War Pimp Cheney Earned $8,819,006 Last Year

photo courtesy agitprops.org
WaPo: Bushes Paid $187,768 in Federal Income Tax
First Couple's Earnings Totaled About $735,000; Cheneys Made $8.8 Million

The Cheneys owed $529,636 in federal taxes on taxable income of $1,961,157 in 2005,according to their tax return, also released by the White House. Their overall income included the vice president's annual salary of $205,031 and $211,465 in deferred compensation from Halliburton Co., the Texas-based energy services firm and defense contractor that he headed until August 2000. Before leaving Halliburton, a large military contractor in Iraq, Cheney chose to defer his 1999 salary as chief executive and have it paid to him, with interest, in fixed annual installments over five years after his retirement from the company.

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The Cheneys appear to have taken advantage of a special tax break Congress passed in the Katrina Emergency Tax Relief Act of 2005, said Steve Hurok, tax director at BDO Seidman LLP, a national tax consulting and professional services firm. The provision temporarily suspended a federal rule that prevents people from taking tax deductions on cash charitable giving that exceeds 50 percent of their adjusted gross income.

That change, which expired at the end of last year, allowed the Cheneys to deduct from their taxable income the full $6,869,655 of their charitable giving last year, rather than the $4.4 million that normally would have been eligible, Hurok said. In essence, the Cheneys were able to donate the extra $2.4 million to charity without having to pay taxes on the money or to defer the tax benefits to future years.

Like most people, I will pay a higher percentage of taxes than the millionaire Veep. The Cheneys manage to make even their charitable contributions look sleazy.