Proportionally, President Barack Obama and Mormons give the most

After all the talk about Mitt Romney's taxes last week, the New York Times took a good look at checkbooks and charitable giving of Romney, Newt Gingrich and President Obama. There were some interesting comparisons.

Proportionally, President Obama gave the most to charity, 14.2 percent of his $1.7 million income, while Romney donated 13.8 percent of his $21.6 million income.

Gingrich gave 2.6 percent of his $3,142,066 to charity.

All the three candidates did more than the average American, who took home a 2010 adjusted gross income of $44,619 and gave 2.1 percent given to charity.

For 2010, the contributions to charity from Americans totaled $290.9 billion, 35 percent of this going to religious groups.

Mormons give the highest percentage of their income to charity, donating 5.6 percent of their total gross income. Second place went to Pentecostal/Assemblies of God at 2.9 percent followed by other Protestant churches at 2.6 percent.

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