Sen. Kerry (D-MA) has recently taken delivery on a new multi-million dollar Yacht the Isabel. See article on MSNBC.com today. I hope this article is wrong about how Sen Kerry has acted, assuming the story is true...
I don't object to Kerry spending his money on a yacht, and I expect the people who worked to build this multi-million dollar yacht and its components appreciated the work. It is a very nice Yacht, the 76-foot sloop has two cabins, a pilot house fitted with a wet bar and cold wine storage.
However, Sen Kerry had his yacht built in New Zealand where unemployment is 6%, by Friendship Yachts instead of having it built in the US where unemployment is nearly 10%.
I am sure the US workers who could have built his yacht would have appreciated the employment.
As Sen Kerry and his wife are worth about one billion dollars, would it have been too much of a burden to have paid a bit more so that a US Senator, a leader in the Democratic Party, one who claims to care about US workers and US unemployment would demonstrate that he cares by buying his Yacht from the US and preferably from a company with union workers.
Maybe the increased status from buying your new Yacht from New Zealand earns a great deal more status at the Yacht Club than saying that you bought it down the street. I don't know, I don't go to Yacht Clubs. I can understand how this increased status could mean more than knowing that your new Yacht purchase helped blue collar union workers during a terrible recession -- actually I can't understand this.
I can no longer take Sen Kerry seriously when he says he cares about American workers in private sector jobs.
After taking delivery of his Yacht, the Massachusetts Senator docks his yacht in Rhode Island which allows him to avoid $437,500 in sales tax and $70,000 in annual excise taxes. That is about what would pay for the salaries of 10 starting public school teachers in the first year and more than one teacher in following years.
I can no longer take Sen Kerry seriously when he says he cares about public sector jobs.
I can take Senator Kerry seriously again on the subject of the US unemployment after Senator Kerry explains why this story on MSNBC.com is wrong, or why special circumstances required him to purchase his Yacht in New Zealand and dock it out of state where taxes are lower.