WASHINGTON — In another reminder that when it comes to income No. 2 is No. 1 at the White House, the Cheneys on Friday released their 2005 tax return showing $8.8 million in income.
The overwhelming bulk of the income listed by Vice President Cheney and his wife, Lynne, resulted from exercising stock options in order to make charitable contributions. That money came from a fund Cheney set up in 2001 to distance him from income produced by stock options he accumulated as chief executive officer of Halliburton Co.
President George W. Bush and first lady Laura Bush reported $738,880 in income, including a salary of $397,702 and investment income from trusts.
As a result of the stock option transactions, as well as the use of royalties from Mrs. Cheney's book, the Cheneys gave $6.9 million to charity in 2005.
The donations went to three entities, including one near and dear to Cheney's heart: The Cardiothoracic Institute at George Washington University, where he has been treated for cardiac problems. The other two entities are the University of Wyoming and Capital Partners for Education, which benefits low-income students in the Washington area.
Overall, the Cheneys paid $2.5 million in federal taxes in 2005. The vice president reported a government salary of $205,031 and $211,465 in deferred income — earned in 1999, from Halliburton. The White House noted that the amount of the deferred compensation paid to Cheney was set when he left the company and is not related to Halliburton's current earnings.
Mrs. Cheney earned royalties last year from her book "A Time for Freedom: What Happened When in America," a salary from the American Enterprise Institute and retirement benefits from Reader's Digest, where she served on the board until 2003.
On the Cheneys' filing, Mrs. Cheney's occupation was typed in as "executive," but somebody crossed that out and substituted "writer," which was hand-written.
As usual, the Bushes address was shown as a care-of listing at the Chicago office of the trust company that handles the family finances, including the blind trust into which most of the family wealth has been placed. The first family listed $75,560 in charitable contributions, including donations to the American Red Cross and the Salvation Army for hurricane relief efforts, the Salvation Army Pakistan Earthquake Relief fund, Martha's Table, the Archdiocese of New Orleans Catholic Charities, the Mississippi Food Network and the Federal Government's Combined Federal Campaign.
Overall, the Bushes' 2005 federal income tax totaled $227,677. They were due a $39,909 refund but, as they have in previous years, the Bushes opted to have that money applied to future taxes.
E-mail: kherman@coxnews.com.