Shameful, but Typical

One Good Move has the Keith Olberman video that explains his choice for "Worst Person in the World" for this week.

The President's Mom made a generous (at least $30,000) to the Bush-Clinton Katrina Relief Fund. Here's the catch: the money was to be earmarked for 8 (at $3,800 each) of her son Neil's educational software programs to be supplied to Houston schools.Notice that New Orleans doesn't get the software, Houston gets it.Or should I say Neil Bush gets it.

This way Barbara Bush gets to give her son a gift without paying gift tax. Also, she can write this "donation" off her taxes as a charitable contribution. Not illegal, just immoral.This clever move is not surprising with this family and reinforces the notion that the acorn doesn't fall far from the oak tree.In any case, it shows how shabby and really meaningless the Bush model of compassion really is. Barbara Bush's "beautiful mind" seems to be lacking in ethics.

Update: It gets worse. John Aravosis of AmericaBlog notes that Barbara Bush is actually one of the larger investors in Neil Bush's company, so she is using the tax code to make a gift to herself.