John Kerry's boatyard brouhaha
The Mass. senator is denying his home state of $500,000 in taxes by docking his new yacht in tax-friendly Rhode Island. Is he being selfish or savvy?
John Kerry must have a sinking feeling. Not only has the Massachusetts senator's much-vaunted energy bill been thrown overboard by the Democrats, but he's also in hot water over his family's new $7 million yacht. Kerry has decided to berth the vessel in the "nautical tax haven" of Rhode Island rather than in his home state — a canny move that will deny cash-strapped Massachusetts about $500,000 in tax revenue. Clearly, says Howie Carr in the Boston Herald, "all that Vietnam-era nautical training has taught him how to take evasive action... tax evasion." But Kerry's actually doing the right thing by avoiding the Massachussets tax, says John Hinderaker at PowerLine. States "must compete for residents and for business," and maybe his "rational tax avoidance will embarrass Massachusetts into competing with its neighbors." Watch a news report about Kerry's yacht:
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