Obama paid late parking tickets, Racked up penalties while at Harvard

[ieffinhatecardio]

He doesn't pay his parking tickets, now there's no way I'm voting for him.

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

By David Abel, Globe Staff  |  March 8, 2007

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.

In January, about when the Globe began asking local officials about Obama's time at Harvard, including any violations of local laws, someone representing the senator called the parking office to inquire about the decades-old tickets.

On Jan. 26, the remaining $375 in fines and fees were paid by credit card using the city's website, Clippinger said. She said she didn't know who paid them.

"I think it's fabulous he finally paid them," Clippinger said by phone yesterday. "I think others who owe us money should pay us, too."

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.

He received most of the tickets in fall 1988, in his first year at Harvard Law School, a grueling trial for many of the students. A meter violation then cost only $5; the penalty for not paying promptly tacked on another $15. At times, he received multiple tickets in the same day for exceeding the time limit at a meter.

In total, he incurred $140 in fines and $260 in late fees. In February 1990, he paid two of the tickets, one for $10 and the other for $15.

"He's certainly not our worst ticket scofflaw," Clippinger said. "Unfortunately, it's not that abnormal. It's actually pretty run of the mill."

Obama's payment of the Cambridge tickets was reported yesterday by The Somerville News.

The Globe reported in January that in Somerville, where Obama lived while attending Harvard, the senator still owed the city $73 in excise taxes and $45 in late penalties for parking in a bus stop in 1990 and in a street-sweeping zone in 1991. Both of the tickets had been paid.

Tom Champion, a spokesman for the city of Somerville, said he called Obama's office after receiving a query about the late fees from the Globe in late January.

By the next Monday, Jan. 29, he said, the penalties were paid.

"He had no idea he had outstanding charges," Champion said. "The Globe, by raising the issue, called it to his attention, and then he paid them immediately."

[ribonucleic]

Limbaugh is going to have a field day with this. 

[ieffinhatecardio]

That's the first thing I thought of when I read the article. Then I wondered if anyone would be brazen enough to use it for a tiny smear campaign during the primary.

Hillary perhaps.

[G o a t b o y]

Obama paid late parking tickets, Racked up penalties while at Harvard

He had unpaid parking tickets 15 years ago?


And this is relevant how, exactly?   


The press are a bunch of morons... creating issues out of nothing.  I don't give two shits if Obama had unpaid parking tickets any more than I give two shits if McCain had unpaid parking tickets.

Hope this helps.

[ribonucleic]

<< It's not so much that he had parking tickets. It's what it says about the character of the man. Anyone who gets that many parking tickets shows that he can't be bothered to follow the normal rules. And the more people dig into Obama's past the more of these shady dealings come to light. Sure, each story may be trivial in itself. But when you add them up a picture begins to emerge of a spoiled, somewhat corrupt young politician "cutting corners" while he's pretending to be a man of the people. (And would all these major papers waste resources on something that isn't important? I think not.)

I hope the Globe puts at least one more reporter full time on this parking ticket story. Who knows where it might lead? He might have been late with his rent more than a time or two. Or perhaps, he had a history of under-tipping in Cambridge coffee shops. (Who can believe he didn't after this parking ticket scandal?)

All these stories shine the light in the dark corners of the life of a privileged ivy leaguer who couldn't even be bothered to move his car so the hard working men who clean his streets could properly do his job. It shows the typical liberal contempt for the average American who doesn't get to go to Harvard. How many bus drivers and meter maids are in Iraq today, defending this country so "taxachusetts liberals" like Obama can spit in their faces?

Thank goodness the NY Times company is back on track. We haven't seen the likes of this kind of in-depth investigative journalism for oh, 15 years or so. They're back in the saddle. >>

http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2007/03/stop-presses-by-digby-boston-globe-has.html

[Tre]

I had to pay my campus parking tickets before I could get my degree.  When I attended school in Raleigh, I had a lot of city parking tickets that I paid off in the summertime.  They had some amnesty program where they'd drop all the late fees if you paid everything on a certain date.   

[Straw Man]

Maybe he was just spending all his money on coke and pot

[drkaje]

WOW! That's terrible, LOFL!!!

[Cavalier22]

at my school the parking police were dicks

[240 is Back]

the fine was $1 per parking ticket.  He had 15.  Plus a few hundred in late fees.


this is such mind fodder irrelevant shit for dumb people who want to giggle rather than look at problems of the world.

This is officially an idiot issue.  If you care or spend more than 5 seconds thinking about it you are a simple idiot and need to get priorities straight.

[ieffinhatecardio]

the fine was $1 per parking ticket.  He had 15.  Plus a few hundred in late fees.


this is such mind fodder irrelevant shit for dumb people who want to giggle rather than look at problems of the world.

This is officially an idiot issue.  If you care or spend more than 5 seconds thinking about it you are a simple idiot and need to get priorities straight.

I was a little surprised the Globe did a piece on it considering they're a Liberal newspaper. That's why I started the thread. I agree completely, it's absolutely meaningless.

I still wonder if anyone will use it when the battling for the nomination gets ugly.

[kh300]

he doesnt pay his parking tickets means he wont pay for anything as a president and we will all die

[240 is Back]

he doesnt pay his parking tickets means he wont pay for anything as a president and we will all die

I know.  the repubs have done such a good job with the budget too. 

[kh300]

I know.  the repubs have done such a good job with the budget too. 

go ahead and vote for him 240.. you think unpaid parking tickets is a joke? he'll kill us all

[OzmO]

he doesnt pay his parking tickets means he wont pay for anything as a president and we will all die

Were you just being sarcastic? 

if not,  time to:  ROTFALMAO!!!!

[kh300]

Were you just being sarcastic? 

if not,  time to:  ROTFALMAO!!!!

lol, i bet i had 240 going

[ieffinhatecardio]

lol, i bet i had 240 going

I bet you did too. 

He's probably 150 words into a 200 word post ripping you a new one right now.

[OzmO]

lol, i bet i had 240 going

lol   yeah,  hell you had me going for a half a second. 

[240 is Back]

lol, i bet i had 240 going

settle down, beavis.