She probably has the "big money" Stashed in a buch of cans hidden in the basements of her palacial mansions.
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| Teresa Heinz-Kerry: Itemize that $500 Million Tax Return | |
| 2004-05-10 | |
| Always interested in stimulating private investment, John Kerry proposed early in his Senate career that stock dividends be exempt from income taxes. In 1998, he voted to reduce the holding period necessary for claiming a lower tax rate on capital gains. "Friend of the common man..." Imagine if Mr. Kerry, the presumptive Democratic nominee, became president and supported such measures. He would immediately be accused by his political opponents of padding his own pockets - or at least those of his Put the returns out or suffer the death from a thousand cuts...She already filed for the extension so she doesn’t have to show her returns til August... "There will be innuendo around much of what he does,’’ said Charles Lewis, executive director of the Center for Public Integrity, a Washington research institute. "There will be a good deal of misunderstanding. His motives will be impugned, and unnecessary controversies will hinder
hiding behind the kids...pathetic liar She inherited her wealth when her previous husband, Senator John Heinz, the heir to the Heinz food fortune, was killed in a plane crash in 1991. Financial information filed with the Senate shows that she shares about 10 trust funds with her three sons from that marriage. "What I have and what I receive is not just mine, it is also my children’s, and I don’t have the right to make public what is theirs,’’ she told reporters. "If I could separate it, I would have no problem." rrrrriiigghhht But a half-dozen prominent tax and estate lawyers interviewed last week said Ms. Heinz-Kerry’s returns would almost certainly reveal nothing about the children except a hint at how wealthy they are. Her returns, for example, would show nothing about her prior marriage or where the children live or how they spend their money or the nature of their families - matters most people would say were outside the bounds of political disclosures. More likely, some of these lawyers guessed, Ms. Heinz Kerry does not want to reveal the immensity of her income - possibly $30 million or more each year. Or, they suggested, she may pay relatively little in taxes because she has taken advantage of the many ways available to very wealthy people to plan their estates and minimize their taxes legally. also, it would reveal her contribution to far-left anti-american groups a la Soros and the Tides Foundation Last year, the One of Ms. Heinz Kerry’s friends speculated that she was afraid the tax returns would raise more questions than they answered, leading to demands that she reveal still other documents, like the terms of the trust agreements, that could violate her children’s privacy. Many people outside politics say that Ms. Heinz Kerry’s finances are separate from her husband’s and no business of the public. "The spouse is not the candidate and is free to do with his or her money whatever he or she chooses," said Ellen K. Harrison, a tax lawyer here. "many people" huh? Like Democrats? But in political circles, the consensus is that the details of her wealth cannot be kept under wraps, especially since Mr. Kerry has used her money for his political benefit. "The rule of thumb is, the more authority a person asks for in a democracy, the less privacy they’re entitled to," said Stephen Hess, an expert on politics and the presidency at the Brookings Institution. Last year, for example, Mr. Kerry borrowed $6.4 million against his share of the house on Beacon Hill in Boston that was bought with her money but owned jointly by the couple. The money enabled Mr. Kerry to decline public financing in the Democratic primaries, giving him a leg up on his opponents who accepted public money and were bound to spending limits. JFK’s a kept man... Under the law, Ms. Heinz Kerry can only donate $4,000 directly to her husband’s campaign. But she is free to spend whatever she wants independently to help her husband’s cause, and she has left open the possibility she might dip into her personal fortune. One politician who does not release his own tax returns and does not think Ms. Heinz Kerry should is Ralph Nader, who revealed in the 2000 campaign that he had a net worth of about $4 million. How did "Friend of the poor and downtrodden" Ralphie get so rich? Shakedowns like Jesse does? "Anything she does for his campaign, she should disclose voluntarily," Mr. Nader said. "If she has tax shelters, she should disclose them. But there’s lots of information in tax returns that’s nobody’s business." Posted it all since NYT requires reg... | |
| Posted by:Frank G |
| #5 You can always tell when you've lost all rational thought. Let's see. The writer questions how Ralph Nader made his money. Here is a much better question - let's see the paper trail as to how George Bush became worth $20 million. It should make Hillary look like a piker when it comes to lucky investing. |
| Posted by: JimR 2004-05-13 10:32:38 PM |
| #4 the stonewall won't last...forgot about the other extension, thx Raj. The longer she holds out, the more incentive to see the returns ....she should've filed in early Feb, and made them public...methinks there's gold in them thar hills |
| Posted by: Frank G 2004-05-10 12:42:34 PM |
| #3 Frank G - She can also file a 2688 for an additional two month extension, giving Bush a potential October Surprise. If she makes it public, it's better for her to do so now than to wait. |
| Posted by: Raj 2004-05-10 12:36:42 PM |
| #2
She probably has the "big money" Stashed in a buch of cans hidden in the basements of her palacial mansions. |
| Posted by: BigEd 2004-05-10 12:26:02 PM |
| #1 That's not my money, it's the family's money. |
| Posted by: AzCat 2004-05-10 12:16:16 PM |