Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Politics : PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: PROLIFE who wrote (436624)	8/1/2003 11:32:22 AM
From: Hope Praytochange	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 769670

For 3 Candidates, Some Money Matters ELECTIONS 2004 By Brian Faler Friday, August 1, 2003; Page A09 They are very rich people, but several leading Democratic presidential candidates and their families have been late in paying property tax bills in recent years. The Washington Times reported yesterday that Sen. John Edwards (N.C.) had owed more than $11,000 in overdue taxes and late fees for a home he owns in Georgetown. The bill had been due in March -- and the missed payment was one of several instances, the paper reported, when the senator has been late paying his bills. Spokeswoman Jennifer Palmieri said that Edwards, a multimillioniare former trial lawyer, had never received the bill, and paid the outstanding amount Wednesday. "Senator Edwards takes full responsibility for any of those bills that were paid late," she said in a written statement. But Edwards was not the only one slow to pay his taxes. The Heinz family trust, of which Teresa Heinz, wife of Sen. John F. Kerry (Mass.) is a beneficiary, owes more than $10,000 in taxes and interest for a property in Nantucket, Mass. That bill was due in May. The bank that handles the trust accepted responsibility for the missed payment yesterday and plans to pay the outstanding amount today. The trust was created through Teresa Heinz's previous marriage, to the late senator John Heinz (R-Pa.). Kerry does not own the property. Meanwhile, former Vermont governor Howard Dean has been late twice paying his bills. In 1999, he missed a deadline by a couple weeks and paid $61 in interest. Last year, he missed another deadline by 10 days and was fined $52. His spokeswoman played down the issue, saying he paid the bills in short order. The Republican National Committee was less understanding. "The average working person pays their taxes on time," said spokeswoman Christine Iverson. "The Democratic presidential candidates do not -- and it shows an inability to understand and connect with normal, working people." Dean Wants Interior Official to Resign Democratic presidential candidate Howard Dean yesterday slammed President Bush's environmental record and called for the resignation of the deputy Interior secretary for an alleged conflict of interest. During an address in San Francisco, Dean complained that Bush has placed industry lobbyists and executives in key administrative posts who have sought to weaken environmental rules, and open fragile or pristine lands to oil and gas mining, logging and snowmobiling. "We have a president who seems to regard public resources as gifts to be handed out to special interests," he said. The former Vermont governor said that Deputy Interior Secretary J. Steven Griles, a former oil and mining industry lobbyist, should resign in the face of allegations that he met repeatedly with former clients to discuss pending regulations shortly after he took office. The Department of the Interior's inspector general revealed in May that he is investigating whether Griles had behaved ethically in taking part in those meetings in 2001, which were first reported by The Washington Post. "This is a classic case of conflict of interest and breach of trust, and the deputy secretary should resign," Dean said. Interior Department spokesman Mark Pfeifle said that Dean's "partisan rant" sounded like "discarded talking points from the Sierra Club." He said Dean's speech demonstrated that he is "out of touch on protecting the environment," just as he is "clearly out of the mainstream when it comes to fighting terrorism and creating jobs with tax relief." Staff writer Eric Pianin contributed to this report.