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The Obama family's new-found wealth - Barack and Michelle Obama reported income of $1.65 million in 2005 and nearly $1 million in 2006 - led the couple to contribute substantially more to charitable causes than they had before.
Over two years, the couple gave $27,500 to Trinity United Church of Christ, where their former pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, preached fiery, sometimes controversial, sermons. The donation was part of $137,622 in charitable donations reported by the couple during that period.
In releasing his returns for 2000 through 2006, Obama continued to challenge his Democratic presidential rival, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, to do the same.
The "transparency" debate has been ongoing between Clinton and Obama, whose finances are simpler than the Clintons'. Hillary and Bill Clinton earned tens of millions of dollars in their book deals and in the former president's speaking and consulting fees since he left the White House in 2001.
Clinton said yesterday that Obama's release of his returns was "a good first step" and that she soon would do the same with her post-White House tax returns.
Obama's returns contained few big surprises but recalled some noteworthy changes in the family's financial status.
For example, Michelle Obama's salary at the University of Chicago Hospitals almost tripled in the year after her husband was elected to the Senate. Her title changed from executive director for community affairs to vice president for community and external affairs - and her salary increased from $121,910 in 2004 to $316,962 in 2005, the tax returns show.
Until 2005, the Obamas reported little or no dividend or interest income, despite salaries exceeding $200,000 a year. In addition to his wife's salary from the hospital, Obama earned money as a part-time state senator as well as a law-school lecturer and lawyer for a Chicago firm.
In his book The Audacity of Hope, Obama described the financial trouble he faced after losing his 2000 race for a U.S. House seat.
He said the campaign's demands "left me more or less broke" and described difficulty renting a car when in Los Angeles for the 2000 Democratic National Convention because his credit card was initially rejected.
The income pattern and the list of interest, dividends and charitable donations changed after his 2004 election, suggesting the Obamas previously had little capital to spare for savings, investment or charity.
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