Obama and Michelle
Robinson of Chicago, Illinois were
married (October 3, 1992).
According to the
marriage license, the
ceremony was performed by Rev. Jeremiah A. Wright Jr. at Trinity United
Church of Christ in Chicago, Illinois.
The formal picture
The
informal one
Michelle Robinson was born into a working-class family from the South
Side of Chicago in 1964. She graduated from Whitney Young
High School in 1981 and majored in sociology at Princeton University,
graduating cum laude in 1985. She obtained her Juris Doctor degree
from Harvard Law School in 1988.
Michelle has also been an associate dean at the University of Chicago
and is currently a vice president at the University of Chicago
Hospitals. She sits on six boards, including the prestigious Chicago
Council on Global Affairs and the University of Chicago Laboratory
Schools.
The
Brother-in-Law
In 1992, Obama's brother-in-law, Craig Robinson pulled him aside and
asked about his plans. "He said, 'I think I’d like to teach at
some point in time, and maybe run for public office,'" recalls Robinson,
who assumed Senator Obama meant he’d like to run for city alderman.
"He said no -- at some point he’d like to run for the U.S. Senate.
And then he said, 'Possibly even run for President at some point.'
And I was like, 'Okay, but don’t say that to my Aunt Gracie.' I
was protecting him from saying something that might embarrass him."
Robinson was a two-time Ivy League Player of the Year at Princeton
University, graduating in 1983 with an AB in Sociology. He is the
fourth highest scorer in school history. He earned an MBA in
Finance from the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business in
1992.
Robinson was drafted in the fourth round of the 1983 NBA draft, but
never played in the league. He played professionally in Europe,
returning to the U.S. in 1988 to became an assistant coach at the
Illinois Institute of Technology.
An assistant for six years at Northwestern University, he became a head
coach at Brown University in 2006, where he continues to run a variation
of the Princeton offense which he learned from Pete Carril during his
years at Princeton University. He was named the Ivy League "Coach
of the Year" for the 2006-2007 season by Basketball-U.
On April 7, 2008, Robinson was hired as the Oregon State Beavers' new
head basketball coach.
The
Condo
Obama has said that his and Michelle Obama's
"student loan debt was higher than [their] mortgage".
This may be less a function of their high student loans than a low
mortgage payment; public records show that they put down $110,000 on
their three bedroom condo in 1993. Forty percent down will
dramatically reduce interest and principal payments. Given that
the Obamas didn't have children for another six years, their decision to
purchase a larger condo instead of paying off some of those student
loans that they constantly complain about doesn't speak much of their
money skills.
Regardless of the size of the condo, though, where did they get the
money for their down payment? At the time of the purchase, Obama
had just signed on with Davis Miner and was living off his smaller
advance from Random House to finish his book. Both Obamas
constantly emphasize their lowly backgrounds, so their families were
presumably not the source. So where did they get $110K for a down
payment?
The
Children
Daughter Malia, the
Hawaiian form of Mary, is born in 1999 and
daughter Sasha, the Russian pet form of Aleksandra, is born in 2001.
Both children would be baptized by the Rev. Jeremiah A Wright, hater and
racist.
No
Birthdays
Or
Christmas
Obama
told
People magazine in the issue out Friday (7/24/08) that he and his wife,
Michelle, do not give Christmas or birthday presents to their two young
daughters.
Obama tells the magazine’s Sandra Sobieraj Westfall in a seven-page
cover story that he and his wife follow the unusual practice because
they "want to teach some limits."
A Muslim custom Obama no doubt learned in his youth. Imagine, a
"Christian" that doesn't celebrate the birth of Christ.
Beyond Their Means
The New York Daily News reports Barack and
Michelle Obama's 2004 tax records
reveal they owed $240,000 on a condo they bought in 1999 for
$159,250 and refinanced twice to draw out the equity.
That year,
the couple declared no interest, investment and dividend income, meaning
that despite a $207,647 family income (mostly hers), they had little or
no savings and were paying day-to-day expenses with borrowed money.
Wrote the Daily News: "These numbers clearly show the Obamas were living
beyond their means" and would have suffered financially "during the
decline in housing prices had they relied on taking ever larger amounts
of equity from their home to pay their bills."
But they never had
to face the consequences because their fortunes turned dramatically with
his election to the Senate in 2004.
In 2005, sales of his
autobiography took off and royalties began pouring in. Two months
after he was sworn in, Mrs. Obama was promoted into a job created for
her at the University of Chicago Medical Center. A $1 million
congressional earmark sponsored by then-Sen. Obama helped her succeed in
her new role and enabled the hospital to better afford her 260 percent
pay raise. The hospital
eliminated that job last January the day she resigned to become first
lady.
Serving on the hospital board was Kelly Welsh,
executive vice president at Northern Trust Co., that, in June 2005, gave
the nouveau riche Obamas, despite their poor credit history, what has
been described as a "highly unusual, jumbo, jumbo mortgage" of $1.32
million so they could buy a $1.65 million mansion in an upscale Chicago
neighborhood at a $300,000 discount from a politically connected doctor.
The bank has no formal loan-discount program, but it shaved the
Obamas' rate, saving them $108,000 over the life of the loan, and waived
thousands in fees and points.
The Mansion
Ethical questions surround Obama's shady real estate deal and relationship with indicted political fundraiser and Arab-American activist Tony Rezko, who befriended Obama during his Harvard days.
The 2005 deal involves the purchase of Obama's home, a
big Edwardian-era detached house in fashionable Kenwood section of
Chicago and home of the acting head of the Nation of Islam, Louis
Farrakhan.
The former owner
wasn't willing to sell the house without the large chunk of land
next to it, which Obama seemingly couldn't afford.
So Obama bought the mansion
for $1,650,000 at a gigantic discounted price -- some
$300,000 less than the asking price.
To finance the purchase, he secured a $1.32 million loan from Northern
Trust in Illinois.
The freshman Democratic senator received an
excellent discount. He locked in an interest rate of 5.625
percent on the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage, below the average for such
loans at the time in Chicago. The loan was unusually large, known
in banker lingo as a "super super jumbo." Obama paid no
origination fee or discount points, as some consumers do to reduce their
interest rates.
Compared with the average terms offered at the time in Chicago, Obama’s
rate could have saved him more than $300 per month.
The same day, Rezko's
wife bought the adjoining lot, that can't be accessed from the public street, paying the full $625,000 asking price.
Six months later, Obama bought
approximately one-sixth of the Rezko property for $104,500, so he
could "extend his garden," leaving Rezko with a lot that can't be
accessed from the street.
Did Tony Rezko and his wife
subsidize the purchase of Obama's
opulent home? Of the transaction, Obama wrote,
"It was a mistake to have been engaged with him at all in this or
any other personal business dealing that would allow him, or anyone
else, to believe that he had done me a favor. For that reason, I
consider this a mistake on my part and I regret it."
Mr. Obama turned to Mr. Rezko for
help at several important junctures. Records show that when Mr.
Obama needed cash in the waning days of his losing 2000 Congressional
campaign, Mr. Rezko rounded up thousands of dollars from business
contacts. In 2003, Mr. Rezko helped Mr. Obama expand his fund-raising
for the Senate primary by being host of a dinner at his
Mediterranean-style home for 150 people, including some whose names have
since come up in the influence scandal.
Beyond that, what does it cost to refurbish, furnish and move into a $2,275,000
home -- another $500,000?
At any rate, this is pretty good for a guy earning $165,200 per and who once ran his
plastic up so high that the credit card company
denied him access to further use of his card.
The
Assessment
Obama and his wife
purchased their house in Hyde Park during the month of June 2005. The total purchase price was $1,650,000 and the title was put into a
unnamed land trust.
The house was reassessed during summer of 2006. All of the surrounding
houses were increased by an average of 28%. The Obama residence
increased 6%. What is more troubling is that we always attempt to assess
houses at about 68% of actual sale prices. The Obama residence is
assessed at 90,882 with a market value of $568,012. That is just about
one third of the selling price from 2005.
When I questioned this
assessment, I was transferred to another project in the office. The
Obama assessment was then completed by the same person who did the
workup for Governor Blagojevich's house, which also was assessed at a
lower percentage of surrounding properties and rose at a fraction of the
rate of surrounding properties.
According to standards set up within the
office, the assessment should have been $179,520 and the tax bill should
have been almost double in this one assessment cycle alone.
Fraud In Obama "Buffer
Zone"
The Obama Hustle
says Documents Received
Through The Freedom Of Information Act From Cook County Treasurer’s
Office Prove Fraud In Obama "Buffer Zone."
Earlier this past
August I was helped by Jerome Corsi and WND in getting the information
out concerning the Rezko "buffer zone" that she, Rita Rezko deeded to
the Trust that owns the Hyde Park Mansion the Obama‘s call their home in
Chicago.
In my last report which was reported in WND Tax fraud
suspected in Obama land deal the one thing that I could not quite put my
finger on was the lack of documentation concerning the separate real
estate transaction that took place in 02/2006. It is well known that the
Obama’s claim to have paid $104,500.00 for the "buffer zone" which was
then absorbed by the property attached to the "Big House".
However, all that has now been explained. When the Land Trust purchased
the house in 2005 it was obvious that the adjoining lot was butted up to
the "Big House", so then a sliver of land was cut from the Rezko lot and
Deeded in a Warranty Deed of Trust to the Northern Trust Co., Trust #
10209. The same Land Trust that owns the house and not the Obama’s.
Continue reading here -- these documents, images and narrative will
show the original findings concerning the Obama "buffer zone."
Conclusion: an attempt was made to hide the fact that the "buffer zone"
was passed to the Trust without ever being assessed separately and
properly taxed as a real estate transaction. It, the dollar amounts were
left off of this 2007 assessment for the old PIN # which as of the
Assessor’s Office and Maria were deleted in 2007 and then turned into
PIN # 20-11-115-036-0000 which had already been in existence for quite
some time.
No assessment was ever completed for a $ 104,500.00
parcel of land that was in fact a separate real estate transaction.
All that was paid for the lot was:
$52.50 + $104.50 + $783.75
= $940.75
Show Me The Money
Obama
wants to raises taxes on the wealthy, but as a member of that social
class, he isn't eager to fall victim himself. He has
invested at least $1 million in a fund that yields tax-free income.
The Illinois senator's latest campaign-finance disclosure shows that
his investments have nearly tripled in the past two years to as much as
$7.4 million, and his income in 2007 surged past $4 million, not
counting his government salary.
Obama reported accounts with
Morgan Chase Private Client Asset Management, an elite firm that deals
only with the rich, as well as a host of retirement accounts, some in
the name of his wife, Michelle.
The Hustlers
2008 Assets
For 2008, the Obamas did not
report any
liabilities, though a White House aide pointed out that they are not
required to disclose how much they owe on the 30-year mortgage loan they
took out in 2005 to buy their 6,500-square-foot Georgian-revival style
home in Chicago for $1.65 million.
Obama reported book royalties
worth between $1.1 million and $6 million and assets worth between $1.35
million and $5.6 million in various funds and U.S. Treasury bills.
The
Neighbors
These are Obama's neighbors. He lives NEXT
DOOR TO REZKO. Most of the others are within a one block radius.
Miner, Barnhill & Galland was Obama's employer when he did extensive
legal work for Rezko, who awaits sentencing after he was convicted in
June of fraud, money laundering and bribery-related counts.
Miceli, as a senior attorney at the firm, supervised
Obama when the future president wrote letters on behalf of Rezko urging
public authorities to award him new public properties to rehabilitate,
notes the "Barack Book"
website
maintained by GOP.com.
Who Is Harrison J.
Bounel
"Harrison J.
Bounel" is
an
alias identified for Barack Obama by debt-collection and skip-trace
expert Albert Hendershot, is currently being scrubbed from professional
databases, the investigator reports.
Harrison J. Bounel's name
appears in databases used to search properties in Chicago, and is
associated with the Obama home in Chicago's upscale Kenwood neighborhood
at 5046 S. Greenwood Avenue.
ABC's Sunlen Miller
says, if you happen to notice that Obama is not wearing his wedding
band, there’s a simple reason why: it’s getting repaired.
For at
least two days Obama’s left hand has been unadorned by his wedding band. The White House said that beyond the typical cleaning that most rings
get, Obama’s intricate gold ring needed a little repairing. White House
aides declined to elaborate on what specifically was wrong with the
ring.
May, or may not mean anything. Back on July 22nd, I posted
an item entitled, "Is There Trouble On The Second Floor?"
puzzled by the Obama's "separate vacations," and now no wedding
ring.
But, what is curious is
that Obama has been wearing a wedding ring since his days at Occidental.
Here's a photo of Obama and
Mama Sarah from his 1986 visit to Kenya
-- see the ring? Obama would not marry for another 6 years.
Now, what's that about?
Obama Assets Valued At $1.8M To Nearly $12
Million
The AP
is reporting that the White House says the assets held by Barack
Obama and Michelle Obama are valued between $1.8 million and nearly $12
million.
Financial disclosure documents released Monday showed
the assets for last year. The couple's assets, which include
Treasury bonds and retirement accounts, were valued at a maximum of $7.5
million in 2009.
Assets are listed in wide ranges on the
disclosure forms -- for example, between $1 million and $5 million --
making it difficult to determine their value with precision.
Royalties from Obama's books, "Dreams From My Father" and "Audacity of
Hope," totaled between about $1 million and $6 million.
Barack and Michelle
Obamas’ 2009 tax return, posted on the White House website, indicates
the Obamas inherited almost $500,000 worth of the bank’s stock from
Barack Obama's grandmother, Madelyn Dunham.
On April 16, 2010, the Washington Post reported that President Barack
Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama had publicly released their 2009 tax
return. "Obama's grandmother, Madelyn Dunham, left him stock in
the Bank of Hawaii valued at almost $500,000 at the time of her death in
November 2008, the tax return shows," said the Post.
In fact, that tax return is
currently posted on the White House website. In a Schedule D,
showing "Capital Gains and Losses," it indicates that the Obama’s
inherited $480,908 worth of Bank of Hawaii stock. The tax return says
the Obama’s sold the stock on Jan. 29, 2009, for $355,029, absorbing a
loss of $125,879.
Of course the Obamas keep their
dough in a tax exempt "quasi-blind
trust."
