Is it Legal? Book Deal for a Sitting Pres?

Obama signed a contract for a $500,000 advance for a children’s book project.  During these times of economic turmoil, Obama, the now sitting president, deems it necessary to take a large sum of money for a new book idea.  This amount of money would be added to the amount he will be making from the taxpayers on an annual basis.  $500,000 could surely go a long way to help pay off some things or could be given back to some charitable organizations if he really was that philanthropic – he certainly should not need the money all that badly.  One would think that he would want to help out the less fortunate, the lower and middle class constituents that he fought, ever so hard, for during the election.

The question, though, is whether or not this book advance and a commercial contract payment such as this is legal while you are a sitting president.  This would be another line of firsts in the office of the president since he took office.  Firsts do not always signify “good” – there are plenty of bad firsts in the history books as well.

The terms of the book deal were disclosed in a Senate financial disclosure report filed Tuesday.

Analysts say there don’t appear to be any rules that would bar such transactions after a president takes office, but it’s unclear whether an incoming or sitting president has ever signed a book deal upon entering the White House.

“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.  

Barack Obama is already receiving $2.5M in royalties from his first two books, “The Audacity of Hope” and “Dreams From My Father.”

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.

I guess Obama should call himself one of those rich capitalistic fat-cats?  He is using our capitalist society to write books and sell them and receiving money and royalties in return – maybe we should tell him that the government, under his policies, would own the book deals and would collect his gains.

My Children’s Book idea for Obama…” The adventures of Baraccio” w/ Jereminny Wright as his little cricket sidekick and George Soros as the Foreign Puppet Master.

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