Obama - Robinson Marriage

Obama - Robinson Marriage

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The ceremony was performed by Rev. Jeremiah A. Wright Jr. at Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago, Illinois.

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Barack Marries Michelle

Obama and Michelle Robinson of Chicago, Illinois were married (October 18, 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.

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.

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.

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.

Rezko Attorney Owns Mansion

News and Commentary for Thinking People website published a 48-page document that lists William Miceli as the owner of the Obama family home at 5046 S. Greenwood, Chicago, IL 60615.

William Miceli is a lawyer at the Chicago law firm Miner, Barnhill & Galland, which also formerly employed Obama.

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.