I got word of a press release yesterday from a website calling itself ObamaTruth.org. So, of course, I checked it out. Didn’t take more than a second to realize that it was almost certainly a secretly funded, Swift Boat-style astroturfing project.

Is it from Club for Growth? McCain? A shadowy group of Democrats? Perhaps, we’ll never know. But, like with all of these sinister projects, there is very little "truth" to be found.

For example…

The first item — posted below a four part YouTube video, which attempts to reinforce the claims below and includes some suspiciously professional voice work — is from a September 26th piece at the Sun-Times entitled "Senator’s family rakes in nearly $1.7 mil. in 2005."

In it, we learn that Obama earned $1.2 million from his book deals. And that Obama now makes $154,047 as a Senator. Both extremely shocking.

We also learn that Michelle Obama earns $316,962 in 2005 in role as Vice President for Community and External Affairs for University of Chicago Hospitals. She also earned $45,000 serving on the board of a foods company called Treehouse, Inc. (More on Treehouse below.)

Barack Obama explains…

She was promoted to the hospitals’ vice president for community and external affairs in March. Obama said that his wife, who, like him, is a Harvard law school graduate, was deserving of the promotion and raise.

Her previous position was less demanding, he said, and because his Senate campaign had ended and she had more time to devote to her work, she was more marketable with her educational background and other strengths.

‘’You can’t fault her for being smarter and better qualified for all sorts of jobs than I am,'’ he said.

Now, for comparison, according to Salary.com, the "median expected salary for a typical Dean of Medicine - Higher Ed." in Rockford, Il, where a branch of the UI College of Medicine is located, is $364,688. Hey, at least with her Treehouse board position, Michelle Obama was able to gain a little compensation parity with those fancy deans in Rockford.

Oh yeah, and in 2005, the Obamas donated a generous $77,315 to charity.

Next up is an article from the Chicago Tribune about the now discarded Tony Rezko land deal "scandal." And then we move down the page to a link to a site called WhereTheMoneyGoes.com, which includes quite a few circular references back to ObamaTruth.org. More research needs to be done there, I think.

And then there’s an article from December 17th, which the site gives it’s own breathless headline "Chicago Sun-Times Columnist Carol Marin reports on Obama and Pork." In it, we find out that Obama once secured $100,000 for a museum project while he was a state senator.

Shocking, huh?

At the bottom of the page, they feature the now completely debunked Dick Morris story, followed by a right-wing blog posting that desperately tries to connect Obama to Chicago-area corruption.

OK, so what about the La Hunta, CO story, which seems to be the real purpose of this site. The attack, you see, is not so much on Barack Obama, but on his wife Michelle. And she’s being cast here in the same negative light as was used against Hillary Clinton in ‘92, also a lawyer with her own career.

Her sin? Well, she was on the board of Treehouse, Inc., which apparently shut down a pickle plant in Colorado, laying off 153 workers.

Now, assuming this La Hunta story is true, it may be interesting to have a converstation about the role of corporations — and their social responsibilities. But, unlike the likely people behind this bogus site, I suspect that the Obamas are more than willing to discuss these issues as indicated by their responses…

The Harvard University Law School graduate says she’s not cashing in on anyone’s fame. "My income is pretty low compared to my peers," she says, meaning other Harvard Law grads. "You wouldn’t ask that question if, like some people in politics, we had trust funds and were rich."

Mr. Obama also rejects any suggestion that his family is improperly benefiting from his fame. Although a recent land deal with political insider Tony Rezko raised such questions, Mr. Obama has spent the bulk of his career working as a civil rights lawyer, not as a partner at a lucrative LaSalle Street firm.

On the question of whether there’s any hypocrisy in his bashing of Wal-Mart while his wife draws pay from a company that does business with the retailer, he says his views on corporate reform and social justice remain the same regardless of what happens at TreeHouse. Until those views are implemented, he says, "Michelle and I have to live in the world and pay taxes and pay for our kids and save for retirement" just like anyone else.

And, just for added perspective, it’s important to note that, according to OpenSecrets.org, Barack Obama is ranked 50th in terms of net worth of all members of the U.S. Senate.

So, what have we learned from ObamaTruth.org? That, in 2005, both Barack Obama and Michelle Obama were paid at a level that is rather unremarkable for people who share their educational background and professional stature.

Sure, it’s far more than I make in a single year. But, I’m not a graduate of Harvard Law School, or a best-selling author, or a Vice President of a massive medical instituion, or a U.S. Senator.

And, in the end, ObamaTruth.org simply screams the question: Is that all you got?

UPDATE: RunObama.com pointed me to this find on AlterNet that suggests that “Low Blow” Joe Novak, a Chicago-area dirty tricks politico, may be behind the site.

FURTHER UPDATE: According to this article, Joe Novak was the editor of the (now dormant) FollowTheMoney.org, a name remarkably similar to the above-mentioned WhereTheMoneyGoes.com. Coincidence? Highly unlikely.

YET ANOTHER UPDATE: JHC at Obamarama.org has his own excellent, and well-researched, version of the Truth About ObamaTruth.org.