Obama paid late parking tickets

[quinnox]

Racked up penalties while at Harvard

Barack Obama is no longer a scofflaw, at least in Cambridge and Somerville.

Two weeks before the US senator from Illinois launched his presidential campaign, he paid parking tickets he received while attending Harvard Law School, officials said yesterday.

Obama received 17 parking tickets in Cambridge between 1988 and 1991, according to the city's Traffic, Parking & Transportation Department.

Of those tickets, he paid only two while he was a student and paid them late, said Susan Clippinger, the office's director

Jen Psaki, a spokeswoman for the Obama campaign, said last night that the senator paid for the tickets out of a personal account.

She would not comment on why it had taken him so long to pay the tickets and fees. "All I can do is confirm that he paid all the tickets and late fees in full," she said.

Clippinger said her records show that Obama received the tickets between Oct. 5, 1988, and Jan. 12, 1990, for violations including parking in a resident-only area, blocking a bus stop, and failing to put money in meters.

http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2007/03/08/obama_paid_late_parking_tickets/

[phantom power]

1. Hey, I heard that Bush used to do tons and tons of blow.

But I can see how much better a story some parking tickets are.
:eyes:

[napi21]

2. WOW! Imagin! A guy who wants to be Prez got PARKING TICKETS!

Nothing about DUI's, or vehicular homicide, huh?

I guess if nobody cared about the prior DUI's or the homocide, they probably won't care about these SERIOUS parking tickets either!

GRRRRRRRRRRR

[job777]

4. war machine

Looks like the old hillary war machine is really digging for this stuff. He better get somebody to watch his back.

[napi21]

11. And why do you think Hillary was behind this? n/t

[Forkboy]

12. For the same reason I'd suspect it was Obama if it was the other way around.

Politics. :shrug:

[napi21]

15. I suppose it could be, but it's also very likely to be someone

working for Romney, don't ya think? OR Giuliani for that matter. All three are located in the NEand could easily have found this info.

[Forkboy]

18. You can't rule that out,naturally.They are all bastards,no doubt.

But right now they don't have to.Each side likes watching the other beat the crap out of each other in the primaries.And anyone with the internet could find that info.One needn't be from the area.

Not saying you're wrong though.The shit comes from all directions.

[ieoeja]

27. Actually, it was Obama's team that dug this up.

They are looking for skeletons, even petty ones, so they can clear them out of the way now.

[Ethelk2044]

31. What Proof do you have

What proof do you have that it was someone on his team\?

[Turbineguy]

7. Parking Tickets?

That guy Obama belongs on the "Group W" bench for sure. No repub is going to vote for him now. He needs to go out and kill somebody to get their vote.

[Eurobabe]

3. Oh and he probably jaywalked in Chicago, threw a

candy bar wrapper out the window in Virginia, and, and --

Is this all these dumb reporters can dig up on B.O.???

:crazy:

[LibDemAlways]

5. This is certainly a much more newsworthy story than

chimp and Cheney's DUI's - not.

Have they looked into Mrs. Obama's past yet? Probably disappointed that she never did anything that rivals Pickles - you know, kill somebody while behind the wheel.

[stevedeshazer]

6. OMG!!11!!! THIS IS HUGHH1!!!11

Love the picture that can only be described as Mugshot Smear Journalism 101.

[LisaM]

8. Well, my sister's driveway is constantly being blocked by student parkers

For some reason they all drive everywhere now. When I was in college, hardly anyone had a car. When my brother was in college maybe ten years later, EVERYONE had a car, and HAD to drive EVERYWHERE. He would drive to a class that was only ten blocks away, if that. Harvard's campus is compact and Boston's mass transit is good, so I'm not sure why Obama would even need a car. While I appreciate that parking tickets are not really a major crime, I think it's strange that all students have cars and drive everywhere on campus now.

[rhiannon55]

9. Well, this oughta ruin his presidential chances

...since our presidents MUST be fine, upstanding law-abiding citizens--you know, like the current pResident.

:sarcasm:

[terisan]

10. I think this is a legitimate issue, as was Bush's DUI (which he hid from public)

If this is a fact it is is something any candidate should address and be accountable for.

If it were George Bush or any other candidate I would want it to be treated seriously and expect an explanation.

Bush hid his dui in Maine and, his parents covered for him. Unfortunately the facts came out only days before the 2000 election.

[Connie_Corleone]

14. Well, he paid them in January. I think that's being held accountable.

[terisan]

16. 16 years later.

I would like to hear directly from him on the reason why.

[Norquist Nemesis]

21. You've got to be kidding, right?

This is a big deal to you? Wow.

[terisan]

24. I did not say it was a big deal. It may or may not be. It seems to have been

important enough to him that he paid them in January 2007. In order for me to make a decision about a candidate I want to hear directly from the candidate on issues such as this.

[LisaM]

17. Well DUI is a lot more serious than parking tickets

and he had other people in the car, which he rammed into a bush.

[terisan]

19. Yes DUI is a more serious issue but that doesn't excuse less serious issues.

[LisaM]

25. If people would just get out of their cars, neither would be an issue!

Take the bus, people.

[Norquist Nemesis]

20. My guess is Obama probably forgot about the tickets

but his team came upon them as something that Cons could try and smear him with, so he paid them. I don't think that's trying to HIDE them, and it obviously was not a big deal or they would have kept him from getting his credentials.

And a DUI conviction is an entirely different ballgame than parking tickets. DUI convictions are not something that just slips a person's mind.

[terisan]

23. I would like for Obama to address it directly.

[ieoeja]

28. Cause he was cash-strapped college kid, and it was just a stupid parking ticket.

I had 42 outstanding tickets here in Chicago. I had 42 because you get tired and give up after spending 10-20 minutes two or three nights a week looking for parking in the busy neighborhood where I lived. I didn't pay them because I stopped caring after awhile.

Eventually I got booted and had to pay $25 and fill out 42 court appearance requests. That was 20 years ago or so. Never got a court appearance, so I'm guessing they didn't want to deal with 'em anymore than I did.

[terisan]

34. It sounds like a tough situation andif you were running for president I would

want you to address it publicly just as you did here.

[Ethelk2044]

30. My God

You are trying, but it will not work. Keep trying maybe one day something will stick. You will have to come with something better than a parking ticket though.

[terisan]

36. I don't know what you mean by "trying." I would have the same opinion

regarding any candidate who amassed that many parking tickets and and did not pay them for 16 years--Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, Bill Clinton or whomever. (Although the chances of my voting for a Republican are practically nil). Frankly I am surprised to see many citizens here dismissing this issue, laughing at it, and trivializing i).

I wouldn't trivialize it if it were a member of the Bush family. In fact if it were information about GW Bush early in Election 2000 I would have cited it as another example of his irresponsibility....and I wouldn't trivialize if it were another Democratic candidate. I would expect an explanation.

I don't know the standards of Cambridge. Maybe students are expected to amass parking tickets and leave them unpaid. Or maybe it is a red flag....I guess i will have to ask the candidate.

[Learn2Swim]

13. lol

reaaaaaach!

If this is the worst they can come up with, I'd say he's led a pretty honest life.

Let's trade the parking tickets for 3 or so wives. Then we may be onto something that someone cares about. :silly:

[shain from kane]

22. Was he driving a foreign car?

[tishaLA]

26. Oh no! He's doomed!

Why oh why couldn't he have been more responsible?

Or something.

[fuzzyball]

29. So...Obama is a parking tickets scofflaw?

What other dirt will come out? Only time will tell.

[zulchzulu]

32. DUPE

[zulchzulu]

33. First, he thought the war was a "dumb idea"...and now this!!!!

Parking tickets from 16 years ago!!! OMFG!!! This is HUGH!

[Clark2008]

35. I can't believe this...

wait... after weeks of ANS and Brittany's shaved head - yes, I can believe this was a news story.

:(

[cboy4]

37. I think I had to pay all of my university parking tickets before I

received my diploma.

I know I had to pay all of my library fines!!

[Exultant Democracy]

38. You only get one guess why it took him so long to pay...

Ok and the answer is... He forgot he even had them! Then many years later at the start of his own campaign he did what any responsible candidate does, "opposition research" on himself. This research would have assuredly turned up the unpaid tickets so once informed of the tickets he paid them.