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Sen. John Kerry, who has repeatedly voted to raise taxes while in Congress, dodged a whopping six-figure state tax bill on his new multimillion-dollar yacht by mooring her in Newport, R.I. Isabel - Kerry’s luxe, 76-foot New Zealand-built Friendship sloop with an Edwardian-style, glossy varnished teak interior, two VIP main cabins and a pilothouse fitted with a wet bar and cold wine storage - was designed by Rhode Island boat designer Ted Fontaine. But instead of berthing the vessel in Nantucket, where the senator summers with the missus, Teresa Heinz, Isabel’s hailing port is listed as “Newport” on her stern....

The Washington Post Sunday edition had the headline, “Battle Looms on Tax Breaks: Bush-Era Cuts for Rich at Issue.” There is definitely a fight brewing on Capitol Hill as the Bush Tax Cuts near an end and the Obama administration is looking at sticking it to the rich with tax hikes. You would think that the Bush Tax cuts were only for the rich as you listen to the debate. What I propose is that the rich and powerful actually pay their taxes and stop using loopholes, shelters, and deceit. Senator John Kerry is docking his built in New Zealand...

BOSTON — Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry is docking his family's new $7 million yacht in neighboring Rhode Island, saving roughly $500,000 in Bay State taxes. The Boston Herald reported Friday the 76-foot, New Zealand-built sloop has two cabins, a pilot house fitted with a wet bar and cold wine storage. It is owned by a limited liability corporation in Pittsburgh, the longtime home of Kerry's wife, philanthropist Teresa Heinz Kerry. If the boat were docked at the couple's summer vacation home on Nantucket, they would be liable for $437,500 in one-time sales tax. They'd also have to pay $70,000 in...

(FOX 25 / MyFoxBoston.com) - There are new details in the controversy over Sen. John Kerry's brand new boat. Kerry may still be on the hook for a half million dollars in excise taxes because he docked his yacht in Massachusetts less than six months after buying it.

The controversy came up following a report that Kerry moored the multi-million dollar yacht in Rhode Island , rather than the Bay State to save on sales tax. Today from Fox 24 Boston: Reporter: "Senator, you gonna pay those taxes back?" Former VP candidate Kerry (who served in Vietnam): "We've always payed our taxes, we said we'd pay our taxes...it's not an issue, period."...

This is rich. Or should I say for the rich, whom John Kerry likes to denigrate at every turn. After running on eliminating outsourcing and abolishing tax havens, we have this: "Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry is docking his family's new $7 million yacht in neighboring Rhode Island, allowing him to avoid paying roughly $500,000 in taxes to the cash-strapped Bay State. If the "Isabel" were kept at the 2008 Democratic presidential nominee's summer vacation home on Nantucket, or in Boston Harbor near his city residence, he would be liable for $437,500 in one-time sales tax. He would also have to...

And why not? After all, it’s a very quiet and peaceful day on the international front. Just be grateful Kerry didn’t show off an expensive water toy, such as a jet ski.

It’s been more than three months since we first told you about Capt. John Kerry’s high-seas tax dodge on his new $7 million yacht, Isabel, and the town of Nantucket still doesn’t have a check from the senior senator! You may recall that Kerry lowered the flag and surrendered in July, agreeing to pony up more than $400,000 to cover state taxes on the toney tub. Mr. Teresa Heinz broke out the checkbook four days after the Track set off a furious tempest with our report that he had purchased the 76-foot floating palace and ported her in Rhode Island,...

It’s been more than three months since we first told you about Capt. John Kerry’s high-seas tax dodge on his new $7 million yacht, Isabel, and the town of Nantucket still doesn’t have a check from the senior senator! You may recall that Kerry lowered the flag and surrendered in July, agreeing to pony up more than $400,000 to cover state taxes on the toney tub. Mr. Teresa Heinz broke out the checkbook four days after the Track set off a furious tempest with our report that he had purchased the 76-foot floating palace and ported her in Rhode Island,...

Since the reports of Secretary of State John Kerry allegedly spending time on his yacht yesterday—the same day Egypt’s former president was ousted from office—there’s been a flurry of denials and explanations. Still, the CBS reporter who first noted the story refuses to retract it — and there could be evidence that backs up his claims.

You want to know the easiest way to own a big yacht if you don't have the bucks? Simple. Just marry a rich old widow. That was exactly what John F. Kerry did. Okay, he does have to put up with an incredibly annoying wife but with his Yacht, "Isabel," he can get away from the old bag in comfort. And despite the fact that he could easily tap into the half billion dollar Heinz fortune to pay the Massachusetts sales and excise tax of about a half million dollars, Kerry avoided those taxes by registering the yacht in...

<p>BOSTON (AP) — Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry is docking his family's new $7 million yacht in neighboring Rhode Island, allowing him to avoid paying roughly $500,000 in taxes to his cash-strapped home state.</p> <p>If the Isabel were kept at the 2008 Democratic presidential nominee's summer vacation home on Nantucket or in Boston Harbor near his city residence, he would be liable for $437,500 in one-time sales tax. He would also have to pay $70,000 in annual excise taxes.</p>

NORFOLK Thirteen Somalis and one Yemeni captured after four Americans were killed aboard a yacht last month are scheduled to appear in U.S. District Court in Norfolk this afternoon on piracy, kidnapping and gun charges. The men were brought into the federal courthouse in downtown Norfolk this morning. The group was turned over to the Justice Department on Wednesday after being held aboard the carrier Enterprise since the Feb. 22 shooting deaths of the Americans. A Navy spokesman said the Somalis were removed from the ship by Department of Justice officials. A federal grand jury indicted 14 suspected pirates, the...

UNITED NATIONS -- Somalia's U.N. Mission said Friday that pirates hijacked a yacht carrying four U.S. citizens in the Indian Ocean off the Somali coast.

Ten years ago today: the U.S. Navy F-14 Tomcat’s attack on Saddam’s yacht Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) was a huge success for the U.S. Navy’s F-14 squadrons: over Iraq, Tomcat pilots and radar intercept officers (RIO) flew different kinds of missions such as air defense, precision bombing, FAC (A) – forward air control airborne, strike coordination and reconnaissance (SCAR) and photo-reconnaissance. Among the squadrons that took part to OIF there was the VF-2 “Bounty Hunters” that were embarked on the USS Constellation (CV-64). Some of their Tomcats were equipped with the Tactical Airborne Reconnaissance Pod System (TARPS) for recce missions,...

SANDY HOOK, N.J. — The U.S. Coast Guard says a report of an explosion on a motor yacht off central New Jersey could be a hoax because it can't find any signs of distress in the water. Read more: http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/yacht_explodes_off_coast_of_new_NnXnkGrSVQmSJt08bsu2UP#ixzz1xXKOqogk

NEWPORT BEACH (AP) — A yacht involved in a race off the coast of California and Mexico apparently collided at night with a much larger vessel, leaving three crew members dead and one missing, a sailing organization said early Sunday. It was the state’s second ocean racing tragedy this month. The 37-foot Aegean carrying a crew of four was reported missing Saturday during a 125-mile Newport Beach, Calif. to Ensenada, Mexico yacht race, the U.S. Coast Guard said. The Newport Ocean Sailing Association, the race organizer, said the accident occurred late Friday or early Saturday several miles off the coast...

Weekly FR Boating Thread ~ Vol. 5 ~ Feb. 24, 2012 ~ Selling Your Price & Joy 41 posts last week – we’re approaching planning speed...I can guarantee you every boat will sell. We just don’t know when, and for how much... If you aren’t using your boat at least once a month (during boating season), sell it! (When you get the boating itch again, you can always buy another boat.) The best way to sell a boat is to pretend it isn't for sale - clean it, fix it, use it, and then be pleasantly surprised when it sells....

LOS ANGELES (CBS) — With the city going broke you may be surprised to find out that Los Angeles is the proud owner of a million dollar yacht and it is about to undergo hundreds of thousands of dollars in renovations at taxpayer expense. As the head of the Port of Los Angeles raced down the hall, they tried to block our camera and dodged our questions, not wanting to talk about a yacht owned by the port, which is a city agency. But the mayor said that it is not what we think. “It’s not a yacht. It’s a...

Ahoy, fellow FR boating lovers! (Boating = all boats and water-related activities; sailing, cruising, fishing, beach combing, flipflop wearing, key lime pie eating, surfing, SUPing – if it floats, tastes salty or is sand encrusted, it belongs here!) While politics are important, our country is great, and FR is amazing; boating is all about fun afloat! This post is the launch of a weekly FR thread about anything and everything boating. (Boating FReepers are either enjoying their boats or dreaming about boats while surfing on Free Republic.) Back story: my parents met in a boatyard, I grew up on boats,...