Cindy's Fortune: An Asset And A Liability

Politico: Cindy McCain's Fortune Has Benefited Husband's Career But Could Attract Unwanted Attention

(The Politico)  This story was written by Kenneth P. Vogel.

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In 2004, Republicans demanded fuller disclosure about the considerable fortune of Teresa Heinz Kerry, wife of Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry.

Now, the GOP is reaping what it sowed.

Having established a recent precedent for increased scrutiny of spousal finances, the party now finds its own presumptive nominee, John McCain, under an unwanted spotlight over his wife Cindy’s fortune.

Already, Democrats have blasted Cindy McCain’s less-than-full financial disclosure, asserting that it calls into question John McCain’s commitment to transparency and suggests that he may be “hiding” information about how his efforts in Congress benefited his family.

Worse though, the burgeoning focus on Cindy McCain’s finances could attract attention to an aspect of the Arizona senator’s family life that is unlikely to be advantageous to him on the campaign trail-the affluent lifestyle and free-spending habits of the McCain clan.

Cindy McCain and the McCain children are the beneficiaries of a beer distributing fortune amassed by her parents and estimated to be worth $100 million or more. Though the McCains maintain separate finances, Cindy McCain’s family fortune has boosted her husband’s political career at critical junctures, helping to fund his inaugural 1982 run for Congress and helping to subsidize his current presidential campaign when it all-but-went broke last year.

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.

A campaign aide who did not want to be identified discussing the McCain’s personal finances stressed that the credit card balances are “not ongoing debt.”

The aide pointed out that the disclosure forms on which the credit card liabilities were listed ask respondents to indicate ranges for the largest balances owed during the reporting period.

“It has been the McCain’s practice and procedure, as previously indicated, to pay off the balance of credit cards on a monthly basis, so they do not carry credit card debt,” the aide said in a statement.

The aide did not answer questions about what Cindy McCain or their children purchased with the cards and declined to make either she or her husband available for an interview about their finances or spending habits.

Cindy McCain released only the first two pages of her 2006 tax return. She received an extension until October 15 to file her 2007 returns and the aide said “she will make the decision whether to release her 2007 return at the appropriate time.”

During the 2004 presidential campaign, Teresa Heinz Kerry, whose fortune was estimated to be worth more than $750 million, eventually released comparably limited information about her finances after repeated demands from Republicans who asserted the public’s right to know because they said her finances were intertwined with those of her husband’s presidential campaign. The Kerry campaign had benefited from a $6.4 million personal loan Sen. Kerry secured using, as collateral, equity in a Boston townhouse the couple jointly owned.

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.

That revelation, combined with recent reports about Cindy McCain’s hefty credit card tabs and nearly $7,000 in unpaid property taxes on a condo owned by a trust she oversees have drawn even closer scrutiny to the McCain family finances.

While McCain’s campaign spending is a matter of public record, his family’s personal spending is not, and for the most part there’s only anecdotal information available.

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.
But one area in which Cindy McCain’s spending - and its impact on her husband’s lifestyle -can be chronicled is real estate.

Property records show that trusts and corporations controlled by her and her children spent nearly $11 million between the summer of 2004 and this February on three condominiums in Phoenix and a pair outside San Diego.

One of the Phoenix condos, a 6,600-square foot unit for which Cindy McCain’s trust paid $4.7 million in October 2006 became Cindy McCain’s primary residence after the trust sold the couple’s Phoenix house, which she had purchased from her father, for $3.2 million in December 2006.

Less than one year later, a corporation controlled by Cindy McCain bought another condo on a lower floor in the same building for $830,000.

And, in between, the corporation plunked down $700,000 for a 1,900-square foot, three-bedroom loft condo for their then-22-year old daughter Meghan McCain, who was moving back to Phoenix after graduating from New York’s Columbia University.

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.

In her recent Vogue interview, conducted from the newer Coronado condo, McCain explained that her husband, a Navy veteran, initially wasn’t keen on the idea of a pied-à-terre in Coronado.

"When I bought the first one, my husband, who is not a beach person, said, 'Oh this is such a waste of money; the kids will never go,'” she said in Vogue. “Then it got to the point where they used it so much I couldn't get in the place. So I bought another one.”

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.

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.

The additional cash supports an “increase in the number of employees,” said the McCain aide, who did not say whether the growing staff stemmed from the addition of new properties to the family’s real estate portfolio.

Other than the primary Phoenix residence, the aide said the new condos were “purchased for investment and are available for personal use by the McCain family.”

The recent growth in the family’s credit card bills could stem from furnishing, decorating and moving into the new condos, said Christopher Cordaro, a wealth manager at RegentAtlantic Capital in New Jersey.

After reviewing the McCain’s taxes and disclosures for Politico, he declared their finances in ship-shape and their spending understandable when “put in perspective that the McCains are very wealthy.”

“You certainly wouldn’t see the average person ringing up that large of a monthly balance,” he said. “But, if you’re worth $100 million, the amount they’re spending is not inordinate. I’m sure that at their level, they’re putting lots of stuff on their credit card.”

Judging by their finances and spending, Cordaro asserted the McCains likely qualified for top-tier charge accounts loaded with benefits.

In addition to the American Express cards - which carry no monthly interest charges - Cindy and John McCain jointly hold a credit card through Chase with a steep 25.99-percent interest rate. It had a top balance as large as $15,000 last year.

John McCain has his own credit card, his aide said, but its balance for years has not exceeded the $10,000 threshold that triggers the reporting requirement for listing liabilities on Senate or executive branch personal financial disclosure statements.

The last year John McCain reported holding a credit card with such a balance was 2004, when he had  an American Express Platinum card with a top balance of $15,000. Cindy McCain also had a Platinum AmEx that year, with a top balance that was $100,000, as well as a “Business Platinum” account with a top balance of $50,000, and charge cards from Saks Fifth Avenue, MasterCard and Visa with top monthly balances between $15,000 and $50,000 and interest rates between 10.49- and 24.49-percent.

And in 2004, one of their dependent children had an AmEx Business Platinum card with a top monthly balance of $50,000. The McCain aide wouldn’t identify which child got the card, but their oldest, Meghan, turned 20 that year.

"cindy, i thought i told you to keep this stuff off the air. i can''t buy you more homes if don''t get selected er elected, for the last time stay outta the game and let ppl forget your name" mcbush

[dnsallday]

I don''t think Cindy''s assets should be a problem for her. She appears to be a very classy lady. They should be a problem for McCain though. Everybody isn''t thrilled with the idea that he was out chasing around looking for a wealthy and politically connected woman to attach himself to in order to propell his own career ambitions.
The story of how he had an affair with the much younger Cindy and then dumped his wife who had been in a severe car accident, doesn''t sit well with a lot of folks. Especially when they learn that she was stuck with medical bills she couldn''t pay, so Ross Perot took pity on the situation and paid them for her.
Let''s just say, I don''t think McCain will be running on ''family values.''

[caliguy55]

These are John McCain''s own words spoken on msnbc.com:

%u201CI didn%u2019t really love America until I was deprived of her company.%u201D

See the video for yourself at:

http://www.crooksandliars.com/2008/06/22/mccains-unpatriotic-words-caught-on-tape/

Now, we see that Michelle Obama is just as patriotic as John McCain. Anyone who denies this after seeing it with their own eyes is denying reality.

[gkc99]

John was a broke nobody when Cindy picked him up.

She''s paid for his political advancement, and supports their opulent lifestyle.

So what does Cindy want? What will she have John do if he is elected president?

Funny how we hear so much about what Michelle Obama might have said (or not said), but the Rupert Murdoch owned press won''t say a word about Cindy.

It''s almost like a very wealthy blonde Republican can do whatever she want, and have her pet boy toy do whatever she wants.

Could it be?

[rowdywicca]

Good for Cindy McCain...her family certainly earned their money and business interests and handed them down to her! Her support for children is an excellent way to share some of it!

It''s a sorry country that becomes envious because somebody else is better off than you are! If you want more yourself...get off your butt and earn it! And quit whining about it. And quit thinking the government is going to hand to you!

If you don''t like something...gather like minds and march on your representative until they do something. Get out of your chair, put your tv clicker down...and make a revolution!

can she cry? does she have tear ducts? or will she explode like those women from austin powers if she feels anything? curious

RowdyWicca:
their are too busy shopping, eating pills and watching tv to do anything...

[reunionpi]

The proper permits were not pulled when the McCains converted this condo into one from two condos (1105 &1106) for the roof top zero edge pool, sun deck, spa, fire pit, gas barbeque, men%u2019s and ladies%u2019 locker rooms, steam rooms, massage room

www.webofdeception.com

"hi my name is cindy and i too can cry (i think, let me look it up in my manual) and i have feelings installed" "this is cindy 9000 out" said in a monotone robotic type of voice.

think "fembots" ala austin powers. "hello john mcgoiter my name is...cindy 9000"

[zerato-2009]

One thing you can say positive about mccain. He was good at earning his money the old fashioned way, he married it. After reading the article above, it seems taht mccain is a kept man. Fincing his first senate bid and his latest presidential run.

Perhaps the republicans can demand taht cindy show us the money like they did with john kerry''s wife.

[frootloop47]

Cindy Hensley McCain: In 2000, she became chair of the now $300-million-a-year Hensley & Co.[37] ...
By 2007, she had an annual income of over $400,000 from Hensley & Co. and an estimated net worth of $100 million.
Ref: wiki

Hmmm,
Income seems straight forward.
So what is so SECRET about her income tax returns.
What is in there that she doesn''t want people to see.
Hmmm

[bm6005]

The part I like about this is the payback to the repubs. When will these morons, all of them, figure out that what goes around comes around. It''s time for both parties to drop the partisan c rap and do something for the good of the country? I''m ashamed of what we baby boomers have accomplished regarding the betterment of our country...ABSOLUTELY NOTHING!!!!

[frootloop47]

Cindy Hensley McCain
Prescription drug addiction, theft, and recovery.
Ref: Wiki

Since Repug want a ex-drug addict in the Whitehouse, maybe Rush Limbaugh should be selected a VP. Oh that''s right...he''s still addicted

"rush is my friend and dealer, so that might be a good choice for vp, then i won''t have to travel so far for my fix" cindy 9000

[sayso2]

He''s got a young energetic wife with $100 million and more beer than a man could possibly hope for. So why does he need the presidency? Go figure.

[jersupporter]

What a bunch of hate filled and envious people are on these boards. It is so funny to read some of these comments that people make because they could never even think to achieve what the McCains have.
So pathetic.

[rgrxx175]

wait is cindy the first wife or the second one?

i''m not hate filled, just having fun. if ya can''t take get outta the boards. mcgoiter for vp

"i am the 2nd and i will crush you for asking" cindy9000

[walt1944-2009]

There is an old saying that Whimpo-crats do not know how to zip up their pants (lately neocon Fascist Nazi Republicans have been having that trouble too!), while the neocon Fascist Nazi Republicans do not know how to balance a checkbook!

After all look at what the neocon Fascist Nazis led by the Great Emperor Bush II have done to the national debt and the economy in 7 years!

Now looking at the election, "Bagdad John McBush" McCain has to rely on money from the RNC and corporate BIG BUSINESS to run his campaign. His wife, however, has tons of cash and is worth millions more than her husband is. Her individual credit score has to be light years ahead of "Bagdad John''s" as well.

Maybe the wrong person is running for the title of Great Emperor!

SIG HEIL, BUSH!!!!
sig heil, DEFINITELY MORE OF THE SAME, McCain!!!!

"my credit isn''t that bad" cindy9000

[medmom04]

JERSupporter,

it seems it is YOUR postings that are hate filled and full of uneducated responses.

troll elsewhere. you sound like a fool.

[aldon61]

We MAY have a valid issue about Cindy not willing to show her recent tax returns. That said, the attacks on Cindy McCain that I''m seeing here are not called for. I support Obama and feel we will win this election based on the issues before the electorate. We do not need to villainize McCain''s wife; doing so lowers us down to their level.

"my feeling is hurt, i need a blood for oil change"
cindy9000

Who cares? So he married a rich girl. good for him. Most of the negative posts are generated out of envy anyway.

[bobnjersey]

[If you don''''t like something...gather like minds and march on your representative until they do something. Get out of your chair, put your tv clicker down...and make a revolution!]
[Posted by RowdyWicca at 03:07 PM : Jul 02, 2008]

that will be sure to get you classified as an enemy combatant ... for which you will receive the benefit of incarceration and the subjugation of your rights.

since when does what the electorate thinks or says have anything to do w/ how the country is led?

[bobnjersey]

[He''''s got a young energetic wife with $100 million and more beer than a man could possibly hope for. So why does he need the presidency? Go figure. ]
[Posted by sayso2 at 04:03 PM : Jul 02, 2008]

so he can call the shots. she has the energy ... she has the money ... she has the beer. what''s he got?

[gkc99]

John McCain got rich the Republican way--married a millionaire, who herself had never lifted a finger for her wealth.

What can such people have in common with the average American? Nothing.

And the Repugs dare call Obama an elitist. And that''s from ***-blossom.

Spoiled, rich, no-work Repug puppets like McCain haven''t earned a thing--they stole it.

[kofiananimus]

Wow, a story about Cindy McCain. About time. The big (conservative) media likes bashing Michelle Obama, but until this article they haven''t touched Cindy. They have yet to mention that Cindy "lost" the financial books involved in John McCain''s Keating Five scandal, and that Cindy was busted for stealing prescription drugs from a charity she worked for to feed her drug addiction though. Republicans are covered very differently in the media than democrats are. It is like two siblings, one of them a brain and the other a screw-up, and the screw-up (Republicans) gets a free pass because they''re just a screw-up and their bad behavior is expected. When the brain does something bad, it is unexpected, and they get punished.

[rowdywicca]

Yep, he left his wife who got into a car accident while he a pow. She was left with permanent disabilities. She stood by him but he of course was looking around for something better the whole time.
Read this article:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/fem
ail/article-1024927/The-wife-John-McCain
-callously-left-behind.html


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Posted by mortal3 at 05:10 PM : Jul 02, 2008

Yeah, strange isn''t it...35% of American males have dumped Momma for a trophy wife...and they were mostly perfectly healthy!

[omaar-101]

Yet it is Barack & Michelle Obama who are the `Elitist` Though the Obama`s just Recently Paid Off Their Student Loans !!!



During the 2004 presidential campaign, Teresa Heinz Kerry, whose fortune was estimated to be worth more than $750 million, eventually released comparably limited information about her finances after repeated demands from Republicans who asserted the public%u2019s right to know because they said her finances were intertwined with those of her husband%u2019s presidential campaign.

The Kerry campaign had benefited from a $6.4 million personal loan Sen. Kerry secured using, as collateral, equity in a Boston townhouse the couple jointly owned.

Likewise, John McCain%u2019s presidential campaign benefited from Cindy McCain%u2019s fortune, using a `Legal Loophole` to travel the country in a Jet Owned by her company for Cut-Rate Fares.

Real Elitist: 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%u2019s 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.

[omaar-101]

Note: 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%u2019s 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.

[babooph]

Rich is great,but those who inherit& never work,that is very rough on those who must work -IN LARGE NUMBERS-to support just one of their lush lives.Forbes is always given the camera to whine about his 18% or so tax-his father made the wad under Ike-90% tax then on the rich-the son whines about the petty tax he pays to keep the wad!The propagandists lie about how these people are "special "!

[gkc99]

Neither John nor Cindy McCain has apparently ever earned a thing in their lives.

Cindy is heiress to a fortune her ancestors made selling beer. She never worked for it.

John''s dad got him into the Naval Academy, and out of the Naval Academy. After dumping his first wife, he''s been supported ever since by the beer heiress.

Where are all those Repugs who were so outraged about Teresa Kerry?

Quiet as little outhouse rats.

[vet2wars]

And McCain calls Obama an elitist, it gives more support for my nick name for John-boy, INSANE McCain!

[notbuynit]

They went after Kerry''s wife....Cindy needs to come clean too. What''s fair is fair. Fess up!

[kenmar71]

Sounds to me like alot of you are just jealous. quit worring other peoples money. What people spend their own money on is none of your d@mn business. Stick to the important issues about this election,like Obama''s lack of any kind of experience. Maybe in four to eight more years he might have what it takes, but not now. there is to much at stake for a rookie to be Commander -in- Chief. We''ve had one puttet president...with Carter. We don''t need one now!

[omaar-101]

Kenmar71: "There is to much at stake for a rookie to be Commander -in- Chief`
--------------------------------

Yeah, I Agree with you, That Semi-Senile John Old A$4 McCain is a Rookie & Career Politician.

[omaar-101]

Yet it is Barack & Michelle Obama who are the `Elitist` Though the Obama`s just Recently Paid Off Their Student Loans !!!

Can`t stand the Heat, Stay away from the Oven !!



During the 2004 presidential campaign, Teresa Heinz Kerry, whose fortune was estimated to be worth more than $750 million, eventually released comparably limited information about her finances after repeated demands from Republicans who asserted the public%u2019s right to know because they said her finances were intertwined with those of her husband%u2019s presidential campaign.

The Kerry campaign had benefited from a $6.4 million personal loan Sen. Kerry secured using, as collateral, equity in a Boston townhouse the couple jointly owned.

Likewise, John McCain%u2019s presidential campaign benefited from Cindy McCain%u2019s fortune, using a `Legal Loophole` to travel the country in a Jet Owned by her company for Cut-Rate Fares.

Real Elitist: 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%u2019s 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.

[undermyboot]

Wow- They have more servants, cheaufers, cleaning ladies, and gardeners than anyone I KNOW.

McCain shure hit it big. Good thing he dumped his first wife when she got sick. She didn''t have money and it was such a drag that she got ill.

This guy doesn''t deserve to be dog catcher.

[undermyboot]

Just call him McRich.

[undermyboot]

I can see how McRich "feels the pain" of the average American. He can see it from 30,000 feet in one of his wife''s jets.

[undermyboot]

It is SO HARD living on just $750,000 a month! I really feel for the c*nt (not my word- Johnny boy was the one who called his wife that nasty word).

"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..."

[minnick8-2009]

In American we have the opportunity to make as much money as we can and keep what we make as long as we pay our taxes. Unless, of course, it is too much? People who make too much seem to get dragged through the mud. For example, Bill Gates was prosecuted for what I don''t remember, but he made it through and makes more than ever. But he also gives millions to charities. Martha Stewart was prosecuted and sent to prison as an example for what I can''t remember. She took her medicine and is back making as much as ever. I think the people who complain about the fortures of the Kerry''s and the McCain''s are jealous they didn''t inherit companies that make millions.

Keep in mind, even if you inherit millions, it is hard work to keep it. A lot of people win money in lotteries and on game shows, and it is squandered within a few years. Why begrudge people their money who have the drive to do what it takes to keep their company solvent? There must be a lot of people whose livlihood is dependent on working on the processing line in the beer production plant, accountants, secretaries, truck drivers, distributers, and on and on. Cindy probably has enough money she could shut the whole thing down and retire, and a lot of people would be out of work.

[Gary Kempf]

Since Cindy is actively working John''s campaign, and John is using her private jet to campaign. And the fact she can''t pay her taxes until they reach default. All these things mean she has no right to withhold any information of her finances. They chose to use her wealth for his campaign. It is time for the McCains to come clean.

[abbe91]

"For example, Bill Gates was prosecuted for what I don''''t remember, but he made it through and makes more than ever. "

Don''t make an example about what you don''t remember. Maybe it was Microsoft and not Bill Gates himself ?
Maybe you are talking about monopoly legal issues ?

"Martha Stewart was prosecuted and sent to prison as an example for what I can''''t remember."

Again, maybe you should find out before posting ?
Maybe she was found guilty of conspiracy, obstruction of an agency proceeding, and making false statements to federal investigators ?

"Cindy probably has enough money she could shut the whole thing down and retire, and a lot of people would be out of work."

Posted by minnick8 at 01:39 AM : Jul 03, 2008

She is rich enough to pay people to take care of the management. How would she find the time to spend her money, otherwise ?

[xlib]

How about covering the story on the empty suit and getting a sweet deal on his mortgage. Funny, don''t see that here. Pretend it''s on a Republican and let''s see the the story run for weeks.
Gee, don''t seem to remember the msm running stories like this on heinz-kerry. So, go after mccain''s wife, cute, real cute. Didn''t your empty suit give a sermon on NOT going after candidated family''s??? Think so. Of course this piece is only posing the question isn''t it. Clever, real clever.

[xlib]

rowdywicca-does that go for kerry too?????????
I hear the clinton couple made a pretty penny doing "public service". How very elitist of you all. Don''t worry, your empty suit gets in and the socialist government he''ll try to set up will "even the playing field" as the marxist say. Carry on, comrade.

[xlib]

gkc99-kerry, kerry, kerry. What a bunch of hypicrites you libs are, truly. Say, how about the dem royalty of the kennedy''s, no problem with them right. So, only dems can be rich and let''s hang and demonize any one else. What a bunch of hypicrites.