The Obamas quadruple their income in one year, to $4.2 million

Wow, now we know why some of these folks are perennial candidates for president!

Campaigning for president has been very good in the money department for the 46-year-old Illinois senator and Democratic Party presidential candidate Barack Obama.

With most of the media and public attention focused on Philadelphia on Wednesday and the last nationally-televised debate between Obama and his rival, New York Sen. Hillary Clinton, before Tuesday's important Pennsylvania primary, the Obama campaign quietly released the family's tax returns.

They showed his household income with Michelle more than quadrupled in the one year between 2006 and 2007, multiplying from $991,296, which wasn't all that bad, in 2006 to a whopping $4.2 million in 2007.

Clearly, the campaign worried that numerous detailed stories about the candidate's sudden explosion in wealth could detract and...

distract from the campaign's desired populist themes of concern for working-class people afflicted by rich special interests and its biographical message about the rise of the son of a single mother who once required food stamps to feed her family.

Complicating the image of Obama wealth was his recent speech to a wealthy crowd gathered at a fundraiser in a San Francisco mansion in which he seemed to speak disparagingly about the reactions and lives of ordinary Americans in small towns experiencing adverse economic conditions.

Now, we know that Obama made a net profit from book sales of $3.9 million, according to a copy of his 2007 tax return. Included in that total was $169,706 in foreign income from book sales overseas.

Also included was $30,000 paid to Michelle by Treehouse Foods, a company that attracted some controversy for shuttering a plant and doing business with Wal-Mart.

In fact, the couple paid more in federal taxes alone last year than the total they earned during the previous 12 months -- nearly $1.4 million in federal taxes.

They also made $240,370 in charitable contributions, including $5,000 to Citizens United for Research in Epilepsy, a charity of David Axelrod, Obama's chief campaign strategist. The couple's three largest gifts were $50,000 to the United Negro College Fund and $35,000 to the international relief organization CARE.

Additionally, the Obamas donated $26,270 to Chicago's Trinity United Church of Christ, the focus of recent controversy over the racially-tinged sermons given there for years by the Rev. Jeremiah Wright and whether Obama had heard them and objected.

In late March, the Obamas posted their 2000 through 2006 tax returns on the Internet as a way to pressure Clinton to release tax documents from her post-White House years, which she has since done.

Clinton's returns showed that she too has become a Democratic candidate who's a multimillionaire. She and her husband earned $109 million from 2000 through 2006.

Clinton's campaign has now called on Obama to also release his 1997, 1998 and 1999 returns. Although he has not distributed them widely, Obama's 1998 and 1999 returns were previously provided to the Chicago Tribune. Back in 1998, the couple's total income was what now seems a comparatively meager $192,245.

In 2007, the Obama couple also contributed $6 to the federal fund that provides public financing for presidential campaigns.

Obama said last week that he remains uncertain as to whether he will participate in the program, should he win his party's nomination, despite a pledge he made last year that he would do so, if the Republican nominee did as well.

-- John McCormick and Andrew Malcolm

John McCormick writes for the Swamp of the Chicago Tribune Washington Bureau.

Comments

[Jaycal]

Obama is CORRUPT, a LIAR, and his slogan of change an ILLUSION.

1) CORRUPT: A houseowner wants to sell both a house and adjoining land. Obama can afford to buy only the house. No problem, the criminal Rezko to the rescue. Rezko pays full price for the land, whereas Obama gets a discount of $300,000 on the house. Nice to have criminal friends like this!!! (ref ABC News)

2) LIAR: Obama claims he did not know about Wright's America-hating (God damn America) and racist views till it was revealed in the mainstream media in March 2008. Obama attended Wright's church for 20 years, was married by Wright, had his children baptized by Wright, donated over $20,000 to Wright's church and named his book "Audacity of Hope" after one of Wright's sermons. You really believe after 20 years and all this he did not know?

3) ILLUSION: Exelon Corporation had not disclosed radioactive leaks at one of its nuclear plants in Illinois. Obama, a senator for Illinois introduces a bill to make disclosures mandatory. Seems like Exelon doesn't like it. Each draft of the new bill by Obama goes more and more towards Exelon till disclosures end up being "voluntary". What gives? How about $250,000+ donations by Exelon!!! Obama is not change, he is WASHINGTON BUSINESS AS USUAL. (ref NYT)

People need to realize that Hillary has been fighting for them all along. All the way back to 1993 when she tried to introduce universal health care.

[graniteman]

I guess now we know why Michelle Obama has finally become more positive about the United States: A few million dollars would bring a smile to the face of most Americans.

[Ernie Nucup]

Oh, wow! No matter how you slice and dice the good senator from Illinois he is cut above the American mainstream. Elitist? You bet!

[Lynn]

Why doesn't anyone report on the fact that McCain is abusing the public finance system right now, while he keeps demanding that Obama join it. Right now, McCain has not been released from the primary public finance system, yet he has broken the spending limits. He has asked to be let out of it, but has not as yet. So he is breaking his own law. So Obama should trust McCain to adhere to the rules of the public financing system in the general election? No. McCain can't be trusted to adhere to the rules of his own law.

And as far as Obama making some money off his book, well the Clintons made five times that much, $20 million, this past year. How much of that has been from speaking fees to foreign governments? Who knows? I think it is much better for Obama to get wealth through book sales from the little people than from speaking to foreign governments like Bill Clinton.

[Bob]

Hillary All The Way.

[Roy]

What are you talking about?
McCain is worth $100,000,000 and so is Hillary?
He wrote two books last year thats why his income suddenly jumped.

[Barry K. Haynes]

I applaud the Obamas for moving one step closer to the American dream. As the couple didn't aspire to profit (directly) from their political activities; and the literary profits earned to date are subject to the vagaracies of the public market; renders this very conversation a nonstarter.

[nancy]

Not a rabid Republican here, but you can't tell me that these past 8 years have been all bad for the Dems with Bill and Hilary making over $100 million since he left office (doing what exactly does anyone know??) and the Obamas quadrupling their income. Hellooo??

[B. Van Dam]

It is absolutely dumbfounding that there are still people who cannot see through the Clintons.

[the problemwithcaring]

Yay! for them - proves hard work still means something in America!

Hope he gets elected, so my kids will stand a chance.

(That's if I am ever sadistic enough to ever sentence another being to life on this planet LOL!)

[simon A]

I was shopping at Howes in North Hollywood and parking my car. Next to me a gangster looking dodge pulled up with loud rap, so loud my car was shaking. On the outside of the car proudly displayed were stickers of Obama in Rasta colors. 3 black men got out and the attitude was so blatently hostile, an attitude of 'move over whitey your time has come'
I love America but now it is changing for the worse.
Obama has been listening to anti white rhetoric for over 25yrs. He has past connections with black power groups.
I don't think he is a good candidate for president of the United States of America.

[Dee]

Good grief people! Some of you act like people in politics are not supposed to make any money. The man did not go out and do anything shady or make money illegally...he wrote some books! We all KNOW that he has written books and that they have done very well. One of them even won a Grammy! Damn, get over it already!!! Some of you need a hobby because you have totally too much time on your hands!

[Norton]

Let's face it folks... All three candidates are corrupt, elitest, power hungry crooks who want to benefit by in the future by having the word PRESIDENT precede their name. There has only been ONE person in the last 50 years that Has Not sought the Office of President for self promoting reasons. And isn't it funny how ALL the current candidates either aspire to be like him or are afraid to involk his name in a negative fashion.

Where are the Ronald Reagans of this country when we need them the most?