Because they’re real people too, the Obamas and the Bidens filed tax returns just like the rest of us.

But, because they’re not real people, they also released those statements for the public to view. Oooh, this should be good…

The Obama family’s federal tax return
The Biden family’s federal tax return

A couple of things I found interesting:

1. “Who the heck is Natasha Obama? Did I just stumble onto a political goldmine?” I thought, as I read about this alleged “love child” Barack was claiming as a dependent on his tax return. Natasha = Sasha. Woops, sorry for the false accusation, Barack–my bad.
2. Obama’s a good writer; Biden isn’t. Obama collected over $5 million from his books, and as far as I can tell, Joe didn’t collect anything (he made a little over $5,000 last year from an audio recording he did for a book). Which is kind of sad, because I think a book by Joe Biden would be much more entertaining.
3. Where you at, Jill & Michelle? So, one of the appeals of the first and second ladies was that they were both accomplished women in their own right: Michelle, a trained lawyer working for the University of Chicago Hospital, and Dr. Jill Biden, a teacher at a community college. Nowhere are their “working girl” personas represented on either of their family’s tax returns.
4. Joe really is an average Joe. I mean, aside from being Vice President, he really isn’t pulling in money from anywhere else (aside from a pension and social security). $333,182. That’s it. Good for you, Joe!
5. The Bidens love Goodwill. For the last two years (presumably more, but I don’t care to look back that far), they’ve claimed charitable clothing donations at Goodwill. This year, they claimed $900 worth of donations. Now, I love donating to Goodwill as much as the next person, but putting this down on your tax return seems a bit tacky to me, no?
6. Obama’s Nobel Prize Winnings. On pages 39-42, you can see where he donated the $1.4 million he earned for winning the Nobel Peace Prize. Of note: The Posse Foundation. Only could President Obama donate to an organization called “The Posse Foundation” and get away with it, I love it.
7. They’re late-filers, too. Barack finished his taxes last week, Joe finished three days ago. I’d like to take this opportunity to say I finished my taxes two months ago. That being said, I’m also not running two wars and fixing the nation’s healthcare system. Still, though…

That’s all I’ve learned so far from my less-than-thorough analysis of the Obama and Biden’s returns.