So what does the Globe do?
Front-page it with TWO ARTICLES and a HUGE PHOTOGRAPH!
"Kerry says he always intended to pay tax; Declares he has not yet taken final ownership of yacht" by Matt Viser, Globe Staff | July 30, 2010
WASHINGTON — Senator John F. Kerry yesterday acknowledged for the first time that he mishandled the political fallout from questions about taxes on his new $7 million yacht berthed in Rhode Island, but insisted that he always intended to make the $500,000 payment once he had registered the boat in Massachusetts....
Yeah, sure.
Last Friday, Kerry issued a less-than-definitive statement about the matter, saying, “If I owe taxes, I will pay promptly.’’ That was followed over the next few days by a series of similar comments, fueling a stream of media reports about whether the senator was trying to dodge Massachusetts taxes....
Kerry sounded drained at times from dealing with the controversy, explaining how he tried to keep up with the details as he was going “100,000 miles an hour’’ on Senate business. He spoke in his ornate Senate office....
Awwww, the poor s*** scum!
Over recent days, as questions mounted, Kerry’s frustration showed; at one point he slammed a car door in front of a pack of reporters as he asked, “Can I get out of here, please?’’
:-)
Yesterday, even as he faulted himself for his handling of the controversy, he was defensive over the brouhaha....
He STILL doesn't GET IT!
The boat was built in New Zealand, and transferred earlier this year to Florida. It sailed to Rhode Island in May, and Kerry and his wife first sailed it during Memorial Day weekend....
In the meantime, Kerry is clearly hoping the controversy will go away....
And the Globe PUTS it on the FRONT PAGE!!
--more--"
"Senator’s wealth was long in coming and not always carried comfortably" by Brian C. Mooney and Matt Viser, Globe Staff | July 30, 2010
Senator John F. Kerry reported 16 years ago that he was living on his Senate salary and a trust fund worth no more than $100,000. He sometimes lodged at a friend’s home and had to watch his spending carefully.
Today, as a result of his marriage to Teresa Heinz Kerry, the Massachusetts Democrat is ranked as the wealthiest member of Congress, with assets of at least $231 million, according to financial disclosure records.
Related: The War Pimps of PMA
Congressional War Contractors
Oh, the Senator is MAKING MONEY off the WAR INVESTMENTS, 'eh?
The Kerry family has five houses, including ones in Sun Valley, Idaho, and on Nantucket — and a $7 million yacht berthed in Rhode Island that in the past week has become the center of controversy over whether Kerry was trying to avoid a $500,000 tax bill in Massachusetts....
That is why he has forgotten and forsaken you, voters and citizens.
The matter has revived an impression — that he lives in a rarefied world of affluence, far from the reality of his constituents — that has dogged him, fairly or not, for a good portion of his political career....
In the 2004 presidential campaign, in which Kerry faced Republican George W. Bush, it was Bush who arguably came from a more elite pedigree, given his father’s presidency and family wealth. But the Bush campaign found ways to paint Kerry as the elitist, underscored by a television ad featuring video of him windsurfing off Nantucket.
Kevin Madden, who worked on the Bush campaign, said the controversy over Kerry’s yacht “fits neatly into the currently accepted story line that Washington politicians are increasingly oblivious to the concerns and frustrations of ordinary Americans.’’
Since his 1995 marriage to Teresa Heinz, Kerry has consistently ranked among the wealthiest members of Congress; over the past two years he had the biggest net worth, as ranked by various Washington publications.
Kerry this year reported joint assets, with his wife, worth at least $231.3 million, according to a Globe tabulation of his 89-page financial disclosure forms. But almost all of his wealth comes from his wife, the heiress to the Heinz ketchup fortune....
He married money!
And unbelievably, they are going to MAKE MORE!
"Yacht could expand couple’s earnings from luxury charters" by Beth Healy and Donovan Slack, Globe Staff | July 30, 2010
If Senator John F. Kerry and Teresa Heinz Kerry charter out their $7 million yacht, as planned, it will not be the first time they have made a small business of their luxury transportation.
Heinz’s Gulfstream V private jet is held by a business called Flying Squirrel LLC, which flies charters, according to Kerry’s 2009 financial disclosure.
Oh, they have a PLANE, too?
The jet, which originally cost about $35 million, brought in between $100,000 and $1 million in income last year, the filing says.
It appears that the couple are using a similar strategy for their new 76-foot yacht, Isabel....
Mike Schiller of Boston Belle Charters said a boat like Isabel could fetch about $70,000 a week....
Do you make $70,000 in a YEAR, readers?
Kerry’s yacht purchase has drawn criticism because the boat will be moored in Newport, R.I., instead of Massachusetts, in what some have alleged is a tax avoidance strategy.
Kerry, who has homes in Boston and Nantucket, told the Globe he did not intend to avoid taxes; he has pledged to voluntarily pay $500,000 in Massachusetts taxes. Sailing aficionados said many people with large, complex boats moor them in Newport because of the availability of skippers and crews in that sailing hub....
And the fact that "Rhode Island rescinded its sales and use tax on boats in 1993, creating a tax haven for yacht owners"
Odd how the Globe left that out of all three articles today.--more--"
Related: Globe Conceals Kerry's Failure
Wikileaks Makes Kerry Look Like Crap
Also see: Slow Saturday Special: Senator Kerry Sets Sail For Rhode Island
Kerry Tacks Back to Massachusetts to Pay Taxes
Kerry Docks Yacht in Massachusetts
John Kerry's Tugboat
Can't you hear them?
