Feeling in need of a bit of schadenfreude after the gloomy day on Wall Street, I thought I might write a piece on how the stock market collapse has affected Sindy McCain's finances. It's difficult keeping a trophy husband and afford the outfits you consider suitable for your position in these hard times.
Doing a bit of googling I found an interesting article on TheStreet.comfrom March about the McCain family finances based in part on his financial returns. John you will be glad to know donates his book and TV appearance money to charity. He scrapes by on his Senate salary and naval pension which in 2006 came to a paltry $221,696
McCain must be feeling the effects of the banking crisis.
The only asset listed under the senator's name alone, however, is a checking account with Wachovia valued at $15,000 to $50,000.
McCain constantly claims he makes no earmarks. What he fails to mention is he has lobbied and even used a committee chairmanship to pass measures, including a tax-payer bailout, which benefited at least one company in which his wife has a financial interest.
Now my ideal would have been to have found a list of all Sindy's holdings and been able to produce a spreadsheet showing how much she had lost in the stock markets. As I rather suspected her money is hidden away from public view.
"Most of the McCains' holdings appear to be in pooled investment vehicles, like funds, trusts and limited liability corporations," says Christian Hviid, vice president and director of asset allocation with Genworth Financial Asset Management. "That strategy has a couple of side benefits for a presidential candidate in that it removes any appearance of a conflict of interest in terms of holding corporate stock. That said, you lose transparency because it's very hard to see what's really going on in that type of structure."
It also seems that like many right wingers the McCains would rather pay accountants than taxes. Remember, only little people pay taxes. McCain's children will benefit from relief from death taxes:
He discloses that his dependent children have millions of dollars in assets through a long series of JPMorgan mutual funds and a series of limited liability corporations with names like Wild Creek Enterprises LLC, Dream Catcher Family LLC, Wild River LLC and Wild Rapids LLC.
"These are independent investment vehicles that people often use to pass on wealth to their children in a way that has tax advantages and other protections," says Hviid. "They probably come from Cindy McCain's parents."
Sindy you will recall bought her trophy husband using daddy's money. He set up the alcohol distribution business Hensley & Co.
McCain's wife is now the chairman of Hensley, and she draws a salary of an undisclosed amount from the company. She has a retirement plan through Hensley that is tied up in shares of Anheuser-Busch and a series of mutual funds.
Cindy McCain also is a major shareholder in Hensley, with a stake valued at over $1 million. The company holds a diverse portfolio of stocks, bonds and various other assets
Here's where things start to get interesting. One of Hensley's largest holdings is in US Airways Group. That was created in 2005 when America West(AW) bought the old US Airways from bankruptcy. McCain may be averse to earmarking money for the state and local governments he represents but he is nor so pure when it comes to his "hometown airline" AW.
Michael Boyd, president of an aviation consulting firm called The Boyd Group, says McCain was "jumping up and down" in the late 1990s, when he was chairman of the Commerce Committee, to grant non-stop flights for America West between Phoenix and Washington, D.C.
With limited landing slots at the DC end, such direct flights can be valuable assets for airlines. You may also remember that the Bush administration's bailouts of business started after 9/11 when airlines' business tanked as Americans were first forbidden an then too nervous to fly.
The airline (AW) was later a recipient of a landmark federal loan package granted after the terrorist attacks of 2001, which was repaid.
The fact this was a loan, now repaid, is irrelevant. It was government subsidy to help an industry over a period in which many went to the wall. It could be argued that it aided AW to survive to be able to take over US Airways. Naturally the airline has been grateful for the help.
The airline industry has been a major campaign donor for McCain, and Phoenix-based America West has made several contributions to him since his 2000 presidential bid through its political action committee, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, a nonpartisan organization that tracks money and influence in U.S. politics.
"McCain has been very supportive of America West, and he should be because it's his hometown team," says Boyd. "I would question whether he should have any financial interest in the carrier given his position in the Senate."
So to recap. McCain has taken steps to aid AW and US Airways Group. That is a company in which Hensley has shares. McCain's wife runs the Hensley and has shares in it. His wife has therefore gained indirect financial advantages from her husband's actions as a Senator. A conflict of interest surely? Apparently not.
"Hensley & Co. owns stock in US Airways, and Cindy McCain is a shareholder in Hensley," says McCain's spokesman. "This arrangement is entirely permissible by Senate ethics rules."
Massie Ritsch, communications director with the Center for Responsive Politics, says it's not unusual for senators to own stock in companies over which they have political influence and it does not break any rules.
Perhaps Ms Palin ought to be asked what she thinks of members of Congress who use their political influence in ways which benefit companies that they or their spouses have shares in.