Posted on 05/27/2004 6:10:05 AM PDT by OESY
Presidential Candidate Has Experienced Financial Scrapes, Transient Lifestyle
WASHINGTON -- John Kerry is often attacked by political opponents for being a wealthy, out-of-touch elitist.
But while he is quite wealthy, and has never been without at least a comfortable income and lifestyle, the presumptive Democratic nominee has experienced broader swings between the high life and pedestrian money concerns than the caricature suggests.
Indeed, from about 1984 through 1995, in between his marriages to two wealthy women and during his first years in the Senate, the father of two stretched dollars from paycheck to paycheck and borrowed money to cover tuition payments. He made financial decisions that indicate he was more willing to take financial hits than potentially career-damaging political ones.
During that period, dubbed his "gypsy" years by his current wife, Teresa Heinz Kerry, Mr. Kerry lived mostly on a government salary. Sometimes he bummed free lodging in Boston to see his daughters, Alexandra and Vanessa.
But some ... have scoffed at the notion that the wealthy senator could understand the concerns of ordinary Americans....
In federal financial-disclosure reports, Mr. Kerry reported $395,338 in taxable income in 2003. His wife, who files separately and has an estimated net worth of $500 million, reported $5.1 million in income....
But her wealth did help the senator secure a $6.4 million loan for his campaign in December, which kept his then-fledgling presidential bid afloat until his surprising victory in the Iowa caucuses in January....
During his "gypsy" years, Mr. Kerry did get caught in a few financial jams. At the outset of his first Senate run in 1984, he invested in an overseas tax shelter. But he abandoned it five months later -- losing about $30,000 -- after his accountant warned it looked shady.
That same year, federal prosecutors investigating a Massachusetts congressman for corruption stumbled onto the fact that Mr. Kerry had been using a rental car for 16 months without making a payment. Claiming a bookkeeping error, Mr. Kerry rushed a $13,600 check to the dealership, avoiding further scrutiny from investigators....
"I was very much leading a life more the way congressmen live than a senator," he recalls. "Every Thursday night, I got on a plane and, boom, went back home. I had this house in Washington and that wasn't where I was spending my time."
...
In 1990, the Senate barred senators from accepting outside speaking fees. Mr. Kerry had often earned an extra $25,000 to $30,000 annually from speeches. He opened several lines of personal credit, some as large as $100,000, at Boston banks. His parents also provided a financial "safety valve" when times got tight, he says.
Mr. Kerry says he doesn't remember how much money he drew down from those lines....
(Excerpt) Read more at online.wsj.com ...
KERRY'S PERSONAL BUDGET PLAN
In between his two marriages, John Kerry's income took a dramatic drop and the senator often borrowed money to cover tuition payments and other costs. A brief timeline:
• 1984: Kerry elected to the Senate with a salary of $75,000; sells off interest in law firm for more than $50,000.
• 1986: Earns $23,000 in speaking fees and roughly $30,000 from the sale of three condominiums
• 1987: Sells his Washington home for $420,000.
• 1988: Divorces from first wife, Julia Thorne; agrees to pay child support and private-school tuition for their two daughters.
• 1990: Senate bans speaking fees; earns $97,600 Senate salary; opens $50,000-$100,000 line of credit.
• 1993: Earns $133,600 Senate salary, opens three lines of credit each providing access to between $15,000-$50,000.
• 1995: Marries Teresa Heinz Kerry, whose wealth is estimated to be about $500 million.
Source: Senate Financial Disclosure Reports
What a revelation!
I had the same problems after I divorced my first multi-million dollar heiress,and before I met my current multi-million dollar heiress.
He is the common man after all.
Hilarious article. they're trying to make it sound like Kerry experienced the school of hard knocks. Basically, the article says: Between gigolo marriages, Kerry scraped by on the public dole, lived the life of a vagabond playboy, but never dirtied his hands by making a living in the real world. I think the best has to be Kerry seeking sympathy because he had to live the lifestyle of a lowly Congressman, rather than a Senator.
Just one Big Belie after another, from one of the biggest beliers in the country.
My word, I had no idea the poor, poor boy was so strapped for cash. How on earth did he ever survive?
I would wager that 99-percent of Americans would love to have the opportunities Mr. Kerry had during the time in question in the article. I am sure they would have had much better luck with the money. And this is the guy who wants to run out budget? Yikes!
This immediately disqualifies him for Pres. Like all of the 60's -70's freeloading males, he lost his meal ticket. And did he learn to live within his means, NOOOOOOOOOO, he started running a deficit. Then luckily for him a wealthy man died, and left a pathetic rich widow. Deficit solved. To Frenchie the American Taxpayer is equivalent to a rich widow.
And we're supposed to believe that these people will be good for the economy. Okay, you've got $500 million and your income for a whole year is $5.1 million? What a loser. My 16 year old could do 5 times better than that.
More like: BELIAL..........
That same year, federal prosecutors investigating a Massachusetts congressman for corruption stumbled onto the fact that Mr. Kerry had been using a rental car for 16 months without making a payment. Claiming a bookkeeping error, Mr. Kerry rushed a $13,600 check to the dealership, avoiding further scrutiny from investigators...."
Yikes!!
Every American is just one heiress away from being homeless.
"During his "gypsy" years, Mr. Kerry did get caught in a few financial jams. At the outset of his first Senate run in 1984, he invested in an overseas tax shelter. But he abandoned it five months later -- losing about $30,000 -- after his accountant warned it looked shady.
That same year, federal prosecutors investigating a Massachusetts congressman for corruption stumbled onto the fact that Mr. Kerry had been using a rental car for 16 months without making a payment. Claiming a bookkeeping error, Mr. Kerry rushed a $13,600 check to the dealership, avoiding further scrutiny from investigators..."
Aw....nothing about eating canned salmon or rice and beans? Nothing about taking the bus instead of driving? And not a thing about using duct tape to repair the kids' shoes because buying new ones is out of the question? Been there, done that....
I wish I would have been as financially strapped as Kerry so that I could understand ordinary Americans.
LOL!
Speaking of that tired, old lefy cliche "Every American is just one paycheck away from being homeless", someone pointed out how the RATS were telling people in Boston just to take the week of the Convention off.
I guess everyone in Boston will be homeless.
I wonder what the mean and average America incomes were for those years -- somehow, I suspect they were noticeably lower!
I remember a Howie Carr column about those "gypsy" years. I don't recall the details, but Howie says that JF'n was essentially homeless; well, not living on a park bench -- luckily, he was securely in politics and got a lot of "deals" (read no-cost) from cronies and donors on living accommodations. Ms. Cummings must have had length limitations, so didn't go into it.
Those condos from 1986 was pure graft. He never had a penny of his own money invested in the units. His "pals" put his name on the deeds and flipped them so he could get a pocket money. The scum ball
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