Free Republic

President Abraham Lincoln said it succinctly. It is true, he said, that you may fool all the people some of the time; you can even fool some of the people all the time; but you can’t fool all of the people all the time. One thing is clear and constant. There has been a lot of rhetoric thrown around about which political party represents “rich” people and which is the party that is not representative of the “rich.” That’s a subject that’s repeated so often it may be difficult for the average South Carolinian to grasp what it’s all about....

WASILLA, Alaska - Sarah Palin and her husband have pieced together a uniquely Alaskan income that reached comfortably into six figures even before she became governor, capitalizing on valuable fishing rights, a series of land deals and a patchwork of other ventures to build an above-average lifestyle.

The Zogby results are shocking – especially compared to the entire U.S. population (now about 303,116,000). The numbers below are for households, not individuals. • 1.6 million U.S. households already decided to move offshore and are headed in that direction. • Another 1.8 million households are seriously considering moving and are likely to do it. Many have taken preliminary steps. • 7.7 million households are “somewhat seriously” considering moving and “may” do it. • Nearly 3 million households are seriously considering buying a vacation home or other property outside the United States. Another 10 million are “somewhat” seriously considering it....

Washington Mutual Inc.'s new CEO, Alan Fishman, will be eligible for at least $12.65 million or more in salary and bonuses next year, the company said Thursday in a securities filing. Fishman, who replaced Kerry Killinger as CEO on Monday, also received a $7.5 million signing bonus for joining the company, according to a regulatory filing made with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Under his employment agreement, Fishman will receive a base salary of $1 million, a target bonus of up to $3.65 million and a long-term incentive award starting in 2009 of at least $8 million. In addition, he...

50 RICHEST MEMBERS OF CONGRESS: D–23, R–27 A VIRTUAL DEAD HEAT Republicans beat out Democrats, 27-23, in the race for deepest pockets in Congress: http://www.rollcall.com/features/Guide-to-Congress_2008/guide/28506-1.html?type=printer_friendly I guess that proves the former are the party of the rich and the latter are the party of the poor and downtrodden. And, maybe not. Three of the top five are Dems, including Numero Uno, Senator John Kerry at the top of the heap who is worth almost a quarter billion dollars. Other notables include Uncle Teddy (D) with $48,000,000, McCain (R) $20 million, Pelosi (D) $19 million, Hillary (D) $10 million, and bringing...

How much will he make this year? Question/Comment: Last year Lehman Brothers' CEO Richard Fuld, Jr. made $71 million. Today his company collapsed. How much will he make this year? Paul Solman: I don't know about this year. You've covered last. In 2006, according to Forbes.com, he was the 5th highest-paid CEO in America: "Total Compensation $122.67 mil; 5-Year Compensation Total $375.81 mil."

The sense is visceral among many Democrats that when John McCain expressed confidence in the "fundamentals" of the economy to start the week, he returned the focus of the presidential race to a fundamental issue that will benefit Barack Obama. The Democrat's chief strategist, David Axelrod, certainly thinks so; chatting with reporters today, he said the campaign had been "blasted" back to first principles -- pocketbook concerns. But where was Obama headed after landing in Burbank? To Beverly Hills, for a couple of off-the-charts, star-studded fundraisers (including one headlined by Barbra Streisand).

Daniel Gross reports: … the poll for the House vote in the East showed that the 25 percent of the electorate making over $100,000 went big for Democrats overall, 57-42, compared with a 49-48 margin in 2004. In 2006, those making between $150,000 and $200,000 voted for Democratic candidates by a whopping 63-37 majority, and those making more than $200,000 went Democratic by a slim 50-48 margin. That’s a huge shift from 2004, when Republicans took the $150,000 to $200,000 demographic 50-48 and rang up a huge victory among the over $200,000 set: 56-40. In 2006, Democratic candidates racked up...

Obama wants to be generous to poor people in Africa - with YOUR money, while his own half brother lives on $12 a YEAR. He is very stingy with his own. Despite making well over $1,000,000 in family income from 2000 to 2004, the Obamas listed less than $11,000 in charitable contributions for all five years combinedClick here for proof If you think the Obamas just didn't want to claim their legal deductions, they had no problem in 2005 and 2006. Also note that the year Obama became senator his income jumped 700% from $200,000 to over $1.6 MILLION. No...

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- More than $2 million -- that's what the United Way of the Central Carolinas has agreed to pay into the retirement plan of its chief executive officer. The payments are spelled out in tax returns known as the IRS form 990, filed annually by non-profit agencies like the United Way and available to the public. The returns show the local United Way agency has already paid more than $1 million into the employee benefit plan of CEO Gloria Pace King. Board members tell WCNC they've committed to pay more than $1 million more over the next three...

Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, acting as a surrogate for presumptive Republican presidential nominee John McCain during the Democratic convention, was ready for the question at a lunch with reporters Tuesday. Amid all the controversy over McCain not knowing how many homes he owns personally, the multi-millionaire Romney was asked during the lunch how many homes he himself owns. “One less than John Kerry,” Romney quipped, referring to the 2004 Democratic presidential nominee, the junior Massachusetts senator who is married to Teresa Heinz of the Heinz food fortune. That would mean Romney owns four homes. Asked whether the fact that...

BURBANK, California (Reuters) - John McCain, who often invokes his ordeal as a Vietnam war prisoner to show his devotion to his country as he runs for U.S. president, drew on the experience again on Monday -- this time to deflect sniping over the number of houses he owns. McCain's Democratic rival Barack Obama last week accused the Republican senator of being out of touch with ordinary people after he was unable to say in an interview how many houses were owned by him and his wife Cindy, a wealthy heiress to a beer distributorship. In an appearance on the...

"We're delighted to have a real estate debate with Barack Obama," said spokesman Brian Rogers, adding that the press should focus on Obama's house. "It's a frickin' mansion. He doesn't tell people that. You have a mansion you bought in a shady deal with a convicted felon." The felon reference was to Tony Rezko, a former Obama friend and financial backer who was convicted on fraud and bribery charges this year. Rogers vowed to intensify efforts to link Obama to Rezko in the coming days.

The social calendar is still a whirl of glamorous lawn parties, wine tastings, gallery openings, beach get-togethers and gala benefits in the Hamptons, the summer playground for the millionaire Learjet Set. But down at Town Hall, the local government could use a handout.

Gore Hits the Waves with a Massive New Houseboat Former Vice President Al Gore, the Nobel-winning self-proclaimed global prophet of green, has made a lot of money from the so-called “crisis” of global warming. He has profited from best-selling books that tout the looming climatic catastrophe, won an Academy Award for a movie about his slideshow presentation that focuses on his “sky is falling” message about a world on the brink of environmental disaster. His business interests have been focused on the profit side of the equation when it comes to “global warming,” creating a “carbon credits” program that has...

In an effort to cast himself as independent of the influence of money on politics, Senator Barack Obama often highlights the campaign contributions of $200 or less that have amounted to fully half of the $340 million he has collected so far. But records show that a third of his record-breaking haul has come from donations of $1,000 or more - a total of $112 million, more than the total of contributions in that category taken in by either Senator John McCain, his Republican rival, or Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, his opponent in the Democratic primaries. Behind those large donations...

Conservative leader Gary Bauer says Barack and Michelle Obama are "out to lunch" when it comes to addressing the economic challenges middle-class Americans face. American Values president Gary Bauer says Michelle Obama's "arrogant elitism" was "fully on display" at a recent campaign stop in Pontiac, Michigan, where she joked that a $600 tax rebate check from the government was only enough to buy "a pair of earrings." Bauer, who points out his wife has never spent $600 on a pair of earrings, says such "gems" from Michelle Obama are being largely ignored by the mainstream media. "She's complained about the...

Remember the American Dream? It had a roof on top. A door to happiness in its belly. And in some cases, a white-picket fence around its edges. Now homeownership and all its once-cherry-on-top privileges are on blue-light special: Bargain-basement dreams are in danger of turning into nightmares for millions of Americans, and it shows no sign of ending soon.

ON May 23, as a jury in Houston deliberated the case against top Enron executives Kenneth Lay and Jeffrey Skilling, a little-known regulatory agency in Washington, the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight (OFHEO), released a study with the dryly bureaucratic title "Report of the Special Examination of Fannie Mae." The document received far less attention than the news from Enron, but its conclusions were stunning. In meticulous detail, it outlined a culture of corruption at the Federal National Mortgage Association--better known as Fannie Mae--that rivals the most serious corporate scandals in recent years. In this case, however, the main...

"There but for the grace of God go I." The phrase is usually a cautionary note. My neighbor's blunder could have been mine. My co-worker's illness could easily be my affliction. I ought to count my blessings. But the flipside of the phrase is pregnant with promise, and many Americans felt it when they learned that radio-broadcaster phenom Rush Limbaugh, who marks his 20th year "of broadcast excellence" this summer, is making media history with a new $400 million contract. Sure, many right-wingers were happy just to know that "El Rushbo" is making more than Katie Couric. "That could be...

John Bartelson, who smokes Marlboro Lights through fingers blackened with tractor grease, may look like an average wheat farmer. He isn't. He's one of North Dakota's new oil barons. Every month, he gets a check for tens of thousands of dollars from a company in Houston called EOG Resources Inc., which drilled two oil wells on his land last year. He says the day his first royalty check arrived was one to remember. "I smiled to beat hell, and I went to town and had a beer," Bartelson, 65, says. His new wealth springs from the Bakken formation, a sprawling...

You would think that this story is right out of science fiction. But the facts appear to be that the US Democrat-controlled Congress intends to destroy the Republican middle class with $11 per gallon gasoline. The Democrats’ base -- wealthy white “limousine liberals”, and very poor people -- won’t be harmed, but the families who live in suburbia will be devastated. The multi-millionaires like billionaire Senators John Kerry & Jay Rockefeller, financial speculator George Soros, filmmaker Michael Moore, and actors George Clooney & Meg Ryan can easily pay for their auto and private jet fuel. Poor people are forced to...

Pelosi's Wealth Greater Than Other Congressional Leaders By Fred Lucas June 17, 2008 (CNSNews.com) - Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) is the wealthiest of the top congressional leaders, with total assets valued at somewhere between $30 million and $131 million, according to federal financial disclosure statements. House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) has limited resources compared to Pelosi's stocks and real estate ventures, though Boehner's assets themselves range between $2.1 million and $7.9 million. The financial disclosure forms for members of the House of Representatives were released Monday. Senate reports were released on Friday. The reports show that...

Congressional leaders lost millions of dollars in last year’s economic downturn. New financial disclosure reports reveal, however, that while House members suffered losses, senators defied the odds and saw their profit margins rise. Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s (D-Calif.) husband, the San Francisco financier Paul Pelosi, lost between $880,000 and $7.4 million in various investments. As a result, the Pelosis earned only several hundred thousand dollars of income from their assets, which range between $29 million and $133 million, according to public reports. House Democratic Caucus Chairman Rahm Emanuel’s (Ill.) good fortune as chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee in 2006...

The Chicago area Obama fund-raising elite gather Thursday at 5:45 p.m. at the home of Sara and James Hal for a high dollar fund-raising “special reception” with presumptive Democratic nominee Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.). The $28,500 per-person event benefits the Democratic White House Victory Fund. The hosts are the Illinois Finance Co-Chairs Jim Crown and John W. Rogers Jr. After that, Obama heads to the near West Side home of of Leah Missbach Day and F.K. Day for a 7:15 p.m. reception for his “Obama for America” warchest where donors are asked to give or raise $2,300. The co-hosts are...

WASHINGTON (AP) - Cindy McCain, who two weeks ago said she would never make her tax returns public, revealed Friday that she had a total income of more than $6 million in 2006. The presidential campaign of her husband, Republican John McCain, released the top two summary pages of her 2006 tax return, eager to avoid making her earlier refusal an issue in the contest. The documents show that Mrs. McCain, who files her taxes separately from her husband, paid more than $1.7 million in federal income taxes—a tax rate of more than 28 percent. She reported nearly $570,000 in...

I took in the Michelle Obama Show this week in Charlotte, N.C. The wife of Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) was in town for an election-eve get-out-the-vote rally, to make sure that Obama voters were fired up and ready to go for Tuesday’s primary. Usually, such events are rah-rah, go-team affairs. But Mrs. Obama’s appearance was a little different. It was an hour-long tale of resentment and anger. First, she complained at great length that her husband had been treated unfairly in the Democratic presidential race. Every time he made a move forward, she said, “they” — she never spelled out...

WASHINGTON - Cindy McCain says she will never make her tax returns public even if her husband wins the White House and she becomes the first lady. "You know, my husband and I have been married 28 years and we have filed separate tax returns for 28 years. This is a privacy issue. My husband is the candidate," Cindy McCain, wife of Republican presidential nominee-in-waiting John McCain, said in an interview aired on NBC's "Today" on Thursday. Asked if she would release her tax returns if she was first lady, Cindy McCain said: "No." The Arizona senator released his tax...

The investment vehicle headed by Al Gore has closed a new $683m fund to invest in early-stage environmental companies and has mounted a robust defence of green investing. The Climate Solutions Fund will be one of the biggest in the growing market for investment funds with an environmental slant. The fund will be focused on equity investments in small companies in four sectors: renewable energy; energy efficiency technologies; energy from biofuels and biomass; and the carbon trading markets. This is the second fund from Generation Investment Management, chaired by the former vice-president of the US and managed by David Blood,...

Despite recent market volatility, millionaire investors still plan to increase their exposure to stocks over the next 12 months, according to a survey released today by Fidelity Investments. The millionaires expect an economic recovery to begin about a year from now. The group of more than 1,000 respondents with household investable assets of $1 million or more were surveyed by the Boston-based fund firm in January. A full 27% of those surveyed said they planned to increase their exposure to stocks, while only 7% planned to decrease it. Also, 31% planned to allocate more money to fixed income, and 14%...

Don't liberals just love to holler about "tax cuts for the rich?" It doesn't matter what the facts are – people just love to hear that stuff. In a country awash with achievement envy (a/k/a "wealth envy") people just love to hear that those who have accomplished more than they are going to be hammered for daring to excel. Here's a quickie look at the figures since 1986. 1. The share of the income tax paid by the top 1 percent of income earners went from 25.8 percent to over 37 percent. 2. The percentage their total income that the...

f television is the nation's mirror, then no two TV characters reflect the intensifying "two Americas" gap better than Chris Matthews and Jimmy McNulty. A recent New York Times profile of Matthews describes a name-dropping dilettante floating between television studios and cocktail parties. The article documents the MSNBC host's $5 million salary, three Mercedes and house in lavish Chevy Chase, Md. Yet Matthews said, "Am I part of the winner's circle in American life? I don't think so." That stupefying comment sums up a pervasive worldview in Washington that is hostile to any discussion of class divides. Call it Matthews-ism...

The British-born rich are being left behind in the wealth stakes by an international “superclass” based in London... Only six of the top twenty places in the list, published yesterday, go to people who were born in Britain. Britain’s two wealthiest men are once again the steel magnate Lakshmi Mittal and Roman Abramovich, the Russian owner of Chelsea Football Club. Mr Mittal, 57, who retains his Indian passport but spends much of his time in London, tops the list for the fourth consecutive year... Mr Mittal is joined in the top 20 by foreign-born newcomers such as Alisher Usmanov, a...

He was a character created by Actor Garrett Morris on the “Saturday Night Live” TV show, back in the 1970’s. Morris became famous for uttering these simple words in broken-English, with a Spanish-sounding accent: “Beisbol …been bery bery good to me …” “Chico” was a fictitious professional baseball player from the Dominican Republic. He barely spoke English, but loved the fact that he was able to leave his impoverished homeland and come to the United States, where he was paid quite handsomely to play ball. And each time “Weekend Update” Anchor Jane Curtain would introduce Chico on the news set...

He’s in contract to buy a 16-room, 7-bedroom Nassau County mansion on north-shore Centre Island (Oyster Bay) that’s been listed for $10.5 million. RealLI.com says that’s in the same area as Fox boss Rupert Murdoch and Billy Joel (who’re both trying to unload their shacks, for $12.8 million and $32.5 million, respectively). Hannity was raised on Long Island and used to deliver the Newsday paper as a kid. Now – he can get anything he wants delivered to his house. He currently lives in a decent-enough place in Lloyd Harbor – but if I’m right, that he’s in negotiations to...

John McCain’s wife, Cindy, makes more money than he does. Tax returns and other financial information for 2006 and 2007 released by the McCain campaign Friday showed the Arizona senator and presumptive Republican presidential nominee pulled in more than $740,000 from the Senate, his Navy pension, Social Security and book royalties. During those two years — the only years for which returns released — Cindy McCain, heiress to one of the nation’s largest beer distributors, earned more than $870,000 from her role as chairman of the distributor, Phoenix-based Hensley & Company. Additionally, assets held exclusively by her are worth at...

WASHINGTON - The federal tax bill for President Bush and his wife: $221,635. That's how much the Bushes owed on their adjusted gross income of $923,807 for the year 2007, according to a joint return released Friday. The Bushes have paid $203,894 so far, which means they'll need to break out the checkbook — they owe the government $17,741. Their income total includes a $150,000 advance received by Laura Bush for the children's book she co-authored with her daughter, Jenna. Last year, the president and Mrs. Bush paid $186,378 in federal taxes on their income of $765,801. Bush's salary as...

Sometime in the next few hours, most likely.. The 2 Millionth thread will hit the "press".

On April 6, 2008, Barack Obama visited the San Francisco region, zipping from event to event all day long, from one end of the Bay Area to the other. What? you might ask. How did I miss that? If only I had known, I would have gone to see him. Well, there's a reason you didn't know about it. Obama didn't want you to know about it. Because the events he was attending weren't for people like you. They were for people with lots and lots of money, who use that money to gain access and influence with politicians --...

Bill Clinton's been pretty good at making money since leaving the White House, earning $109 million with his wife in his post-presidential life, according to documents disclosed by Hillary Clinton's campaign. But where is all this money coming from? The specific figure that attracts attention is the $15.4 million that President Clinton earned from billionaire Ron Burkle's Yucaipa Companies (link to PDF factsheet on Yucaipa here). As Forbes noted two years ago: The mainstream business press beats up on [Burkle], essentially for buying access and influence among politicians and leaders of the pension funds that invest with him (FORBES included)....

TOP 14,500 RICHEST FAMILY The Clintons left the White House burdened by debt but have earned $109m (£55m) in the past eight years, putting them among the 14,500 richest families in the country and presenting a stark contrast to the impoverished families championed by her campaign. AIRFORCE 2 The former president reeled in at least $12.6m - and a possible further $2.7m last year - from a business partnership with his friend Ron Burkle, the supermarket magnate and financier. Bill Clinton has his own room in Burkle’s mansion in Los Angeles and travels so frequently on Burkle’s private jet that...

Clintons Made Nearly $109M Since 2000 By JIM KUHNHENN and DEVLIN BARRETT Saturday, April 5, 2008 Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton and former President Clinton made nearly $109 million since they left the White House, capitalizing on the world's interest in the former first couple and lucrative business ventures. The Clintons reported $20.4 million in income for 2007 as they gave the public the most detailed look at their finances in eight years. Almost half the former first couple's money came from Bill Clinton's speeches. "I have absolutely nothing against rich people," Hillary Clinton told North Dakota Democrats at their party...

NEW YORK (Associated Press) - David Sneath has worked at a Ford Motor Co. parts warehouse for 34 years, but it didn't take him any time at all to walk out once he discovered he had won a $136 million Mega Millions jackpot. "I yelled to the boss, 'I'm out of here,'" Sneath said Thursday after going to state lottery headquarters in downtown Lansing to pick up his first $1 million check. Sneath, of Livonia in suburban Detroit, said the reality of his win has yet to sink in. "I still haven't touched base with Earth yet," he said. When...

The earnings represent 20 percent of the approximately $75 million Bill Clinton earned during the same period, according to the documents. That may raise new questions about what services he performed for Los Angeles-based Yucaipa, whose investors include the ruler of Dubai, Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid al- Maktoum.Tax lawyers said the Yucaipa partnership income for Bill Clinton looks to be a form of salary because it was in round numbers for most years. ``Most people who make that much money work for it,'' said Yale University tax law professor Michael Graetz, a former Treasury Department official in President George H.W....

ROSS: An examination of the records Clinton has filed reveals her husband is a partner in an investment fund, Yucaipa Global Partnership, registered in the Cayman Islands. The former president's Cayman Island investment is part of his dealings with a close friend, Los Angeles billionaire Ron Burkle. Clinton is also expected to receive a payout of around $20 million for his role as an advisor to Burkle's investment fund. Clinton also has been paid millions as a consultant for a company run by another close friend, Indian-American businessman Vinod Gupta. Clinton had earned $47 million in speaking fees since leaving...

Red Light Special! Clintons have some 'splaining to do!!

World Exclusive: 4/4/08 15:43:06 ET 2000-2007 Returns Feds Taxes Paid: $33.7 million Charity: $10.2 million

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton and former President Clinton report nearly $109.2 million in income for seven years in newly released tax data. The Democratic presidential candidate and her husband paid $33.8 million in taxes from 2000 through 2007. They listed $10.25 million in charitable contributions during that period. Clinton has been under pressure to release her tax returns, especially from rival Barack Obama, who posted his 2000 to 2006 returns on his campaign Web site last week. Neither Obama nor Republican Sen. John McCain have made their 2007 tax returns public, though both say they will this...

On a spring day at a speedway in North Carolina, John McCain posed with his wife, Cindy, and racing star Dale Earnhardt Jr., highlighting the couple's political and business interests in a single snapshot. McCain served as honorary starter of the NASCAR race that weekend in Charlotte, N.C. Earnhardt drove the Budweiser car, painted military camouflage, rather than its trademark red, to honor the troops. Budweiser, then NASCAR's official beer, is brewed by Anheuser-Busch Cos. Inc., whose products have made Cindy McCain and her family a fortune. The brewer sold toy replicas of its race car to aid the Special...

The Clinton Tax Returns: What Will They Reveal? An ABC News Review Has Found the Clintons Have Made More Than $50 Million Since Leaving the White House By BRIAN ROSS and AVNI PATEL April 3, 2008— Hillary Clinton has been pulling out all the stops to win the Democratic nomination for president -- but one: she still has not released her family's tax returns. The campaign says they will release the documents sometime before April 15. Without them, many questions remain about how the Clintons made tens of millions of dollars -- and whether they used arcane tax loopholes available...