The Obamas and Bidens File Taxes

[Siddhartha]

Providing basicObama information


Taxes are the pits, but at least they don't discriminate ? everybody has to pay 'em. And that includes the leader of the free world and his right-hand man.

The tax returns for President Obama and Vice President Biden were recently released to the public. Quicker than you can say "spread the wealth," searches on both documents skyrocketed.

Now, normally tax returns don't inspire a lot of buzz. But when it's the Obamas' and the Bidens', the 1040s are actually pretty interesting. According to an article from Reuters, President Obama (who filed jointly with his wife, Michelle), reported an adjusted gross income of $2,656,902. They paid roughly $855,000 in federal income taxes and almost $78,000 in state income taxes.

Now hold up?since when do (honest) politicians make millions of dollars? Well, normally they don't. But Mr. Obama is also a best-selling author. The majority of his 2008 income came from sales of his two memoirs, "Dreams of My Father" and "The Audacity of Hope." Interestingly, the Obamas' income took a substantial drop in 2008. According to Fox News, the couple actually pulled in $4.2 million in 2007.

In comparison to his boss's return, Vice President Biden's 1040 looked downright modest. The VP and his wife reported an income of $269,256 for 2008. That's roughly a tenth of what the Obamas declared. Still, a good portion of that came from sales of Mr. Biden's memoir, "Promises to Keep." UPI reports that the Bidens reported donations of $1,885 to charity in 2008, but the White House notes that the Bidens made additional donations to their church that weren't included (lest you think they're stingy).

If you'd like to take a gander at the actual tax returns, you can click here for the Obamas', and here for the Bidens'.

I apologize for the gossipy tone of the article but it gives tax information of both the Obamas and Bidens.


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This was locked due to the trolling of the last sentence which has now been removed by the OP

Senior Anandtech Moderator
Common Courtesy

 

[Newbian]

Wait... I always thought the VP was supposed to make more then the president.

Oh wait that was the last 8 years.

Well at least someone in Obama's campaign pays them.

 

[aphex]

Ya know what this tells me? That I need to write a damn book.

 

[Fear No Evil]

Originally posted by: aphex
Ya know what this tells me? That I need to write a damn book.

Or a corrupt Illinois politician with connections.

 

[aphex]

Originally posted by: Fear No Evil

Originally posted by: aphex
Ya know what this tells me? That I need to write a damn book.

Or a corrupt Illinois politician with connections.

?

Did you miss the part where it says "The majority of his 2008 income came from sales of his two memoirs, "Dreams of My Father" and "The Audacity of Hope."

 

[Siddhartha]

Edited to get the thread unlocked.

 

[boomerang]

I'm not sure what the point of the post is, but there are many millionaire politicians.

I've gotten up on my soapbox for decades calling for reduced campaign time periods so that the common man has more of a chance to win a seat. The status quo works well for those in power, they see no need to change it, and once again, they're in power so we stay right where we are.

When the corrupt are making the rules, how do you wean out the corrupt?

To start at the top, why in the world is a 24 to 30 month campaign cycle needed for the top post in the land? We have 24/7 news coverage, Internet, TV, radio, etc. It's not needed in any way I can think of. It does however, ensure that the top post goes to the well-heeled.

To digress, I'm not sure what the post is all about. The President and the VP made money last year. Umm, OK.

 

[Genx87]

Originally posted by: boomerang
I'm not sure what the point of the post is, but there are many millionaire politicians.

I've gotten up on my soapbox for decades calling for reduced campaign time periods so that the common man has more of a chance to win a seat. The status quo works well for those in power, they see no need to change it, and once again, they're in power so we stay right where we are.

When the corrupt are making the rules, how do you wean out the corrupt?

To start at the top, why in the world is a 24 to 30 month campaign cycle needed for the top post in the land? We have 24/7 news coverage, Internet, TV, radio, etc. It's not needed in any way I can think of. It does however, ensure that the top post goes to the well-heeled.

To digress, I'm not sure what the post is all about. The President and the VP made money last year. Umm, OK.

Originally I think the OP was trolling thinking conservatives would complain about Obama's compensation. I dont think anybody on the right cares about that provided he pays a tax rate for that kind of income that he complains about. In this case it appears his federal tax rate was ~32%.

People get up in arms when you have a John Kerry yapping his mouth off about the rich not paying their fair share or we need higher taxes when him and dragonlady claimed 5.6 million in income in 2003 and paid an 11% federal tax rate.

 

[Siddhartha]

Originally posted by: boomerang
I'm not sure what the point of the post is, but there are many millionaire politicians.

I've gotten up on my soapbox for decades calling for reduced campaign time periods so that the common man has more of a chance to win a seat. The status quo works well for those in power, they see no need to change it, and once again, they're in power so we stay right where we are.

When the corrupt are making the rules, how do you wean out the corrupt?

To start at the top, why in the world is a 24 to 30 month campaign cycle needed for the top post in the land? We have 24/7 news coverage, Internet, TV, radio, etc. It's not needed in any way I can think of. It does however, ensure that the top post goes to the well-heeled.

To digress, I'm not sure what the post is all about. The President and the VP made money last year. Umm, OK.

There is so much crap, misinformation, innuendo, and FUD posted on this forum, I make an effort to post facts.

 

[Siddhartha]

Originally posted by: Genx87

Originally posted by: boomerang
I'm not sure what the point of the post is, but there are many millionaire politicians.

I've gotten up on my soapbox for decades calling for reduced campaign time periods so that the common man has more of a chance to win a seat. The status quo works well for those in power, they see no need to change it, and once again, they're in power so we stay right where we are.

When the corrupt are making the rules, how do you wean out the corrupt?

To start at the top, why in the world is a 24 to 30 month campaign cycle needed for the top post in the land? We have 24/7 news coverage, Internet, TV, radio, etc. It's not needed in any way I can think of. It does however, ensure that the top post goes to the well-heeled.

To digress, I'm not sure what the post is all about. The President and the VP made money last year. Umm, OK.

Originally I think the OP was trolling thinking conservatives would complain about Obama's compensation. I dont think anybody on the right cares about that provided he pays a tax rate for that kind of income that he complains about. In this case it appears his federal tax rate was ~32%.

People get up in arms when you have a John Kerry yapping his mouth off about the rich not paying their fair share or we need higher taxes when him and dragonlady claimed 5.6 million in income in 2003 and paid an 11% federal tax rate.

I was not trolling, just posting the facts.

 

[rudder]

$2,656,902 is a lot of income from selling a book. I really think that should be capped at around $200,000. Let some other authors who did not sell as many books share a little piece of the pie.

 

[Genx87]

Originally posted by: Siddhartha

I was not trolling, just posting the facts.

Right that is why it was originally locked?

This was locked due to the trolling of the last sentence which has now been removed by the OP

Senior Anandtech Moderator
Common Courtesy

 

[Fear No Evil]

Originally posted by: rudder
$2,656,902 is a lot of income from selling a book. I really think that should be capped at around $200,000. Let some other authors who did not sell as many books share a little piece of the pie.

You are thinking outside the box! 2.6 million definitely sounds like an excessive profit.

 

[Fear No Evil]

Originally posted by: aphex

Originally posted by: Fear No Evil

Originally posted by: aphex
Ya know what this tells me? That I need to write a damn book.

Or a corrupt Illinois politician with connections.

?

Did you miss the part where it says "The majority of his 2008 income came from sales of his two memoirs, "Dreams of My Father" and "The Audacity of Hope."

I didn't say Obama (There are PLENTY of corrupt policians from Illinois with connections).. Unless you know something you would like to share with us?

 

[WHAMPOM]

Originally posted by: rudder
$2,656,902 is a lot of income from selling a book. I really think that should be capped at around $200,000. Let some other authors who did not sell as many books share a little piece of the pie.

This payment for personal endeavor not getting paid $millions$ after running the Corp into the dirt.

 

[Siddhartha]

Originally posted by: Genx87

Originally posted by: Siddhartha

I was not trolling, just posting the facts.

Right that is why it was originally locked?

This was locked due to the trolling of the last sentence which has now been removed by the OP

Senior Anandtech Moderator
Common Courtesy

I did not and do not see asking how the GOP outragers would spin the Obama's income was trolling. The question was not a deal breaker so I edited it out to get the thread unlocked.

 

[OCGuy]

Someone from the Obama administration paying taxes actually is change I can believe in :thumbsup:

 

[CPA]

Originally posted by: Fear No Evil

Originally posted by: rudder
$2,656,902 is a lot of income from selling a book. I really think that should be capped at around $200,000. Let some other authors who did not sell as many books share a little piece of the pie.

You are thinking outside the box! 2.6 million definitely sounds like an excessive profit.

I think there needs to be a bailout of these authors who do not sell many books.

 

[GroundedSailor]

I think we need to give Biden a raise. For the 2nd most powerful person in the country, and arguably the world, he has surprising little income.

There's an honest politician for you.

 

[boomerang]

Originally posted by: Siddhartha

Originally posted by: Genx87

Originally posted by: Siddhartha

I was not trolling, just posting the facts.

Right that is why it was originally locked?

This was locked due to the trolling of the last sentence which has now been removed by the OP

Senior Anandtech Moderator
Common Courtesy

I did not and do not see asking how the GOP outragers would spin the Obama's income was trolling. The question was not a deal breaker so I edited it out to get the thread unlocked.

Your motives are both transparent and juvenile. You've got two income tax related threads going here right now and it's real apparent what you've got going on. But let me guess, you're going to deny you're trolling again?

Your post amounts to nothing more than a PSA.

 

[Siddhartha]

Originally posted by: boomerang

Originally posted by: Siddhartha

Originally posted by: Genx87

Originally posted by: Siddhartha

I was not trolling, just posting the facts.

Right that is why it was originally locked?

This was locked due to the trolling of the last sentence which has now been removed by the OP

Senior Anandtech Moderator
Common Courtesy

I did not and do not see asking how the GOP outragers would spin the Obama's income was trolling. The question was not a deal breaker so I edited it out to get the thread unlocked.

Your motives are both transparent and juvenile. You've got two income tax related threads going here right now and it's real apparent what you've got going on. But let me guess, you're going to deny you're trolling again?

Your post amounts to nothing more than a PSA.

What are my motives? How are the two threads connected?
How is posting what the Obamas and Bidens paid in taxes trolling?
How is starting a thread about what forum members paid in taxes trolling?
Maybe I do not understand what the definition of "trolling" is.

Wikipedia defines troll:
An Internet troll, or simply troll in Internet slang, is someone who posts controversial, inflammatory, irrelevant or off-topic messages in an online community, such as an online discussion forum or chat room, with the primary intent of provoking other users into an emotional response[1] or to generally disrupt normal on-topic discussion.[2]

What is your definition of troll?

 

[Mursilis]

Originally posted by: Siddhartha
In comparison to his boss's return, Vice President Biden's 1040 looked downright modest. The VP and his wife reported an income of $269,256 for 2008. That's roughly a tenth of what the Obamas declared. Still, a good portion of that came from sales of Mr. Biden's memoir, "Promises to Keep." UPI reports that the Bidens reported donations of $1,885 to charity in 2008, but the White House notes that the Bidens made additional donations to their church that weren't included (lest you think they're stingy).

They had legit tax deductions they failed to claim? Strange. Otherwise, Biden was being a stingy bastard - a charitable rate of less than 1% is pretty cheap for someone so concerned about the poor.

 

[Atomic Playboy]

Originally posted by: GroundedSailor
I think we need to give Biden a raise. For the 2nd most powerful person in the country, and arguably the world, he has surprising little income.

There's an honest politician for you.

The Vice President is not the second most powerful person in the country. His sole duty is casting the tie-breaking vote in the Senate in the event of a tie (well, that and protecting the space-time continuum). That's not a whole lot of power. Should something happen to the President, the VP will enjoy a new position of power, but that's because he becomes President.

And these are his tax returns for income earned in 2008. He wasn't VP until 2009.

 

[MovingTarget]

If they paid their taxes, I have no problem with what they make. Good for them and may they continue to be successful. What makes this fair is our progressive tax system. Why all of a sudden are people screaming about how much they make given that?

 

[Spike]

Originally posted by: MovingTarget
If they paid their taxes, I have no problem with what they make. Good for them and may they continue to be successful. What makes this fair is our progressive tax system. Why all of a sudden are people screaming about how much they make given that?

I don't care what party your from but I personally don't think the President or the VP make enough money. Take a look at before and after pictures of Presidents, especially those who held two terms. It's amazing how much they age in 8 years, way faster than you would naturally. That job has so much stinking stress that a measly 200k a year is nothing, they should probably make a million or more...



Plus then we can tax them at a higher rate