The Illinois Democrat, who previously released his 2006 tax documents, made public his returns for the tax years 2000 through 2006. His campaign said in a statement that the disclosure was designed to put pressure on his opponent, Hillary Rodham Clinton, who has yet to release her recent returns but has promised to do so before April 15.
Sen. John McCain also will release his tax returns next month, campaign spokeswoman Jill Hazelbaker said.
The Obamas earned $1.67 million in 2005 and $991,296 in 2006, the returns show. Their income spiked thanks mainly to the sales of his two books, Dreams from My Father, first published in 1995, and The Audacity of Hope, a best seller in 2006.
In 2005, Michelle Obama, an administrator at the not-for-profit University of Chicago Hospitals, was promoted to vice president of community affairs, and her income rose to $316,962 from $121,910. She also earned $96,000 while serving on two boards of directors in 2005 and 2006, including $63,000 from TreeHouse Foods. She quit that post last year because TreeHouse supplies Wal-Mart, whose policies her husband has criticized.
In 2004, the year Obama ran for the Senate, the couple took in $207,647. In the years before that their income ranged from $238,000 to $275,000.
In 2006, the Obamas reported giving $60,307 to charity, or about 6% of their income — the largest percentage during those seven years. From 2000 through 2004, they reported giving a total of $10,770, or less than 1% of the $1.2 million they earned during that period.
"As new parents who were paying off their large student loans, giving $10,000 to charity was as generous as they could be at the time," Obama spokesman Tommy Vietor said. The Obamas have two daughters, Malia, 9, and Sasha, 6.
Vietor said the Obamas gave $240,000 to charity in 2007. He declined to disclose their income. Some of their largest charitable donations disclosed — $27,500 in 2005 and 2006 — have been made to their church, Trinity United Church of Christ, which has been a focus of controversy in recent weeks over comments by its former pastor, Jeremiah Wright.
They also gave $45,000 to two literacy organizations and $31,000 to CARE, the global anti-poverty group.
The couple sold their three-bedroom condo in Chicago in April 2005 for $415,000 and purchased a six-bedroom, six-bathroom house in the city for $1.65 million. The Obamas then bought part of the adjoining lot from the wife of contributor Tony Rezko, who is now being tried on charges he engaged in a state government influence-peddling scheme unrelated to Obama. The senator has called his dealings with Rezko a "boneheaded" move.
0 comments:
Post a Comment