Barack and Michelle Obama’s tax release has come out, and they are totally rich. They released their figures on America’s Tax Day, obviously enough. Michelle and Barack’s combined income for 2008 was $2,656.902, much less than the nearly $4 million they earned in 2007. The bulk of the income comes from President Obama’s book sales. Both The Audacity of Hope and Dreams From My Father were (and still are) huge bestsellers in hardback and paperback.
The first family donated more than $170,000 to 37 charities. The biggest donations went to CARE and the United Negro College Fund. The Bidens also released their taxes – total income was $270,000. Power to the people, Citizen Joe!
Barack and Michelle Obama released their 2008 tax returns today.
The couple — who filed jointly — earned $2,656,902 last year, which White House reps say mostly came from the sales of the president’s books, Dreams From My Father and The Audacity of Hope.
They paid $855,323 in federal income taxes, and $77,883 in Illinois state income taxes. They were set to receive a $26,000 refund, but instead applied the amount to their 2009 income taxes.
The couple also donated $172,050 to 37 charities, including $25,000 each to CARE, which fights global warming, and the United Negro College Fund.
Vice President Joe Biden and his wife Jill earned considerably less: $270,000. They donated $1,885 to charity.
From US Magazine
The joke goes that poor people can’t afford to run for president. Wait, that’s not a joke, it’s a truism. The last president who actually lived in relative poverty (or, at the very least, wasn’t stinking rich) at the time of becoming president was Bill Clinton. President Clinton actually left office poorer than he came in, because of all of the legal fees he accrued defending himself against civil cases. Of course, he overcame that hurdle in about a month out of office, just giving speeches and writing books, et cetera. Has anyone ever tried to read Bill Clinton’s My Life? It sucks pretty hard. As does Hillary Clinton’s Living History. Perhaps President Obama deserves to be so rich, because he can actually write a page-turning book.
President Obama is shown during his press conference yesterday. Credit: WENN.com
Welp…looks like the both make over $250K. Let the sharing begin!!
I love Obama, but rephrase that last sentance to “He chose a better ghost writer than the Clintons.”
Obama… 2m – that’s REALLY not “rich” if you compare him to bloomberg or successful corporate/business man.
Where does it say that he used a ghost writer?
You realize he was a writer of the Harvard Law Review right? Actually, make that PRESIDENT. Hmm….I suppose that’s not enough that he has that under his belt, or that he’s an ivy league graduate twice over….of course he can’t write a book! I mean, he’s evil isn’t he?
We’re upset that he made money off of books? Bush was an oil tycoon who ripped off a large majority of his investors.
I have read both books, and they are very well constructed and written. Deserving of their best seller status.
However, the spin and PR campaign is quite noticeable in these books if you read carefully. They are written with the mind of a chess player, every word is calculated. He is truly a brilliant individual. And kudos to him for that.
I have a hard time believing that he used a ghost writer. He is an excellent writer, and the voice is definitely his own in my opinion. I am sure he has a good editor, but that is vastly different than a ghost writer. The money he earned on the books is very well deserved.
As for the Clintons leaving office poorer when they came in…not by a longshot.
Nice article Kaiser. Well written. Keep up the good work.
$172,050? FINALLY. Their charitable contributions over the last several years have been pitiful. As for our VP, I have donated more than that for years and make MUCH less than 270K.
Come on folks, Obama had a ghost writer.
You just gotta be willing to accept essentially benign comments about the guy without getting all-out defensive.
The Bidens only donated .7% of their 2008 income to charity while the Obamas donated 7%. Perhaps VP Biden will step it up a bit in 2009!
I will eat my hat if he used a ghost writer. It’s more than completely unlikely.
“he was a writer of the Harvard Law Review”.
There is no such thing. Different professors and lawyers have their articles published by the Harvard Law Review.
Obama was one of the editors as a student (the editors are the students at HLS).
He did write the books. The first came out well before he was a national figure. They do reflect his voice and I agree with gavin that they are very strategically written. The guy is the author not just of these books but of the whole trajectory of his life, and he didn’t have all those speech writers and advisors way back when he wrote Dreams of My Father in 1995.
The Obamas have a pretty high income now, but neither of them came from money, and their income and wealth come from their own efforts (no rich heiresses in this family).
Obama went to Harvard, and had no mentionable employment until he was out of Harvard. That is not “earning it”, not is it coming from nothing – I mean it’s wonderful watching the anal suctions tell all of us a couple million is almost nothing compared to (fill in their blank) and then tell us he earned every penny.
I guess you idiots forgot Emil that “made him a senator” and his wsife whose hospital salary doubled to well over $300,000 the day the bastard became a dc slimebag.
Whatever, more pathetic hypocrisy from the crybabies that are “for the little people”.
You people make me sick. Lies are your stock in trade – so don’t expect honesty from you politicians.
Geez SiliconDoc, such sour grapes you have, they must be making your face pucker
That’s not really all that much money. He would make considerably more than $2 million if he were not in politics. He would also pay less in taxes. American’s don’t like people who find loopholes in the tax code so politicians have to pay the full amount. Take it from a girl who looks at taxes all day.