John,

You wrote:
Which personal sacrifices were those?

John Martin

Here are the two instances of John Kerry's personal sacrifice I had included
in the original post If you read the original post again, you will find
them.

"Also, he puts his money where
his mouth is. Not only did he mortgage his own home to risk all in the Iowa
Primary, but he is proposing to raise his OWN taxes"

--
Regards,
Dewey Clark


Actually, Dewey, I did read your post. I guess my interpretation of "personal
sacrifice" differs considerably from yours.

Let's see. "He mortgaged his own home". The townhouse on Beacon Hill he
sweated for, right? Oh, wait, his wife gave it to him. Hell of an investment
there. Maybe it was sweat equity. If so, it wasn't from using a hammer. At
least, not a Stanley. Six point four million dollar mortgage. Interest alone
on that will come to well over $300,000 per year, won't it. Add in real estate
taxes and he'll be hard pressed to cover it with the $395,000 he made last
year. I didn't think senators were paid that much. Oh, I forgot - that
included $150,000 in capital gains from a painting he sold. A painting that
was given to him by.... guess who?

So, how do you think JFK 2 will be able to cover that mortgage next year? Or,
was the whole thing maybe just a way for him to get around the amount that his
wife could legally contribute to his campaign?

"He is proposing to raise his own taxes". He very well may. If his intent was
to raise just his own taxes, he could simply contribute additional monies to
the government. But his intent is to raise taxes for a lot of other people as
well. Hardly an altruistic move. If he does become president, he'll
undoubtedly pay much more in taxes for the rest of his life. Because he'll
undoubtedly make much more. I don't think he's running for the money. He
doesn't need to, he's found a better way to get it. He's married it - twice.
Cheap shot? Yes. But every bit as valid as your claim that his proposal to
raise taxes is a personal sacrifice.

And while we're on Kerry's taxes, let's not forget that little mistake he made
regarding the capital gains rate on that painting. A mistake that was pointed
out and rectified only because his return was made public. For a man as
self-sacrificing as you believe him to be, I'm surprised the "mistake" wasn't
in the IRS's favor.

And we all know what campaign promises are worth. Yes, even Bush #1's "read my
lips".

If those are really your ideas of personal sacrifice, I've got a few candidates
for sainthood for you. Bush, who to serve as governor gave up a job with the
Texas Rangers that had netted him fifteen million or so. Cheney, who left a
job at Halliburton that had averaged nine million a year. And even Edwards,
whose ambulance chasing had left him with assets of fifteen million plus. All
three of them belong right up there with Mother Theresa.

Personal sacrifice? Crap.

John Martin