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During a confrontational interview with Chris Wallace, David Axelrod attempted to dodge questions about the Presiden't tax returns and may have inadvertently endorsed Mitt Romney over his former boss.
Chris Wallace asked Axelrod, "The president introduced his ‑‑ or released his tax returns this week. It turns out that he paid a tax rate of 20.5%, which is a lot less than the 30% he talks about. And yes, it is lower than what his secretary pays. And the question I have, if I may, David, the question I have for you is if the president feels so strongly about tax fairness, is he going to contribute money to the treasury, and they have a special department just for this-"
"Listen, Chris. First of all, the reason that his tax rate was so low was in part because 22% of his income was donated to charity, mostly to these Fisher Houses around veterans hospitals," Axelrod shot back.
But does the high percentage of donations on Obama's part signal a strong passion for charity? Possibly, but it seems suspicious when compared to previous years of giving.
As Glenn wrote in a CNN Blog not long ago, "According to his tax records, President Obama gave about 14% to charity last year, a laudable amount by any measure. However, that's twelve times the rate he gave before he arrived in the Senate in 2004 and over 35 times the rate in which he gave in 2002 when he managed to donate only 0.4% of his quarter million dollar income."
Axelrod continues, "The larger issue, the president's proposal would have him pay a higher rate of taxes in the future. Governor Romney's proposal would have him pay a lower tax rate in the future. So that's fundamentally different. We're arguing for a system that is fair."
"Maybe he doesn't have the address. Maybe he doesn't know where he should send that because if you want to pay more in taxes, you can. They don't stop you," Glenn joked. "You can pay more. You can pay down the debt."
Of course, maybe Axelrod does believe Obama is as full of it when it comes to his economic plan as the rest of us.
During an appearance on FOX News Sunday morning, Axelrod said, "The choice in this election is between an economy that produces a growing middle class and that gives people a chance to get ahead and their kids a chance to get ahead and an economy that continues down the road we're on."
Was that a nod to Mitt Romney?
Regardless, he's absolutely right. We can't continue down the road we are on.