Obama invests in T Bills, inks book deal

By Richard Henry Lee

President Obama has most of his assets in US Treasury Bills according to financial disclosure forms released late Friday afternoon by the White House. He has between $ 1 million to $5 million according to the box checked on the form which covers 2008.

This is consistent with his 2008 Federal Income Tax form which shows $18,352 in US Government interest from an account held by Northern Trust. (Northern Trust is also the bank which provided Obama’s mortgage at a below market rate.)

The form also shows a new book deal to target a younger audience for his book, “Dreams of My Father”. According to the form:

On January 15, 2009, Barack Obama approved a $500,000 advance against royalties under an agreement between Crown Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc., and Random House Children's Books, for an abridged version of Dreams From My Father suitable for middle grade or young adult readers, as proposed by the publisher in 2008. Royalties for the book are: 15% of the U.S. sales price for hardcover book sales; 7.5% to 10% of the U.S. price for trade paperback book sales, 10% of the U.S. price for the mass-market paperback book sales, and other standard royalties.

We suppose that by coming out with a Reader’s Digest version of the book, there is an opportunity for the nation’s teachers to include the book in their classes.

Book royalties have provided the lion’s share of Obama’s income. In his 2008 form covering the year 2007, he reported over $4 million in book royalties alone. This is enough to buy several pairs of those $540 sneakers that Michelle enjoys.

Biden’s forms were also published and it is clear he needs to write a bestselling book too since his income levels are largely unremarkable for a Senator. He does have several lines of credit against the equity in his home, however.

As we reported a month ago in AT, the Obama's relied on lines of credit to help pay the bills until his book deals came through.