Obama family made $1.67 million last year

I was hesitating on posting this story, until I remembered that Barack Obama accepted the terms of his book deal just before he was sworn in as a senator last year, pulling the same sleazy move Hillary Clinton did with her book deal.

From AP:

According to joint tax returns filed with the Internal Revenue Service and released to The Associated Press, the Obamas, with their two girls, had $1.67 million in total income last year — about $70,000 more than the total for all of 1998 through 2004.

Book royalties and advances brought in about $1.2 million for the senator-author whose first book, an autobiography published about a decade ago, became a best-seller during his 2004 campaign.

In late 2004, Obama landed a three-book deal worth $1.9 million with publishing houses under Random House Inc. The first book under the contract, Audacity of Hope: Reclaiming the American Dream, is scheduled for release in mid-October and is to focus on his political convictions and how he became the Senate’s only black member.

I'm sure the book will do well. But why the big advance? Obama has a full-time job, and didn't have to leave it to write the book.

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