McCain’s “housing crisis” has got legs!

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

John McCain’s "housing crisis" appears to be the gaffe that just keeps on giving for the media.  On Friday, the Washington Post ran this style article Take the McCain House Tour! which provides a link to a virtual tour of the McCain McMansions. (Hat tip to Americablog.com for the screen shot).

On Saturday, the New York Times published this lengthy investigative report on the Hensley family fortune and the McCain’s wealth For McCains, a Public Path but Private Wealth – NYTimes.com. Some quick highlights:

[I]t is the beer business, Hensley & Company, she inherited from her father that is the source of the McCain family fortune… That fortune makes Mr. McCain one of the richest members of the Senate. Yet barely a sliver of it is in his name.

* * *

But with the McCains’ money in Cindy McCain’s name, as dictated by a prenuptial agreement, the senator’s finances are more difficult to assess and scrutinize than those of many other political candidates.

The husbands and wives of senators are subject to fewer disclosure requirements than their office-holding spouses. In addition, Mrs. McCain, who files separate tax returns from her husband, controls a privately held company and invests mainly through a web of limited-liability corporations and trusts that have few disclosure requirements.

* * *

Mrs. McCain has released only a two-page Form 1040 from her 2006 return. It listed $4.5 million in income from S corporations (like Hensley), partnerships, rental real estate and other categories; capital gains of $743,000, and dividends of $283,000. Mr. McCain’s tax returns show that his wife received a salary from Hensley of more than $430,000 each of the last two years. (Mr. McCain listed $361,373 of his own income in 2007.)

And The New Republic also has a lengthy historical exposé on "how Cindy Hensley invented John McCain." Made Man (Take the time to read it).

In 2004 Karl Rove and his attack poodles in the media were calling John Kerry a "kept man" because he married millionaire heiress Teresa Heinz with a prenuptial agreement.  Republicans demanded that Teresa Heinz-Kerry release her separate income tax returns (she did not).  So what are Karl Rove and his attack poodles in the media saying now? 

Rove: Remember the indignation that Senator Obama had when he said, ‘They’re attacking my wife. I’m never going to attack Cindy McCain.’ Well, the issue is what does Mrs. McCain own? These homes are not Senator McCain’s. They’re Senator McCain’s and Mrs. McCain’s, bought with Mrs. McCain’s money. So he’s now done what he said was abso… I mean, he was horrified. There’s going to be an article out, an interview with him out here this month, that’s next month, where he just says, ‘Don’t ever attack my wife.’ Well, he’s now attacking John McCain’s wife.

(Hat tip to Kangro X at Daily Kos).  "A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds," so they say.  Otherwise, ol’ Karl would have said that John McCain is a kept man and demanded that Cindy McCain release all of her income tax returns.  But he works for John McCain now.

Politico.com reported that "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." McCain family owns 8 properties  Household employees?  Yeah, that’s connecting with the common people.

And despite the "housing crisis" story resonating with the media, McCain obliviously piled into "a nine-car motorcade [to take] him to a nearby Starbucks early in the morning, where he ordered a large cappuccino. McCain otherwise avoided reporters." Los Angeles Times  I guess that’s why we need to "drill here, drill now" so that McCain can waste gas on a "road trip" to Starbucks.  Do you mean to tell me that McCain doesn’t own a damn coffee pot?  Get yourself a $6 can of Folgers and brew your own damn coffee at home like the rest of us "common people."  (Don’t get me started on Starbucks).

The print media was reporting on the McCain’s wealth earlier this year, but the McMedia was not paying any attention, until now.  See Wife’s beer earnings have afforded GOP presidential nominee a wealthy lifestyle (AP), and Alcohol industry ties may test McCain – The Boston Globe.

Finally, there is this new video: 007, Golden Mansion, starring John McCain.