The President's Tax Return Reveals Large Charity Donations (unemployment, thought, Barack Hussein Obama)

[RD5050]

Originally Posted by thefinalsay

what year did they buy their mansion?

Obama purchased it in June 2005 ... during the height of the housing bubble.

I wouldn't exactly consider a 1.6 million dollar home a "mansion" at the height of this bubble, when large single family homes were selling for 700K.

And since Obama graduated from Harvard Law School, don't you think he and Michelle have worked hard enough to have earned the ability to live in a nicer house than say an average working-class family?

Maybe you should have a look at the sizes of the many homes owned by Bush, McCain, and a lot of other Republicans?

Did Tony Rezko help finance Obama's house? - ObamaFactCheck.com

Obama's book "Dreams From My Father" was selling well enough by 2005 that the Obamas decided to move to a house from their condominium and found a house they wanted to purchase. The sellers had divided the property - a century-old house and an adjacent undeveloped lot - into separate parcels and listed them separately. The sellers were asking $1.9 million for the house, which per Obama had been on the market for months; the Obamas bargained them down to $1.65 million, which they financed themselves. [5,6]
Per Obama, Rezko - a local developer and long-time Obama friend and campaign contributor who was later convicted on felony corruption charges - learned about the adjacent lot when Obama asked for Rezko's professional opinion with respect to whether the house was a good buy. The same day in June 2005 when the Obamas purchased their house the Rezkos purchased the adjacent lot for the asking price of $625,000; the two deals were not related aside from the seller's stipulation that the closing date for the two properties be the same. The seller has corroborated Obama's account that the Rezkos were not involved in the Obamas' house negotiations. [5,7,8,9]

[tigerlily]

Check out W's 8,500 sqft house purchased in the Preston Hollow section of Dallas, in addition to the ranch he owns in Crawford. To the PP who called the Obama's Chicago neighborhood "snooty", Preston Hollow is one of the "snootiest" neighborhoods in Dallas, playing second fiddle only to Highland Park. I believe Chicago's real estate market is higher than Dallas, so W's house might even be higher priced in Obama's Chicago neighborhood. BTW - some people sacrifice in other areas so they can afford a nicer house. I don't think the Obama's drove an expensive car.

President George W. Bush buys 8,501-square-foot house in Dallas’ Preston Hollow neighborhood

[Fleet]

Originally Posted by RD5050

http://taxprof.typepad.com/taxprof_b..._returns_1.jpg

When the Obama's started to earn substantially more money beginning in 2005, they could afford to give a much larger percentage of their income to charity.

Why is that such a difficult concept to understand?

Are you serious? They already HAD a "sustantial" income in, for example, the year 2000. He earned $240,505 and only donated $2,350, a bare 1% of his income.

[walidm]

Originally Posted by thefinalsay

that is, unless your name is exxon. you're better off not replying. you lost this argument when you posted this thread.

Some folks are wise and some are otherwise. ~Tobias Smollett

[Anonymous Political Junky]

Originally Posted by RD5050

Obama purchased it in June 2005 ... during the height of the housing bubble.

I wouldn't exactly consider a 1.6 million dollar home a "mansion" at the height of this bubble, when large single family homes were selling for 700K.

And since Obama graduated from Harvard Law School, don't you think he and Michelle have worked hard enough to have earned the ability to live in a nicer house than say an average working-class family?

Maybe you should have a look at the sizes of the many homes owned by Bush, McCain, and a lot of other Republicans?

Did Tony Rezko help finance Obama's house? - ObamaFactCheck.com

This is amazing. You actually compare Obama and Michelle going to college as work. It isn't. NO, hhe and her had not worked enough to own that house. Sorry, but college is not the same as actually working for a living, which he hadn't done much of either. And, don't go telling me how hard he worked ad a stupid community organizer.

BTW, just because someone goes to college or is born in this country does not mean they automatically have some right to a big house.

[walidm]

Originally Posted by Anonymous Political Junky

This is amazing. You actually compare Obama and Michelle going to college as work. It isn't. NO, hhe and her had not worked enough to own that house.

Yes. It is. We have a common phrase to go along with it too..."working your way through school".

Of course "he and her" worked enough to own a home in their minds, so they bought the home they felt they should have.

Clearly the President is one the best community organizers the US has seen, the election results speak for themselves....

[RD5050]

Originally Posted by Fleet

Are you serious? They already HAD a "sustantial" income in, for example, the year 2000. He earned $240,505 and only donated $2,350, a bare 1% of his income.

First ... that $240K number is a total income for both Barack and Michelle for 2000.

Second .... $240K is not exactly a "fortune" when you consider he and Michelle had student loans to repay, and 4 mouths to feed, clothe, and shelter. And who knows what other additional expenses they had?

Third .... what business is it of yours (or anyone's for that matter) how much money they can afford to give to charity? Does anybody ever question how much you give?

And also keep in mind ... Obama was not in the White House ... or even running for president back in 2000.

[Theliberalvoice]

Originally Posted by thefinalsay

no, he is a politician. does this look like the house of someone struggling to pay back student loan debt? keep in mind, this is in an elitist upscale snobby chicago neighborhood. I think you are just making excuses for your politician of choice.

Oh please. McCain did not even know how many houses HE had. So what if Obama has one?

[RD5050]

Originally Posted by Anonymous Political Junky

This is amazing. You actually compare Obama and Michelle going to college as work. It isn't. NO, hhe and her had not worked enough to own that house. Sorry, but college is not the same as actually working for a living, which he hadn't done much of either. And, don't go telling me how hard he worked ad a stupid community organizer.

BTW, just because someone goes to college or is born in this country does not mean they automatically have some right to a big house.

First ... do you realize how difficult it is to get into Harvard Law School?

Second ... do you realize how difficult it is to graduate Magna C-u-m Laude from Harvard?

Third ... Obama worked as a Civil Rights Attorney, taught Constitutional Law at University of Chicago Law School, and served in the Illinois Senate and U.S. Senate, before running for President:

Barack Obama - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Obama is a graduate of Columbia University and Harvard Law School, where he was the first African American president of the Harvard Law Review. He was a community organizer in Chicago before earning his law degree. He worked as a civil rights attorney in Chicago and also taught constitutional law at the University of Chicago Law School from 1992 to 2004.
Obama served three terms in the Illinois Senate from 1997 to 2004. Following an unsuccessful bid for a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives in 2000, Obama ran for United States Senate in 2004. His victory from a crowded field in the March 2004 Democratic primary raised his visibility, and his prime-time televised keynote address at the Democratic National Convention in July 2004 made him a rising star nationally in the Democratic Party. He was elected to the U.S. Senate in November 2004 by the largest margin in Illinois history.

What percentage of the U.S. population do you think have achieved the above credentials?

And as far as a "right" to a big house ... who exactly are YOU to decide what size house Obama is allowed to have?

Don't you think that would be entirely up to the person (or family) who is BUYING the house?

And what percentage of Harvard Law School graduates do you think go on to live in large expensive houses? Perhaps ALL (or most) of them?

[Fleet]

Originally Posted by RD5050

First ... that $240K number is a total income for both Barack and Michelle for 2000.

And many others whose total income equals that give far more than 1% to charity!

Second .... $240K is not exactly a "fortune" when you consider he and Michelle had student loans to repay, and 4 mouths to feed, clothe, and shelter. And who knows what other additional expenses they had?

Again, many people who are in the same exact situation give far more than 1% of their earnings to charity. Why are you trying to apologize for Obama?

Third .... what business is it of yours (or anyone's for that matter) how much money they can afford to give to charity? Does anybody ever question how much you give?

No one asks how much money I give because I am not a politician; Obama is, so it's no big surprise that his tax returns and his amount given to charity are being discussed.

And also keep in mind ... Obama was not in the White House ... or even running for president back in 2000

Yet again, many people who are not in the White House, or running for President, give far more than Obama has. Just admit he is cheap!