Oh, I suppose there’s a bit of rough justice in John Kerry being shamed into paying a $500,000 tax on his new yacht — she’s quite yar, you know.
But there’s certainly no schadenfreude to be had, since even a half million dollars, one way or the other, isn’t going to make any difference in the Kerry-Heinz household(s).
So instead, let’s think about the middle class guy who has a little motorboat he takes out on the weekend, for fishing or maybe to teach his kids how to waterski. Maybe that guy is spending fewer weekends out on the water, because it’s a choice between paying his annual fees or filling the tank with gas.
Wouldn’t Massachusetts residents be better off with fewer fees and more fun?
“Wouldn’t Massachusetts residents be better off with fewer fees and more fun?”
Only if you believe hoi polloi should be out on the water with the nobility. But really, serfs do not belong on the seas along side their betters.
@1: “But really, serfs do not belong on the seas along side their betters.”
Unless, of course, they’re shackled to the oars like good serfs ought to be.
Touche’!
T. Coddington Van Voorhees VII would be pleased.
What use is fun to Massachusetts if it can’t be taxed?
as long as the residents of massachusetts keep sending people like kerry, barney franks and the kennedy clan to represent them, they deserve all the taxes that can be heaped on them. unfortunately, the taxes ooze out on to the rest of us.
oops. that should be barney frank
jw
Just put quotes around “Franks” jw…
Barney likes “Hebrew National’s” product, I believe.
The problem was not Kerry’s failure to pay a tax. It’s Kerry’s failure to see why others should have the right to not pay it either. The initial decision to register the boat in RI to avoid taxes was a smart one. It involved the choice a property owner (ok, so the property was bought with money earned by some other man’s family) was making to keep more of “his” property. It was a legal and moral choice. The issue here is that the same property owner who made the choice does not see the same sort of choice as moral for others. He believes that only he (and others in his “class”) should be allowed to act with self interest. So when Kerry paid the tax, he was showing he learned the wrong lesson. Considering how “well” he did in college, that shouldn’t surprise anyone.
The problem is that Kerry deliberately flouted the law pertaining to boat docking in order to avoid the fees in MA. He claims principal docking in RI but the boat spends far more time at port in Nantucket (a MA island). IOW, the boat’s real principal docking is in MA. Therefore, legally he must pay the MA taxes and fees.
This is no different than a MA resident registering his car in NH or RI in order to pay the lower registration fees and insurance rates. When the RMV finds out you’ve been avoiding a MA registration you will find your car impounded at $65/day until you, uh, “fix” the problem.
Neither avoidance scheme is “the smart one” by any stretch.
Dead on, Chris!
I see Frank just got some publicity for throwing a hissy fit for not getting his $1 senior discout on the Fire Island Ferry as he didn’t have the required ID. Sigh, they never learn.
Is it okay to call Barney a “drama queen” at this juncture?
No, as that would be an insult to actual drama queens.
Jules Crittenden has had a hilarious series of posts on the topic calling Kerry “Thurston Howell III”.