As promised at last week’s democratic debate, Senator Sanders has released his 2014 tax return. His 2015 tax return is expected to be released soon as well.
Bernie Sanders and his wife reported an adjusted gross income of $205,000 for 2014. They donated $8,350 to charity. The Sanders’ income comes mainly from Bernie’s U.S. Senate salary and Social security payments.
How does this compare to his opponent’s salary? Well, in 2014 Hillary Clinton was paid more money for one speech to either a corporation or big bank than the Sanders family made in an entire year.
Clinton made $280,000 for a speech to Deutsche Bank AG, $325,000 for a speech to the National Automobile Dealers’ Association, and $225,000 for a speech to General Electric. In fact, the average payment for an speech either Hillary or Bill Clinton has given since leaving the White House is $210,795 – still more than Sanders earns in a year.
Which still makes us wonder what exactly Clinton is saying in those speeches. It is likely we will never know, since Clinton has refused to release any transcripts.
According to TPM, every major presidential nominee since 1976 has released full tax returns. This is the first presidential election in which many of them haven’t. So far, Hillary Clinton is the only candidate to release multiple years of full tax returns. Bernie Sanders has released one year, and will most likely release additional ones in the coming months. Donald Trump hasn’t released any of his returns, and Ted Cruz and John Kasich have only released partial returns.
Sanders called his self-prepared returns “pretty boring” when questioned by the Associated Press last week. Altogether, and compared to Clinton’s they are – with his Senate salary, Social security benefits, a small annual pension, and a small amount from his wife, Jane, from her work as commissioner on the Texas Low-Level Radioactive Waste Disposal Compact Commission.
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