Barack Obama

Obama was born in Honolulu, Hawaii to Barack Obama, Sr. (born in Nyanza Province, Kenya) and Ann Dunham (born in Wichita, Kansas). Barack Hussein Obama (born August 4, 1961) is the junior United States Senator from Illinois and a member of the Democratic Party.

Obama grew up in culturally diverse surroundings. He spent most of his childhood in the majority-minority U.S. state of Hawaii and lived for four years in Indonesia. Obama delivered the keynote address at the 2004 Democratic National Convention while still an Illinois state legislator. Since announcing his candidacy in February 2007, Obama has emphasized ending the Iraq War and implementing universal health care as campaign themes.

As a member of the Democratic minority in the 109th Congress, Obama co-sponsored the enactment of conventional weapons control and transparency legislation, and made official trips to Eastern Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. Obama's parents separated when he was two years old and later divorced. His father went to Harvard University to pursue Ph.D. studies, then returned to Kenya, where he died in an auto accident when the younger Obama was twenty-one years old.

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Personal Finance Thursday, Feb. 5, 2009

A Taxing Time

It's been a taxing time for President Barack Obama as several of his nominees had to bail because of tax issues, including Tom Daschle who withdrew his nomination as secretary of health and human services. (Read more in Obama Says He Erred in Nominations.)

In a television interview Obama said "that average taxpayers deserve to have public officials who pay their taxes on time."

Media Critic Howard Kurtz complimented Obama for doing what his predecessor failed to do when he messed up.

Kurtz wrote: "He took his lumps. He didn't duck or evade. He used three words we never heard from George W. Bush: "I screwed up." He also said, "I think today was an embarrassment for us." And he talked about "self-inflicted wounds."

Admitting he was wrong was bold, Kurtz further writes. "Usually when a politician makes a mistake and sits down for interviews, he tries to deflect and minimize . . . Obama didn't do that. He took responsibility and didn't put himself in the position of denying the obvious."

Emily Yoffe, however, wasn't as forgiving in her oped: Taxes? Too Busy, Busy, Busy! (Feb. 3).

Yoffe points that Daschle made millions in various jobs since leaving the Senate.

"When someone earns more per week than the U.S. median yearly household income, we naively assume that person has more sophistication about money than the rest of us," Yoffe writes. "But maybe the IRS, in an effort to find scofflaws, should have every American nominated to a Cabinet post, given the salutary effect it seems to have on one's memory of taxes unpaid."

In my column today I offhandedly said I was willing to give Daschle and others the benefit of the doubt that they weren't willfully tryng to be tax cheats. Some readers thought I should have been harsher and that I should have called them liars.

"I couldn't agree more that the tax code is too complicated," wrote Bob Doggett of Hampton, Va. "However, I don't think Dashcle and [Treasury Secretary Timothy] Geithner's tax problems are examples of that. I am sure they knew exactly what they were doing."

Another reader thought that as a small business owner and former corporate executive he would have been prosecuted and subject to tax penalties if he had done the same.

It's true. If he did what Daschle and others did, he would have had to pay penalties. But it's not true that the IRS will throw you in jail for such offenses. Unless you intentionally go out of your way to cheat or hide your income, the IRS isn't likely to press criminal charges. People are audited all the time and the IRS finds that they didn't report income or made a "mistake" in claiming a deduction they shouldn't have.

Let's not get overwrought by this and frankly we may suspect some purposeful under-reporting went on, but we don't know for sure. The IRS is pretty good at going after both little and high-profile people it has evidence of who purposely cheated on their taxes.

Nonetheless Tom Toles sums up where this all should lead in another one of his brilliant political cartoons. Check it out.

Where's the Integrity?

Let's see: The American people are bailing out one major corporation after another and what are the executives doing as they receive this welfare? They are handing out year-end bonuses: a reported $18.4 billion worth!

"The offending bonus payments suggest that Wall Street utterly fails to comprehend how its standing in the nation and the world has changed," wrote Post Columnist Eugene Robinson in See Idiots of the Universe (Feb. 3).

Robinson writes that Wall Street would "be wise to pay attention to those citizens outside, the ones with the pitchforks and the torches."

It's those people with pitchforks who are struggling to hold on to their homes.

A recent study by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency found that "more than 50 percent of troubled homeowners had missed at least one payment six months after a lender modified their loan," reports Real Estate reporter Renae Merle.

And that percentage is rising. Read Just a Band-Aid on the Foreclosure Problem? (Feb. 3).

Saving Again

You know things are bad when we are thrilled to see people saving even just 3 percent of their income. But hey, we need the good news.

For the sixth consecutive month, Americans have reduced their spending and the savings rate rose by 0.8 percent to 3.6 percent.

The bad news is people are still heavily in debt. In a special report to The Post, Mark Henricks offers tips on how to maintain your cool and negotiate a debt repayment plan. For advice on what to say to get your creditor to agree to a plan read When Debt Collectors Disrupt Dinner (Feb. 1).

Henricks also identifies what debt collectors can't do. Read Borrower's Rights, Collectors' Wrongs (Feb. 1) for more.

Color of Money Challenge

I'm still looking for local couples or individuals who have lost a job or home to foreclosure and want help.

If you're having trouble with your finances, email me at colorofmoney@washpost.com and tell me your story. In the subject line, please put "2009 Color of Money Challenge" and include your full name, address, daytime and evening telephone numbers.

It's a challenge for you to dust yourself off and start over!

No Job, No Insurance

Speaking of job loss, corporate layoffs continue and as a result people are losing their health insurance.

Many are like Jean Perry, a 57-year-old Arlington resident, who lost her job as a coffee shop manager last summer. She earned $40,000 a year. Now, she's trying to get health care at a reasonable price. She could have kept her employer-provided policy, if she paid $400 a month.

"Neither rich nor poor, this group doesn't readily qualify for public programs such as Medicaid but often can't afford to buy insurance or pay hospital, doctor and drug bills" writes John Fairhall and Kate Steadman of Kaiser Health News.

I don't want to depress you but most of us are a job away from health coverage. Read The New Uninsured (Feb. 3).

You are welcome to e-mail comments and questions to singletarym@washpost.com. Please include your name and hometown; your comments may be used in a future column or newsletter unless otherwise requested.

Charity Brown contributed to this e-letter.

-Michelle Singletary

Today's Color of Money
The Confusion Over Required Withdrawals
What lessons can we learn from the high-profile tax cases of newly installed Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner and Thomas A. Daschle, President Barack Obama's failed pick for secretary of health and human services?

Jane Bryant Quinn
Obama's Recession Fix Fits Economists' Models
In the fight over the stimulus plan, Republicans are demanding more tax cuts as the best way of lifting the economy fast. "We can't borrow and spend our way to prosperity," said House Minority Leader John A. Boehner (R-Ohio).

Your Money Help Dsk
Now's the Time to Reassess Your Finances
Jill Foster and Sean Stickle are in better financial shape than last year. Both recently started new jobs, more than doubling their combined income. But with all the news of companies slashing jobs and salaries, neither Foster nor Stickle is resting easy.

From Sunday Business
When Debt Collectors Disrupt Dinner
If the phone rings at dinnertime, the odds are greater now that a credit card debt collector will be on the other end.

From Sunday Business
The Risks of Life Insurance
It was a head-spinning week for anyone with a life insurance policy.