NYT: Privacy of Wife's Fortune Casts a Shadow Over Kerry

[kskiska]

WASHINGTON, April 24 — Now that Senator John Kerry has made his military records public, his presidential campaign is bracing for an even bigger battle over whether to disclose his wife's tax returns, a highly charged issue that pits the privacy of his wife and her children against the political exigencies of his candidacy.

But Mr. Kerry's wife, Teresa Heinz Kerry — whose personal wealth, estimated at more than $500 million dollars, derives from the family fortune of her late husband — said this week that she would not release her returns because her finances were deeply entwined with those of her three adult children and she wanted to protect their privacy.

Two of her sons are active in the campaign while the third lives an intensely private life.

"What I have and what I receive is not just mine, it is also my children's, and I don't know that I have the right to make public what is theirs," Mrs. Heinz Kerry told reporters. "If I could separate it, I would have no problem."

But citing history and the demands for candidates to release information about their finances, several political analysts said disclosure seemed inevitable.

Stephen Hess, an expert in presidential politics at the Brookings Institution who worked in the Eisenhower and Nixon White Houses, said the Kerrys relinquished their claims on privacy when Mr. Kerry decided to seek the Democratic presidential nomination.

more…
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/04/25/politics/campaign/25DISC.html

[DianeG5385]

1. Only if the GOP says it's so

Party line nonsense.

[The Zanti Regent]

21. More Republican lies from the Screw York Times

Ask them why it is wrong for Kerry to receive communion but it's ok for Pataki and Ridge to have communion since they are pro-choice Republicans.

Ask them why it is wrong to disclose Teresa's portfolio but it is OK to hide the Bush Family's investments.

FUCK THE NEW YORK TIMES--ALL THE PROPAGANDA ROVE TELLS US TO PRINT!!!!!!

[rusty charly]

2. why doesn't bu$h*'s AWOL "record"

cast any kind of shadow?

[Lindacooks]

28. Very good question

all the shadiness of chimpy's record have NOT been revealed.

[DianeG5385]

3. Who"are these "experts" from the Brookings Institution???

and who decided they were experts??? Have we examined their "credentials"?

[PaDUer]

9. Time to show up

in front of their houses...they always like that!

[skooooo]

4. Just get over it!

[rfkrocks]

5. I am glad they quoted Stephen Hess

he worked in the eisenhower and Nixon admin? What is he a vampire drinking the blood of democrats to stay alive-I am waiting for Roy Cohn to attack poor Teresa next-night of the living freepers

[DAGDA56]

13. Ohh...I don't know if you've just created my next nightmare...

...or your next screenplay!

[Mike Niendorff]

6. more "F.U.D."

"fear, uncertainty and doubt"

Standard marketing technique.


MDN

[VolcanoJen]

7. This will probably turn out to be as detrimental to the Kerry Campaign...

... as his complete military record was.

I'm starting to gain some faith in Kerry's campaign team, and I have a feeling this is a big ol' red herring that the Republicans will have to swallow when the truth comes out. They were certainly shut-up and embarrassed when Kerry released his Vietnam record.

[powergirl]

10. I'll bet Mrs.Kerry has made mega charitable donations

to help poor people, etc. So, your red herring theory could be valid. Kerry will finally say - ok ok, if you insist. Then it will reveal the obvious - that Teresa is loaded (duh!) but that she is a great humanitarian. Take that!


:spank:

[Not Me]

20. Actually, I read that she filed for an extension

So her tax return has not yet been filed.

[maddezmom]

22. but I'm sure this isn't the first year she's donated

:)

[kskiska]

12. They were shut up and embarrassed

over the girlfriend story, too. No one even mentions that one anymore.

[lancdem]

14. You could very well be right

Makes sense to me.

[Lindacooks]

30. I've got a feeling you're right

when your opponent is an idiot, all you have to do is just give him enough rope to hang himself. Senator Kerry is doing just fine.

[July]

44. That would be sweet.

I always find it interesting that every hit piece on Teresa's money makes little or nothing of the fact that her wealth was inherited from her Republican senator first husband. They'd probably like her to give it back, since she didn't stick with their party.

I'm hoping you're right that this will backfire on the Smear Team.

[saigon68]

8. This photo casts a shadow over bush criminals

Handiwork of shrub chimpanzee ---- dumbest son of the bush family criminals

[PaDUer]

11. Pictures like these

should be enlarged and write your logos...do a peaceful protest expressing your opinions of what these murderers have done because there's so many people who are still asleep..Since they don't want anymore pix released, utilize the pix that are still available online, and do what needs to be done! Don't let these pigs get away with anything!

[powergirl]

15. The Repubs are just jealous that Kerry married well

No one good wants to be seen with their sorry asses.
:)

[PaDUer]

25. Absolutely...

those pigs are married to a bunch of DITZES!

[edbermac]

16. What about Mrs Bush?

Does anyone know if Laura Bush released her financial records when Duh-bya was running 4 years ago?

[powergirl]

19. They filed a joint tax return

Mrs. Bush was a stay at home mom. So, any income she had was attributed to books, speaking engagements, etc.. So, her records were "released" technically.

[stepnw1f]

17. After Seeing What The Bush Administration Has Done

I doubt anything Kerry's is doing is going to put doubts into my mind. You have to be stupid to be afraid of Kerry and not afraid of Bush.

[Aunt Anti-bush]

18. Big deal.

I'd much rather have a president who makes money off of ketchup and pickles than a president and vice president that are making money off off of a war declared for bogus reasons.

[saigon68]

24. Check out these $2000.00 per day mercenaries

Guarding little boy blue



[KerryThatWeight]

27. I'm a little bit confused with the context you posted

What does that have to do with whiny repubs digging into Mrs. Kerry's income tax forms?

[saigon68]

29. its to Illustrate all the $$$$$$ that

The bush criminals, cheney and their friends make from the government, through corporate dealings. as a group these people are far far richer than Mrs Kerry

I should have been clearer

Welcome to Du by the way! :-) :-)

[KerryThatWeight]

31. Oh...OK

I should have known

Thanks for the welcome... :-)

[SharonAnn]

33. Then GHWB should release his tax records since they're part

of the "family" wealth and income.

After all, * will inherit from GHWB.

[bluedeminredstate]

23. Kerry should respond that

Poppy's Carlyle earnings and other money he's hauled in since 1993 should be made public since A) His position as President put him in the position to make big bucks, B) Carlyle was making money hand over fist during the Afghanistan war and the Iraq build up, and
C)It will all go partly to Chimpy who made the war decisions affecting his future inheritence.

That is far more important than how much money John Kerry's wife has.

[KerryThatWeight]

26. The GOP should just back off

I know what they are trying to do. They want to exploit all the charitable money sent to anti-gun, family planning and other worthy liberal causes she supports and hang it around John's neck like an albatross.

[Bridget Burke]

37. Yes, they're both evil liberals.....

How clever of you to discover their dark secret. I bet she's given to artsy groups & tree-hugging environmental causes as well.

They ought to be ashamed, don't you think?

[wabeewoman]

32. Teresa Heinz Kerry

is not running for president and she should not have to disclose her tax returns. Why is the NY Times so concerned when they don't care who met with Cheney in the secret energy task force meetings on taxpayer time when he was planning to take over Iraqi oil fields? Why aren't they concerned with any of the secrets of the bush administration? BTW, I got an email about Heinz Kerry from a fundie about her donating to terrorists. Why do they hate strong women??

[AngryAmish]

34. Typical RW hit piece from the NYT

They would do anything and make up any lie to get Kerry. The establishment has always despised Kerry because he has the courage to speak truth to power. This disgusts me.

[Isere]

35. Are there any rich Republican wives or husbands?

Does anyone know if there are any spouses of Republicans who are wealthy? Have they been pushed into releasing their tax forms? I don't know how to research this myself, but I wouldn't be astonished to discover that what is sauce for the Democrats is not sauce for the Republicans.

The Republicans are trolling for an issue.

[kskiska]

49. Isn't John McCain's wife an heiress?

Think I remember reading how he left the wife who nursed him back to health and married Cindy.

[Kukesa]

55. George Washington

would have made the Forbes 400 of his day due to the strength of his Virginia plantation and HIS WIFE'S FORTUNE. Martha Dandridge Custis'wealth was in land and lots of it.

Kukesa

[democracyindanger]

36. Kit Seelye

NYT GOP monkey. Nuff said.

[okieinpain]

38. you know these freakin skull and bones guys, are getting on my

nerves with all of this secrecy crap. didn't someone tell them that this was going to happen. and the crap on the SUV, man I wish this guy would get his shit together.

[BunnyThief]

39. DAMN RIGHT IT'S RELEVANT!

Here are two reasons why Teresa Heinz Kerry's tax records ought to be released:

1) John Kerry took out a mortgage on one of the couple's homes to finance his campaign. The payments on that mortgage exceed his annual income. Teresa HAS to be paying off at least a hunk of that.

2) On his 2003 tax return, Kerry listed a capital gain of $175,000 on selling a painting that Teresa had bought and was considered a marital asset.

That's just two reasons why, if John Kerry's financial information ought to be released, so should Teresa Heinz Kerry's

As far as the Bushes go, I believe George W. and Laura filed jointly.

J.

[Dr Fate]

40. ALL of the Bush's finances have been disclosed?

Including anything he gets from Dad?

Not just Bush's current history- but EVERYTHING...

Where are you getting this Kerry info- is there a link?

I'm not sure the Repubs want to go down this road- unless they get the media to cover for them again...

[BunnyThief]

41. Want the info? Just a matter of looking...

Last December Kerry took out a 6.4 million dollar mortgage against his Beacon Hill home to finance his campaign. Even on the most favorable terms, say 3.9% APR over 30 years, he ought to be paying at least $30,000/month on that mortgage. Over 12 months, that's 360K/year. (Thanks to the mortgage calculator at http://www.bankrate.com/goocalg/mortgage-calculator.asp for the above numbers.)

According to Kerry's 2003 tax returns (the first link Google finds is over at National Review Online at http://www.nationalreview.com/york/york200404140841.asp), Kerry had an income of $147,818 from his Senate salary, $145,805 in capital gains ($175,000 from the sale of said painting, offset by losses), and $89,220 in royalties, for a grand total income of $395,338.

So did Kerry get a beyond-sweetheart deal on his mortgage, is he planning on selling at least one Adam Willaerts painting a year, or is his wife covering his debts? Any way, we have a right to know.

J.

[saracat]

42. Sure we do

just like the public ever found out the true fate of ARBUSTO and what Georgie did with the sale of his stocks.And why don't we go into the Saudi's who bankrolled him?
Why are you so interested in Kerry's financials? Bush's don't seem to bother you.I don't hear any screaming for daylight coming from that quarter.

[BunnyThief]

43. Re: Sure we do

I don't recall where I heard it, but someone once said that "as soon as you justify bad behavior by citing someone else's worse behavior, you've lost your argument." I thought that really made sense.

Besides, the topic at hand was Kerry's wife's refusal to release her financial information. Bush's wife's info is in the public eye. If you wanna dig into Bush's finances from some years ago, be my guest. Post enough substantive information, and I'll go digging into that.

To reiterate, though, the topic at hand was Kerry's wife's refusal to release her financial information, and my contribution was to point out that Kerry appears to be living well beyond his means -- somewhat significant information for the public to have when considering someone for President of the United States, won't you agree?

J.

[wabeewoman]

46. bush's wife

does not have separate marital assets. Heinz Kerry's were hers before she married Kerry. They aren't his and aren't relevant. Now would you like to talk war records some more?

[BunnyThief]

47. Not relevant?

As I pointed out above, Kerry is living WAY beyond his means. If his wife is supporting him, that is relevant. If she is covering his expenses incurred in his campaign, those are contributions above and beyond the $2,000 legally allowed and therefore illegal.

Wabeewoman, I'll be glad to discuss a new topic once the old one is done. Your simply saying "aren't relevant" when they obviously are incredibly germane doesn't end the discussion.

J.

[saracat]

52. You seem awfully defensive

of Bush's financial records and unduly interested in targeting Kerry.I question why you want our nominee to look bad.And if Kerry is spending " beyond his means" as you call it ,that puts him in good company with most of America!I think he is just taking a gamble to win the presidency and I don't have a problem with that.The fact that you do, in no way entitles you to look into the financial matters of Kerry's wife and her children.As Teresa has explained it is a "family " business and to disclose her records would also involve disclosing the properties and records of the Heinz children and they are private citizens.

[BunnyThief]

53. Saracat...

I'm not "defensive" about Bush's financial records -- the topic is Kerry's finances. He's shackled himself to a HUGE mortgage that he has NO way of legitimately paying off by himself. Even if he's elected, he'll only be making 250K a year for the next 4 years. If he wants my vote, I wanna know who "owns" him. The law specifically forbids his wife from financially helping him in his campaign, and paying off the mortgage he took out to pay for that campaign would certainly qualify.

J.
(Voted for Lieberman in the NH primary and DAMN proud of that...)

[saracat]

54. Voted for Lieberman?

That explains it then.

[BunnyThief]

56. Lieberman

Saracat, if you mean my voting for Lieberman reflects on that man's decency, courage, honesty, principles, and integrity, thank you very much. I'm flattered you identify me with him. I'll try to be worthy.

J.

[saracat]

58. Sorry for the cheap shot

But I couldn't resist. I lost all respect for Lieberman when he told me personally that he "didn't read the Patriot Act".He said it was too long and he couldn't be expected to. I replied"Yes, Senator, I do expect you to read it. That is what you are paid for, an informed vote." Back to your original premise. You don't even know, and neither do, I WHAT kind of a loan Kerry got.It could be an interest only loan . It is probably NOT a mortgage but an equity loan. Without specifics it is impossible to quote any monthly payments.In any event , as the $6.5 million is a loan to the campaign, it can be paid off by the campaign at any point. And that has NOTHING to do with Teresa, or Kerry living "above his means".The worst case scenario is that JK loses and has to have some more fundraisers to retire his dept. Big deal this is done all the time. That is why I said he may be taking a gamble and that is the extent a it. I still don't understand your vested interest in making the Democratic nominee look as bad as possible. Joe Lieberman is our campaigning for Kerry.Why aren't you? Just a question.
edited for typo

[booklearninboy]

57. "if he wants my vote i wanna know who owns him"

...well, who owns you? You make assertions that you back up by citing National Review (which, to be fair, has not yet called for the death of a Clinton this year). You're more interested in Kerry's finances than in Bush's war record (and I mean the war from 2001 to today), which is somewhat relevant to our evaluation of his job performance, don't you think? And you don't want to talk about how Bush got his money, or the fact that at least some of his money was generated by some fairly nasty doings, or the fact that the Bush cohort are making money off the current unpleasantness, and have strong connections to some of the people who directly caused the current unpleasantness. This you don't care about, but Kerry's mortgaging of his share of a house...Call Ken Starr! Alert Matt Drudge! Maybe the administration can divert $70 million from the Afghan war to investigate the stain on Kerry's mortgage checks! Kerry's wife owns an SUV! Let's drag his kids through the mud and reveal all their records! Screw their privacy--he's a Democrat! And we all know how National Review--your friends and mine, the "loyal opposition" to Clinton/Gore and Gore/Lieberman--would, had they their way, deal with the offspring of Democrats.

b

[saracat]

59. To simplify

What you call a mortgage is also a campaign dept as it is a loan to the campaign. The campaign is required to pay it back. I guess he is owned by the Campaign.And I believe that the Presidential salary is now $500,000 per annum. Bush and Congressgave himself a raise.

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

45. On C-SPAN now. Open phones.

[Nlighten1]

48. Harken and the Texas Rangers.

Wouldn't it be nice if Kerry stirred up an investigation into these events?

[otohara]

50. Oh EVERYTHING Casts Doubt Over Kerry

while Everything escapes Jr., including Laura's auto accident - lying about Iraq, insider trading, drug use, etc. Shit, they let 3 years go by before examining where the hell he was during Vietnam.

[Kukesa]

51. Kerry Would be Third Richest President

And George Washington the RICHEST.


This, from Forbes, Feb. 13,2004


"If the Democratic primaries play out as expected, this year the race for the White House will pit Sen. John F. Kerry of Massachusetts against George W. Bush. President Bush, the second son of a president to attain the office, made our list of the richest presidents partly based on his claim to a family fortune, but mostly because of a windfall on his investment in the Texas Rangers baseball franchise.


The Richest U.S. Presidents
It is difficult to compare personal wealth across historical periods, but below is our best estimate of the relative net worths of the richest five U.S. presidents. The rankings are based on our own calculations and extensive interviews with presidential historians.

Rank Name Party Term
1. George Washington None* 1789-1797
2. John F. Kennedy Democrat 1961-1963
John F. Kerry** Democrat NA
3. Andrew Jackson Democrat 1829-1837
4. Lyndon B. Johnson Democrat 1963-1969
5. Herbert Hoover Republican 1929-1933
*President Washington was generally aligned with Federalist doctrine, though he was not formally a member of the Federalist Party or any political party. ** Candidate. NA: not applicable.
Sen. Kerry, like the last JFK from Massachusetts to serve as commander in chief, is also extremely wealthy. We estimate his family fortune at $525 million, which would make him, if elected, the third-richest president ever. But the key word is "family." The Kerry money comes from his wife, Teresa Heinz Kerry, who inherited it from her late husband, Sen. John Heinz III of the Heinz food family.

This puts Kerry in a situation somewhat similar to President Kennedy's. President Kennedy's father, Joseph, and his mother, Rose, were both still alive when JFK was in office and when he was assassinated, so John never inherited even a share of the Kennedy family fortune, which we estimated to be worth $850 million at its height in 1990.

But Joseph Kennedy was, under campaign finance laws at the time, free to spend basically as he wished on his son's electioneering efforts, which he certainly did.

Here John Kennedy and candidate Kerry part company. Current federal law prohibits wife Teresa from donating more than $2,000 to her husband's campaign. Indeed, in December, when Howard Dean was riding high, Kerry mortgaged his share of his family townhouse on Boston's Beacon Hill to raise money for his campaign.

In the course of his career, Kerry's campaigns have received substantial funding from employees and affiliates of such companies as Fleet Boston Financial (nyse: FBH - news - people ), Time Warner (nyse: TWX - news - people ), Citigroup (nyse: C - news - people ) and Goldman Sachs (nyse: GS - news - people ), according to the Center for Public Integrity, a Washington, D.C.-based investigative group. Corporate lawyer firms like Boston-based Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky and Popeo and New York-based Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher and Flom have also been big backers.

While there are limits on what Teresa Heinz Kerry might contribute to her husband's campaign, she may, depending on how current law is construed, be able to spend as much of her own money as she wishes on "issue ads"--advertisements that advance a cause or theme. She might also contribute unlimited sums to other groups running their own issue ads.

Of course, if Sen. Kerry's campaign were to benefit from spousal spending, there would inevitably be allegations that he was exploiting a loophole. Others would say that the candidate was simply countering the incumbent president's huge lead in fundraising.

Either way, this was the kind of issue that the widow Martha Dandridge Custis, who married the legendarily forthright Washington--cherry tree and all that--never had to worry about."


Kukesa

[swinney]

60. Kerry stand tall

My wife's finances are none of your damn business. Especially the smear artist Karl Rove.

Do it. Any person who asks. Tell em to drop dead.

GUTS GUTS