By CHARLES BABINGTON, Associated Press
WASHINGTON – Thanks to revived book sales after he became president, Barack Obama and his wife, Michelle, made $5.5 million last year. They paid about one-third of it in federal income taxes.
The Obamas gave $329,100 to charities in 2009. The president, who released his tax returns Thursday, also donated his entire $1.4 million Nobel Peace Prize award to 10 charitable groups. He never received the $1.4 million, and it was not included in his 2009 income.
Obama, a former law school instructor and U.S. senator, became a millionaire a few years ago through sales of his 1995 memoir "Dreams From My Father" and his 2006 political book, "The Audacity of Hope." He earned about $4 million in royalties in 2007, the year he launched his presidential campaign.
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That's twice as much (charitable contributions, taxes) as his predecessor.
ReplyDeletePlease compare the amount the President gave to charity during the many years before he became President and knew his financials and returns would be made public. Quite a different picture than the one painted here. Lets give the entire picture unless there is some other motivation.
ReplyDeletesometimes i forget how abnormal it is to be philanthropic. obama gave away a good amount of money, but it's still not a huge percentage of his income (about 6%). and biden's charitable leanings are horrible. holy cow. 1.4% of his income?! wonder what the average american gives away? with numbers like that, it amazes me that any non-profit meets their budget.
ReplyDeleteDon't know about the average for all donors, but I do know that church folk give about 2% of their income. So, for church folks they are at about 3X.
ReplyDeleteAnon, 1:18, what source would you point us to re Mr. & Mrs. Obama's previous contributions? If they were public, as in when he was a Senator, he had the same situation as now, except he has made more money. I'd love to know the sources that fuel your cynicism.
Obama released his tax returns for 2000-2006 during the campaign. His charitable gifts went from a couple of thousand or less from 2000-2004 to 77,000 in 2005. His income went from approx. quarter million to 11/2 million, his income increased sixfold but his charity contribution increased 40 times.
ReplyDeleteChris, great argument for why the wealthy should be expected to do more and pay at a higher tax rate.
ReplyDeleteEveryone should pay their fair share, wealthy or not.
ReplyDeleteThat's impressive! His income went up 6x, but his giving went up 40x ! Thanks for the info, Chris.
ReplyDeleteWe should all be in the public eye!
ReplyDeleteLefties don't usually give anything- they look to the government.
ReplyDelete