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A John Kerry two-fer

Item one from the Boston Herald -- a matter of a boat:

Sen. John Kerry skips town on sails tax
Sen. John Kerry, who has repeatedly voted to raise taxes while in Congress, dodged a whopping six-figure state tax bill on his new multimillion-dollar yacht by mooring her in Newport, R.I.

Isabel - Kerry’s luxe, 76-foot New Zealand-built Friendship sloop with an Edwardian-style, glossy varnished teak interior, two VIP main cabins and a pilothouse fitted with a wet bar and cold wine storage - was designed by Rhode Island boat designer Ted Fontaine.

But instead of berthing the vessel in Nantucket, where the senator summers with the missus, Teresa Heinz, Isabel’s hailing port is listed as “Newport” on her stern.

Could the reason be that the Ocean State repealed its Boat Sales and Use Tax back in 1993, making the tiny state to the south a haven - like the Cayman Islands, Bermuda and Nassau - for tax-skirting luxury yacht owners?

Cash-strapped Massachusetts still collects a 6.25 percent sales tax and an annual excise tax on yachts. Sources say Isabel sold for something in the neighborhood of $7 million, meaning Kerry saved approximately $437,500 in sales tax and an annual excise tax of about $70,000.

And the reason?

“The boat was designed by and purchased from a company in Rhode Island, and it’s based in Newport at the Newport Shipyard for long-term maintenance, upkeep and charter purposes, not tax reasons,” Wade told the Track.

As though there were no competent yards in MA... {cough}bullshit{cough} Item two from CNS News -- Kerry the Klimatologist

Sen. Kerry Predicts ‘Ice-Free Arctic' In '5 or 10 Years’
Speaking at a town hall-style meeting promoting climate change legislation on Thursday, Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) predicted there will be “an ice-free Arctic” in "five or 10 years."

“The arctic ice is disappearing faster than was predicted,” Kerry said. “And instead of waiting until 2030 or whenever it was to have an ice-free Arctic, we’re going to have one in five or 10 years.”

However, the Web site of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration says: “Using the observed 2007/2008 summer sea ice extents as a starting point, computer models predict that the Arctic could be nearly sea ice free in summertime within 30 years.”

There is a huge difference between a computer model and simple observation. NOAA gets its budget from morons like Kerry and the more 'hustle' they can drum up, the bigger their budgets. Observation is showing a marked increase in ice thickness and extent. What gets me about people like Kerry is their sense of being elite and of 'knowing what is best' for us even if we do not. Sure, they may have attended different schools then I did, they may be connected to a different group of people than I am connected to but they are fundamentally not that intelligent. Listen to Kerry speaking and the man is an idiot with a naked lust for power and money. Posted by DaveH at July 24, 2010 9:21 AM | TrackBack