BY JACK DINI – 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. He is also avoiding an excise tax bill of $70,000.
Republican Part Chairwoman Jennifor Nassour says, “While we can fault the senator for hypocrisy on taxes or having his boat built halfway around the world instead of here in the USA, John Kerry proves an important point that taxes in Massachusetts are too high. If they are too high for someone as rich as Senator Kerry, they are absolutely too high for working-class taxpayers who are being squeezed at every turn.” (1)
Paying the taxes in Massachusetts would have been a pledge of good faith to the citizens of the state but Kerry says he already pays an enormous amount of taxes in Massachusetts. This certainly may be the case and besides who wouldn’t try to save a half a million dollars if they had the chance? But most folks, no matter how hard they work, will never get a chance like Kerry’s. Instead, they will work hard, pay their taxes and watch their standard of living slowly erode. One has to ask the question—does the senator get it? (2)
Yet, if Kerry has his way, the Massachusetts citizens and the rest of us will be squeezed even more, Kerry, along with Barbara Boxer, is pushing climate change legislation in the Senate. This bill, the proposed Clean Energy Jobs and American Power Act (S.1733), designed to severely restrict greenhouse gas emissions, would place an enormous burden on American families—higher gasoline prices, higher heating costs, higher energy taxes, and higher unemployment. (3)
Fortunately, the bill has been put off for the time being, but it will come back. Kerry’s actions lead to the observation that living humbly and paying more taxes to the government applies only to the little guys. For the rich, elite, and privileged, like Kerry, they’d continue to fly around in private jets, be chauffeured in limousines and frolic the seas in big yachts. (4)
If Kerry’s bill should eventually become law, he shouldn’t be troubled. If he is clever enough to figure out how to avoid over $500,000 in taxes on his yacht, he is clever enough to figure out how to minimize his future energy taxes. “Let the peasants pay the taxes.”
References
- Associated Press, “Sen. Kerry berths yacht out of state, avoids huge taxes,” San Francisco Chronicle, July 24, 2010, Page A6
- “Editorial: Massachusetts Sen. Kerry ‘s yacht sails toward political rocks,” masslive.com, July 27, 2010
- David Kreutzer et al., “What Boxer-Kerry Will Cost The Economy,” Heritage Foundation #2365, January 26, 2010
4. “John Kerry’s Enviro-Vessel With 10,000-Liter Fuel Tank,” pgosselin.wordpress.com, July 27, 2010