The Most Charitable Politician in History

A Florida newspaper finally gives VP Dick Cheney the praise he deserves from a charity standpoint. In 2005, the Cheneys gave nearly $7 million to charity, the most ever from a public servant. (Al Gore wasn't too far behind in 1997 when he donated a whopping $367.)

A small story perhaps, but come on - doesn't a multimillion dollar contribution to charities by a vice president deserve special recognition? Frankly, I was astonished when I first read this and thought it was a typo because it was buried in a column that leads off with President Bush's tax return - which wasn't even newsworthy - just the typical annual report on the tax returns of the president and vice president. As a matter of fact, the AP headline read "Cheney's income 10 times the Bushes'. And the L.A. Times reported: "Bush pays taxes, Cheney awaits refund," I could go on with other headlines, but you get the point. Not one headline in the mainstream media that Cheney gave $6.87 million to charity.

I congratulate John Reiners for the article - the only one to finally give some props to our generous VP.