It’s 2004 all over again. A presidential candidate has released his own tax returns – but not that of his spouse. The GOP cries… ok?
Yep. This week, Sen. John McCain and Republican presidential candidate released his 2007 tax returns – without information about his wife. Cindy McCain filed separately, something that they have continued to do since they were married 27 years ago.
On paper, McCain looks almost modest compared to the other candidates: his total income was a mere $405,409 including about $23,000 in Social Security income, while the Clintons and Obamas reported joint income in the millions. McCain’s income does not include income attributable to his wife, Cindy, heiress to a fortune from her father’s beer distribution company, Hensley and Company where she serves as Chairperson. The web site claims that Hensley is “the third largest Anheuser-Busch wholesaler in the nation (out of nearly 800) with sales that in 2007 exceeded 23 million cases of A-B beers sold and nearly a 60 percent market share.”
McCain is reportedly the 9th most wealthy Senator in Congress; the McCains have assets of at least $36.5 million. This does not include the more than $100 million in assets reportedly owned by Cindy McCain individually.
McCain donated 26% of his income to charity compared to the Clintons’ 15% and the Obamas’ 6%. It is worth making two important notes to this statistic: 1, if all of the McCains’ charitable contributions were donated out of John McCain’s income (we don’t know this to be true), this number would be artificially compressed; and 2, almost all of the charitable donations were made to the John and Cindy McCain Family Foundation.
You’ll recall that John Kerry was heavily criticized in 2004 when his wife, Teresa Heinz Kerry, refused to release her tax return and the information related to her children. One wonders if there will be a similar backlash for McCain.
You can read more about the candidates’ tax returns here.
Wow a guy who donated a quarter of his income to charity last year. Sounds really generous doesnt it? Problem is that the money went to the John and Cindy McCain Foundation. If you look at the tax returns for the McCain Foundation for the last seven years you find $500,000 in donations to:
Xavier College Preparatory
Brophy College Prep
Christ Lutheran School
What do these private schools have in common?
Why they are all private schools that his children attend or have attended.
The Senator is taking tax breaks supporting elite private schools for his kids.
All Perfectly Legal but….