What the Kerrys Refuse to Release
Posted by Frank Salvato
Wednesday, April 21, 2004
I have always found it quite amusing that the Kerry campaign, along with the Democratic National Committee has accused the Bush White House of being one of the most secretive in American history. I say this primarily because the charges are hypocritical in nature, especially where the Kerrys are concerned. The most recent event validating my point of view is the refusal of Teresa Heinz Kerry, the condiment heiress--worth in the neighborhood of half a billion dollars--to release her financial statement to the public.
That Heinz Kerry is of foreign origin shouldn’t make any difference as to whether she would be a good First Lady, although I myself am uncomfortable with the idea. After all, this daughter of a prominent Portuguese expatriate doctor, who grew up in South Africa, came to this country as an immigrant and our politically correct culture has to embrace the ''struggle'' she went through in order to reap the benefits of her dream to become an American citizen (let the sarcasm run here). It doesn’t matter to me that her philanthropic organizations, two of which cannot be found on the tax-exempt rolls at the IRS, donate an inordinate amount of money to ultra-liberal charity organizations like the Tides Center and the League of Conservation Voters Education Fund. What bothers me is that she isn’t upfront enough to release her financial statements, setting her apart from every other aspiring First Lady.
One of the reasons behind her reluctance could be the reason why two of her philanthropic organizations don’t show up in IRS publication 78, an index of all tax-exempt organizations. In a Human Events article by Ron Arnold, it is revealed that two out of the three philanthropic organizations named on the Kerry website don’t exist. Rather they are ''funds within the Heinz Family Foundation fed by non-exempt private trusts controlled personally by Teresa Heinz.''
Arnold explained: ''The Teresa and H. John Heinz III Foundation" and "The H. John Heinz III Foundation" receive their money from separate "charitable lead trusts." A charitable lead trust is a private non-exempt trust that provides payments to others (individuals or organizations) for a term of years. At a specified time, the trust principal goes to its recipients free of federal gift and estate taxes, or with the "death tax" greatly reduced.''
I suppose this would explain why the Kerrys aren’t too concerned about John’s proposed tax plan should he be lucky enough to become President of the United States. It also explains why Teresa Heinz Kerry wouldn’t want to share information about her wealth. She is taking advantage of loopholes that allow the rich to get richer while dodging the taxman. The Kerrys don’t care about the ''death tax,'' the gift tax, or estate tax because they have found a way around them. I suppose this wouldn’t really sit well with the blue-collar workers the Kerrys so vehemently proclaim they identify with.
Another reason I giggle at John Kerry’s notion the Bush White House is secretive is because to date, and after all the flap about George W. Bush’s Air National Guard record, Kerry has yet to release his military records. Never mind all the screaming Terry McAuliffe did about President Bush releasing his service records. John Kerry, who refused to make them public back in the days when he was using ''over the top'' rhetoric in front of Congress, still has his records safely tucked away in seclusion.
There are probably many reasons why this proclaimed man of the people, the common man who yachted with the Kennedys as a youth, would want to keep his service records from the public. But the reason emerging as of late is that the ''ultimate hero'' may not have been ''all that he could have been'' during his abbreviated tour of duty in the Southeast Asian Theater. One of his commanding officers has gone on record with the major alphabet media stating for the record that Kerry’s third Purple Heart’s validity may be in question. And with several of his wartime acquaintances revealing their amazement at how he collected all of his honors in such a short period of time it can be argued Kerry may need for his military service records to remain out of the public eye, at least until after November.
Yet another reason I find Kerry’s contention the Bush White House is secretive so amusing is his statement about those foreign leaders he has been having conversations with. You know the ones I am talking about, the ones that keep telling Kerry he simply has to win this election. I find this entertaining because he is so dead set against telling us who these leaders are. Of course, he feels his reasoning for not divulging their identities is perfectly justified. As he expressed in an interview after telling a townhall meeting attendee it was ''none of his business,'' exposing them could lead to bad relations with the Bush White House should Kerry lose and compromise his appearance as someone who can be trusted in secrecy should he win. I am sure Kim Jong Il would be very offended to be exposed as not being warm and cuddly with the Bush Administration.
It isn’t hard to understand why the Bush White House may seem enigmatic to Kerry and others in the liberal world. The Bush White House doesn’t have the revolving door at its portico that it did during the eight years of the Clinton Administration. There are no movie crews roaming the halls and no movie producers dropping big bucks to romp around the Lincoln bedroom for a night. No, the media doesn’t have free reign in the Bush White House and rightly so. They cannot be trusted with the truth. This is validated by many recent events but I shall simply mention Jayson Blair and the New York Times to prove my point.
Of course, this doesn’t change the fact the Kerrys are secretive to a level that far surpasses anything the White House has done to warrant Kerry’s charges. Perhaps it’s just a liberal thing. It wasn’t too long ago we were all asking why Howard Dean’s gubernatorial records were sealed.
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