| Oh my goodness. And the best thing will be that not a single progressive blogger (I wager) will find any of this to be objectionable in the least. Let's see what they say. |
| Can anyone imagine the outrage if Dubya or Johnny Mac had done the same thing? |
"I don't recall any sitting president entering into a book deal," said campaign finance lawyer Jan Baran, former general counsel to the Republican National Committee. "They all have historically done that after they leave office. I recall the only ones who did sign book deals while living there were first ladies, and my recollection is they gave it to charity."
| Just remember how wrong it is to give a bonus to an executive at AIG ... |
A White House aide said that the deal had been in the works for weeks and that the publisher will abridge the book. The aide, speaking on a condition of anonymity, said the publisher will get half of the money while Mr. Obama will sign off on the final version.
In addition, the financial disclosure showed Mr. Obama brokered an amendment to an existing book deal with Crown Publishing to put off writing a nonfiction book until after he leaves office.
| Wonder if Crown got any bailout money ... |
The disclosure also cites income, listed as more than $1,000, paid to first lady Michelle Obama from the University of Chicago, where she had worked as vice president for community and external affairs.
Just as in 2007, public interest in Barack Obama the presidential candidate helped Barack Obama the author earn lots of money from book royalties, according to his latest financial disclosure report. Last year, Mr. Obama reported earning $949,910 in royalties from "Dreams From My Father" and $1.5 million from "The Audacity of Hope." In 2007, he reported $3.2 million in book royalties from Random House. Mr. Obama's books have helped boost the Obamas' income considerably in recent years, from about $1 million in 2006 to more than $4 million in 2007.
After getting permission from the Senate ethics committee in January 2005, Mr. Obama agreed to a $1.9 million advance for two nonfiction books and a children's book, of which $200,000 was to be donated to charity, according to his 2007 financial disclosure.
Ken Gross, former associate general counsel at the Federal Election Commission (FEC) and a campaign finance expert, said there doesn't appear to be any rules that would prevent Mr. Obama from signing book deals while in the White House. "There are members of Congress who have had deals and they get paid, I don't know that he would have needed to sign that before January 20," Mr. Gross said.