Senator Kerry: do as I say, not as I do
Of course we all know by now that Senator John Kerry (D. Ma.) moored his new gabillion dollar yacht (built in New Zealand) in Rhode Island so that he wouldn’t have to pay sales and use taxes of over $500,000 to the state of Massachusetts. But, here is what you may not remember.
While running for president in 2004, Kerry frequently used the term “Benedict Arnold’’ to describe CEOs who move their companies’ operations out of the country to avoid paying US taxes…[And] as a senator, Kerry has admirably attacked those who seek out tax havens. In 2007 and 2008, he introduced legislation aimed at American defense contractors and hedge fund managers operating overseas to avoid the US tax code.
After doing the tea berry shuffle for a few days, Senator Kerry finally told us that this was all a giant “misunderstanding”, and, he always intended to pay the taxes to Massachusetts. And, by now, after all of the public scrutiny, he has told us he has paid those taxes.
Two things strike me about this. Over the past 18 months we have learned that several prominent politicians (See: Timothy Geithner, Charlie Rangel, and Tom Daschle, among others) seem to have difficulty actually paying their taxes, while, at the same time, demanding that the rest of us “step up to the plate and pay our fair share”.
And, second, those same folks seem to think that they don’t have to pay taxes unless, or until, they are caught.
Elitism?
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Lurch has a history of "do as I say, not as I do" issues, which are nearly comparable to his "do you know who I am?" moments. I remember when he had a fire hydrant moved from in front of his, I mean, Teresa's townhouse in the Back Bay so he could park in front of the house. Just like any regular person could do.
Another telling characteristic of prominent Democrats is that they never give to charities until it is time for an election. Øbama, Gore, Clinton and the rest. It is pretty bad when even the NYTimes finds this practice sort of smarmy (http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/26/us/politics/26taxes.html?_r=1 or, since chris-os favors the Huffington Post for some reason: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/03/25/obama-ta… Kerry fits the mold:
In 1995, according to published reports, Kerry reported a taxable income of $126,179, and charitable contributions of $0. In 1994, he reported income of $127,884, and charitable donations of $2,039. In 1993, he reported income of $130,345, and contributions of $175. In 1992, he reported income of $127,646, and contributions of $820. In 1991, he reported income of $113,857, and contributions of $0.
Don't pay taxes they write, don't give to charities unless they have to, and perform imperious exercises of power they shouldn't have.
Sounds like a selfish, elitist, hypocritical person to me. Or a politician.
Can I get out of here, please?
Don't you know who I am?
"Character is doing the right thing when nobody's looking. There are too many people who think that the only thing that's right is to get by, and the only thing that's wrong is to get caught." ~J.C. Watts
Oh, yeah…and way to try and rip off the United States Mr. Kerry!!! Not only do you try and skip out on paying Mass your sales and use taxes, but you don't even support your local yatch builders by spending your gabillion here in the United States…
"Florida leads the way in US yacht builders, with 25 manufacturers, followed by Washington state with 19 and California with 8 major yacht builders." luxuryelinks.com/yacht/builders/yacht–builders–USA
"Today, many yacht manufactures are located in Western Europe, Eastern Europe, Australia, Asia and the United States." ezinearticles.com/?The-Worlds-Best-Luxury-Yacht-Manufacturers
There is so much wrong with Kerry, one does not even know where to begin.
Yet another slimy dem that thinks he can get away without paying taxes to the state he represents. Those who do this kinda stuff ARE elitist, not just with their possessions and finances, but they are also intellectually elitist in that they believe that "common folk" are too stupid to catch them doing wrong. Yep, Kerry is a man of the people for sure.
Time for "Scott Brown" – Round 2.
Mike Dukakis used to call these sorts of issues "oversights".