| Feb 1, 2008 @ 5:35 PM |
Serious Question Here.. Serious Answers Pleaze! : )
|
|
MusicMonster
Posts: 2,954
|
Obama discussed in the debate that he was among the very top few percentage salaries in the country, and therefore was subject to the advantages of the Bush Tax Cuts.
But he indicated he was willing to forgo that for the sake of paying for his medical care plan. That's very good of him of course, to eliminate such a tax advantage for the good of the masses.
My question is:
How did he get to be among the most weathy people in America? He's a Kenyan immigrant, (probably in relative poverty at the time), who became a lawyer and then a state senator. They do well, but certainly not near THAT well. He's currently 47 years old. So how did he rise so quickly to that staggering level of income?
Then there's McCain.. A former Viet Nam Vet in his very young years, a POW for six years, and then a Senator for 25 years. They do well, but not THAT well? So how did McCain become filthy rich?
-MM 
|
|
  |
|
| Feb 1, 2008 @ 5:48 PM |
Serious Question Here.. Serious Answers Pleaze! : ) |
|
Say_Yes
Posts: 2,256
|
For McCain the answer is easy. He got rich the same way that John Kerry did. He married money. His wife is wealthy and his wealth comes through her.
As for Obama, my guess is that his wealth is from his step father, who was Indonesian (he died back in 1987), or perhaps his wife. I really don't know.
|
| |
|
| Feb 1, 2008 @ 5:54 PM |
Serious Question Here.. Serious Answers Pleaze! : )
|
|
Nightowl001
Posts: 8,126
|
He's a Kenyan immigrant, (probably in relative poverty at the time), who became a lawyer and then a state senator.
Sorry, MM, but I gotta pick at that. He's not a "Kenyan immigrant." Obama's FATHER was a Kenyan immigre, studying for his PhD at the University of Hawaii. His mother was born in Kansas and her family moved to Hawaii, which was where she met Obama's father. Obama was born in Hawaii. He is an American citizen, not a "Kenyan immigrant." His father left them when Barack was 2, to go to Harvard. We're not talking "Kenyan village" poverty, here. His father then went back to Kenya.
The McCain family was not poverty-stricken either. His father was an admiral.
Having said that, it only requires an income of about $160,000 a year or so and up to be in the top 5% of income earners in the United States nowadays.
Since the current salary of a US Congressman starts at $169,000 a year, that qualifies them both as being among the 5% of wealthiest Americans.
|
|
| |
|
| Feb 1, 2008 @ 5:56 PM |
Serious Question Here.. Serious Answers Pleaze! : ) |
|
Say_Yes
Posts: 2,256
|
I'm not sure how accurate the following is, but
Compared to the average American, Barack Obama is very wealthy. Compared to the other presidential candidates, he’s an indigent. His current salary is $165,200 (he earned $60,000 as a state senator). His wife, Michelle, has brought home the bacon — before she resigned in May 2007, $317,000 a year as the vice-president for community affairs at the University of Chicago hospitals. Like many of his candidate peers, Barack made some extra cash from his books, Dreams From My Father and The Audacity of Hope. For Dreams, which didn’t become hugely popular until Barack did, he collected a $370,000 advance; in 2006, he pulled down $147,490 in royalties. In 2005 Barack signed a three-book deal with Random House, taking a $1.9 million advance. The first book was Audacity, and he still owes another nonfiction title and a children’s book. Barack has a hobolike net worth of $1.3 million.
Source
|
| |
|
| Feb 1, 2008 @ 6:23 PM |
Serious Question Here.. Serious Answers Pleaze! : )
|
|
MusicMonster
Posts: 2,954
|
Oh.. I stand corrected.. I wasn't that aware of Obama's precise history then, other than hearsay.. No problem I appreciate getting on track.
Having said that, it only requires an income of about $160,000 a year or so and up to be in the top 5% of income earners in the United States nowadays.
Since the current salary of a US Congressman starts at $169,000 a year, that qualifies them both as being among the 5% of wealthiest Americans.
This though I do take issue with. I believe the tax cuts recognize a level which is MUCH higher than that. That's not even very high in this era. But I think it includes only those considered millionaires and up. I'll try to find out more on who this applies to. For example though, Bill Clinton said only fairly recently, that he had finally made the cut after writing some of his best sellers, where it actually applied to himself and Hillary. .
And I wasn't aware McCain had married money as in Kerry. Interesting! She's got to be 25 years his junior. So where are all these lookers who are also rolling in the green stuff?  Hmmm?
-MM 
|
|
| |
|
| Feb 1, 2008 @ 6:26 PM |
Serious Question Here.. Serious Answers Pleaze! : ) |
|
Nightowl001
Posts: 8,126
|
So where are all these lookers who are also rolling in the green stuff?
Hanging around the VFW? 
|
| |
|
| Feb 1, 2008 @ 6:36 PM |
Serious Question Here.. Serious Answers Pleaze! : )
|
|
jimbo242
Posts: 358
|
I thought he earned it pickin' cotton........yez suh massah!
|
|
| |
|
| Feb 1, 2008 @ 6:47 PM |
Serious Question Here.. Serious Answers Pleaze! : ) |
|
kattsmeow
Posts: 22,808
|
Thank you Nightowl! I wasn't sure, but I thought it was one of the parents.
I really thought the wage was higher than that, but I was thinking filthy rich, not working rich.
|
| |
|
| Feb 1, 2008 @ 6:55 PM |
Serious Question Here.. Serious Answers Pleaze! : )
|
|
MusicMonster
Posts: 2,954
|
So where are all these lookers who are also rolling in the green stuff? Hanging around the VFW?
Damn!! Shoulda known! I guess I've been "lookin' for love in all the wrong places"!! 
-MM
|
|
| |
|
| Feb 1, 2008 @ 6:56 PM |
Serious Question Here.. Serious Answers Pleaze! : ) |
|
kattsmeow
Posts: 22,808
|
|
| |
|
| Feb 1, 2008 @ 7:07 PM |
Serious Question Here.. Serious Answers Pleaze! : )
|
|
MusicMonster
Posts: 2,954
|
Say_Yes said:
Compared to the other presidential candidates, he’s an indigent.
Interesting source there.. So that would imply that ALL presidential candidates are in the range required for the Bush Tax Advantages. And most, well above Obama..
I still wonder what the cutoffs are though, for one reason because of what Clinton said about finally making it into that category. And of course the Clintons are many times over above what Obama is listed as.
I don't think the average American family with two educated incomes falls much short of $160K or a congressman's salary. So I'd be a bit surprised if that were it for the very top echelon..
-MM
|
|
| |
|
| Feb 1, 2008 @ 7:48 PM |
Serious Question Here.. Serious Answers Pleaze! : ) |
|
LipGlossQueen9
Posts: 11,164
|
I thought he earned it pickin' cotton........yez suh massah!
Are we going to ignore this bullshit, or........what?
|
| |
|
| Feb 2, 2008 @ 1:21 AM |
Serious Question Here.. Serious Answers Pleaze! : )
|
|
Paralegal_at_Law
Posts: 6,267
|
I thought he earned it pickin' cotton........yez suh massah!
Are we going to ignore this bullshit, or........what?
Yes, we have gone above and beyond racial slurs in the arena of serious political thought.
|
|
| |
|
| Feb 2, 2008 @ 1:24 AM |
Serious Question Here.. Serious Answers Pleaze! : ) |
|
LipGlossQueen9
Posts: 11,164
|
Alright. Just wanted to know what someone else thought.
|
| |
|
| Feb 2, 2008 @ 2:36 AM |
Serious Question Here.. Serious Answers Pleaze! : )
|
|
Novalite
Posts: 3,253
|
LGQ Alright. Just wanted to know what someone else thought.
I hope he wins big is what I think.
|
|
| |
|
| Feb 2, 2008 @ 7:43 AM |
Serious Question Here.. Serious Answers Pleaze! : ) |
|
eastham
Posts: 8,128
|
Are we going to ignore this bullshit, or........what?
Rather than bullshit, I believe that the noun more appropriate to jimbo's postings is sarcasm.
|
| |
|
| Feb 2, 2008 @ 8:32 AM |
Serious Question Here.. Serious Answers Pleaze! : )
|
|
iam7545
Posts: 4,151
|
Rather than bullshit, I believe that the noun more appropriate to jimbo's postings is sarcasm.
such a good apologist! YOU should learn to be an equal opportunity identifier of sarcasm! 
[Edited on 2/2/2008 8:57 AM]
|
|
| |
|
| Feb 2, 2008 @ 9:42 AM |
Serious Question Here.. Serious Answers Pleaze! : ) |
|
MusicMonster
Posts: 2,954
|
The best summary data available about the Bush Tax Cuts, referred to by Obama in the debate, seem to be as follows..
This is of course those cuts that Bush wants to make permanent, and do indeed heavily favor the very rich.
Bush tax cuts benefit most distinctly those at the top 1% of US earnings, or those whose income is $1,000,000.00 per year or greater.
So it is my understanding that Obama claimed to be earning in excess of $1,000,000.00 per year, as indicated herein, or like the Clintons now, to be in the top 1% of wage earners in the US.
Hence my question. How did he get that high in such a short time? To become among the top 1% of wage earners or considered in excess of $1,000,000 per year before the age of 47 years old? That is indeed quite an accomplishment.
Much of it was apparently his 3 book deals as outlined herein. Yet his net worth seems to be only $1.3 Million. So does this really escalate him into the top 1% or in excess of $1,000,000.00 per year? I guess that's still the question..
(Thanks to Nightowl for previously clearing up the issue of citizenship. And to Say_Yes for other supporting information).
Tax Cuts Offer Most for Very Rich, Study Says
By EDMUND L. ANDREWS
Published: January 8, 2007
WASHINGTON, Jan. 7 — Families earning more than $1 million a year saw their federal tax rates drop more sharply than any group in the country as a result of President Bush’s tax cuts, according to a new Congressional study.
Skip to next paragraph The study, by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, also shows that tax rates for middle-income earners edged up in 2004, the most recent year for which data was available, while rates for people at the very top continued to decline.
Based on an exhaustive analysis of tax records and census data, the study reinforced the sense that while Mr. Bush’s tax cuts reduced rates for people at every income level, they offered the biggest benefits by far to people at the very top — especially the top 1 percent of income earners.
The Bush Tax Cuts Summarized
-MM
|
| |
|
| Feb 2, 2008 @ 10:00 AM |
Serious Question Here.. Serious Answers Pleaze! : )
|
|
MusicMonster
Posts: 2,954
|
As for McCain reaching such lofty income heights, I gather the primary answer is still that he simply married into substantial wealth.
Because while his father was a high ranking naval officer, he himself was not, and even admirals don't make anywhere near $1,000,000.00 per year. From the Navy itself, McCain would only be making his retirement pay, not a particularly impressive source of income. Plus add in his salary as a member of Congress. Also not terribly impressive.
So as a very long term Senator, after a career in the Navy, his income level itself would never support such wealthy distinctions, unless he had some very lucrative dealings going on the side somehow. And if the latter, as a US Senator, one might tend to wonder what they were.
-MM
|
|
| |
|
| Feb 2, 2008 @ 11:45 AM |
Serious Question Here.. Serious Answers Pleaze! : ) |
|
kattsmeow
Posts: 22,808
|
[QUOTE
Are we going to ignore this bullshit, or........what? [/quote]
Sigh, it seemed to be the best thing to do.
|
| |
|
|
|
|