 2008 on theΒ “Who Really Cares: The Surprising Truth About Compassionate Conservatism”Β bookΒ done by Syracuse University professor Arthur C. Brooks. Β Some of the findings:

— Although liberal families’ incomes average 6 percent higher than those of conservative families, conservative-headed households give, on average, 30 percent more to charity than the average liberal-headed household ($1,600 per year vs. $1,227).

— Conservatives also donate more time and give more blood.

— Residents of the states that voted for John Kerry in 2004 gave smaller percentages of their incomes to charity than did residents of states that voted for George Bush.

— Bush carried 24 of the 25 states where charitable giving was above average.

— In the 10 reddest states, in which Bush got more than 60 percent majorities, the average percentage of personal income donated to charity was 3.5. Residents of the bluest states, which gave Bush less than 40 percent, donated just 1.9 percent.

— People who reject the idea that “government has a responsibility to reduce income inequality” give an average ofΒ four times moreΒ than people who accept that proposition.

From December 2004 – “Generosity Index” Mirrors Red State-Blue State Divide:

TheΒ Catalogue for PhilanthropyΒ hasΒ ranked the fifty statesΒ on their relative generosity, comparing each state’s average itemized charitable deductions with its average adjusted gross income (based on 2002 IRS data).

The 50-state ranking has a decided Red State-Blue State flavor: 27 of the 30 “most generous” states are Red States that voted for President Bush (including all 25 of the “most generous” states), while 17 of the 20 “least generous” states are Blue States that voted for Senator Kerry (including all 7 of the “least generous” states):

Make sure to check out the graphs.

Next time a liberal gets snippy with you about conservatives supposedly being “scrooges” when it comes to helping out their fellow citizens, point them to these studies – and then ask them if they are talking about personal charity or government “charity.” And then watch as the steam starts to slowly blow out of their ears as they get more and more mad by the second … like they usually do when confronted with inconvenient truths.

:D

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