This Washington Post story exposed the fact that Bernie Sanders–unlike Hillary Clinton and most other major-party candidates for President over several decades–has refused to disclose his most recent income tax returns (or much tax info at all).
This isn’t much of a story. Sanders is under no obligation to publicize his income tax information.
But buried in the story is the fact that Sanders–an avowed socialist who claims to sympathize with the poor–donates almost nothing to charity. (Sanders makes hundreds of thousands of dollars annually.)
The publication’s scathing article notes that Sanders had dismissed the idea of charities in his early days as mayor — and that view was confirmed in his 1995 tax return, which showed Sanders donated just 1 percent of his income ($1,369) to charity. During a United Way event in 1981, Sanders told the crowd: “I don’t believe in charities,” and questioned “the fundamental concepts on which charities are based.”
Sanders doesn’t believe in charity because he believes the government should decide and distribute all charity. Sanders doesn’t believe in returning or keeping any money in the private sector. Instead of helping people with their own resources, socialists seek to violently compel others to ‘help the needy.’
