cross-posted @ Daily Kos
john and cindy mccain in bogata, columbia
::
Now this is how you get the Bush Tax Cuts to work for you.
After reading another juicy joint from politico, we have The McCains and trying to weave through their money thing.
I don't see how anyone at this JUNCTURE can point the finger at The Obamas for anything in the realm of elitism. Not when you have The McCains with what 6, 7, 8 homes?
In recent years, a Politico analysis found, the McCain family appears to have tapped its fortune liberally.
While Cindy McCain, her dependent children and the trusts and companies they control made as much as $29 million – and likely substantially more – from her family’s business interests from 2004 through last year, data from the Internal Revenue Service, the U.S. Senate, U.S. Office of Government Ethics and the Center for Responsive Politics also reveals that they spent $11 million purchasing five condominiums for the family, hired additional household help and racked up progressively larger credit cards bills almost every year.
Their credit card bills peaked between January 2007 and May 2008, during which time Cindy McCain charged as much as $500,000 in a single month on one American Express card and $250,000 on another, while one of their two dependent children had an AmEx card with a monthly balance as large as $50,000.
OK, the five condos do not include two other homes, and hey doesn't everyone in America have AMEX Cards and can spend up to 500K a month!!! No biggie, not when you have accessible money like this, swiping the good old card, doesn’t mean a thing.
Remember when John McCain's campaign was on exhaust fumes last year? Well his travel sure wasn't or did you expect John to travel in coach?
Likewise, John McCain’s presidential campaign benefited from Cindy McCain’s fortune, using a legal loophole to travel the country in a jet owned by her company for cut-rate fares.
In fact, the cost of using Cindy's private jet to get around only cost:
For five of those months, the plane was used almost exclusively for campaign-related purposes, those records show.
Mr. McCain’s campaign paid a total of $241,149 for the use of that plane from last August through February, records show. That amount is approximately the cost of chartering a similar jet for a month or two, according to industry estimates.
Yes, real perks when you are the ultra rich.
Remember all the fuss on Michelle Obama's 148.00 dress she wore on The View? A dress she plucked off the rack? For many that is still pricey, but there will be no plucking off the racks for Cindy. No that just won't do.
For instance, in the June issue of Vogue magazine, Cindy McCain said she favors suits made by the German designer Escada, which typically retail for around $3,000-a-pop. If she becomes first lady, she told Vogue she may switch to an American designer, possibly Carolina Herrera, whose suits are comparably pricey.
Now we all expect our potential first ladies to dress appropriately, I mean we don't want them looking like dish rags, but who in American can afford suits from Escada that start at 3K a pop? Yeah, I thought this would put you on pause.
NOBODY I KNOW SHOPS AT ESCADA.
Sorry, don't know anyone that does. You got to be in that "ultra rich" area to afford luxury clothing, yes that is what it is.
Now back to real estate, Cindy purchases three condos, and two in the same building. The condos are priced at 700K, 830K and 4.7M but it does not stop there:
Cindy McCain, through another family corporation, spent about $4.7 million in 2004 and 2008 on two condos in an exclusive building in Coronado, Calif., an affluent San Diego suburb noted for its high percentage of military retirees.
Oh, it does not stop there folks.
Through her trusts and other corporate entities, Cindy McCain also owns another three properties: a scenic ranch outside Sedona, Arizona, where John McCain has entertained staff, prospective running mates and political reporters; a three-bedroom Arlington, Virginia, condo that’s been John McCain’s Washington-area residence since 1993 and the La Jolla, California, condo on which the back taxes were due.
This real estate puzzle reads like the who's who of the rich and famous. It really does. With all this property comes staff, as in those that pick your shit up and clean up after you.
The McCains increased their budget for household employees from $184,000 in 2006 to $273,000 in 2007, according to John McCain’s tax returns.
I don't know about you, but John McCain with Cindy surely has no reason to call the Obamas elitists. Not when you are running around spending up to 500K a month on AMEX cards, paying upwards of 300K for staff in all of your palatial residences, a corporate jet at the touch of your hand, and clothing only at couture boutiques where suits start at $3500.00.
What about the Americans who are hurting with lack of health care, food costs soaring, gas at the pump is off the chain, jobs are leaving this country, lack of jobs, tuition costs unaffordable, losing their homes and those that can not cover their bills; I don't know anyone in America who can relate to the McCains extravagances.
I am tired of the same old type of candidate, who is ultra rich, ascending to the office of the presidency. What change can they bring? They have been fed with the silver spoon of trust funds, elitism, and prestige. This is not the average American who has to get up every day and work to make ends meet.
John and Cindy McCain should not utter another word about Barack and Michelle Obama. They never had to work hard for anything; it has always been given to them, from money to name recognition.
It is time for change, not keeping the same.
This Week With Barack Obama
Share
