America's predatory oligarch class lives in a very different world from all the rest of us. The latest example of this lifestyle of the rich and shameless came in the form of Mitt Romney's plan to Super Size his 3,000 Sq. Ft. beachfront residence in California into a 11,062 Sq. Ft. mansion.
Romney plans to quadruple size of Calif. home
Romney, a former Massachusetts governor and nominal frontrunner for the GOP’s 2012 presidential nomination, is planning to bulldoze his 3,009-square-foot home facing the Pacific Ocean in La Jolla, Calif., and replace it with an 11,062-square-foot home, according to the San Diego Union-Tribune.
In 2008, then-Republican presidential nominee John McCain was criticized and mocked when he said he was unsure how many houses he and his wife, Cindy, owned. The answer was eight.
Romney doesn't want to be subject to the same sort of embarrassment of riches that John McCain was, so Mitt has sold off two of his houses in preparation for the 2012 campaign.
Since then, perhaps sensing that this could be a liability for him, too, Romney began consolidating his real estate portfolio. Romney and his wife, Ann, sold for $3.5 million the 6,500-square-foot colonial in Belmont, Mass., where they raised their five sons. They also sold a 9,500-square-foot home at the Deer Valley ski resort near Park City, Utah, for close to its $5.25 million asking price, according to a 2010 Associated Press report.
The couple still maintains a vacation home along Lake Winnipesaukee in New Hampshire, as well as townhouse outside of Boston that they consider their primary residence.
The Spanish-style home, facing a white sand beach, has three bedrooms and four-and-a-half bathrooms and was constructed in 1936. The newspaper reported that the home was once owned by former San Diego Mayor Maureen O’Connor and her late husband, Bob Peterson, founder of Jack-in-the-Box, a fast-food chain.
Going from five homes to three (and expanding one into a mansion) is just one part of how Romney is grooming himself to minimize his liabilities as a candidate. Having three homes is just one home away from having a home and a vacation place, something many middle class Americans aspired to until recently. But in today's economy of declining living standards for America's middle class, getting or keeping a vacation place is no longer an achievable goal for most middle class Americans. In today's economy America's middle class is more concerned about keeping a single home.