A new study has been released by the Chronicle of Philanthropy on charitable giving in the United States.  Based on IRS data from 2008, what it boils down to is this: Conservatives are more charitable people.  They voluntarily give away more of their earnings than liberals.

Duhhh.

I am not the least bit surprised by this fact, though many liberals may find that hard to believe … those evil right-wingers who don’t want the government reaching into their pockets to re-distribute wealth to the moochers!  More on that in a minute …

All of the top states where the residents gave the highest share of their income to charity were states that supported John McCain in 2008.  Those were: Utah, Mississippi, Alabama, Tennessee, South Carolina, Idaho, Arkansas and Georgia.  The authors noted two reasons for this.  One reason is “rooted in part in each area’s political philosophy about the role of government versus charity.”  The other is based on the role of religion.  Two of the top states have large Mormon populations (where at least 10% of income is generally tithed to the church) and the other states are all in the Bible belt.

On the flip side, the least generous states all supported Barack Obama in 2008.  They were: Wisconsin, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Vermont, Maine and New Hampshire.

Liberals have this misguided idea that the only way to be compassionate towards others is to use the police power of government to force money out of your pockets and have the government decide how it is spent.  Government deciding how money is spent is seen as more honorable than an individual’s choice on where to donate money, according to liberals.  Liberals love government because it is the only entity that can use its police power to force you to give up money (or property).  Again, they believe that without this government force, people would not otherwise help those in need.