McCain: I'm not sure how many houses I own

[TheKwas]

I’ve seen a lot of liberals giving John McCain a hard time about not knowing how many homes he owns. But this is a genuinely difficult question to answer! There’s the case of his two-for-one condo in Phoenix, for example. And there’s also the tricky question of McCain “Hidden Valley Ranch” house situation. The Cindy Hensley McCain Family Trust owns 11455 E Hidden Valley Road, 11445 E Hidden Valley Road, 11415 E Hidden Valley Road, and 11405 E Hidden Valley Road. But is that four properties or is it one property? What’s more, according to McCain there are six houses on the property. So that ranch situation could be anywhere from six houses to one house, depending on how you look at it. Combined with the condo situation, we’re now in the 2-7 house range.

UPDATE: And of course you have to consider the case of Meghan McCain’s loft in Phoenix. Her parents paid $700,000 for it and as a graduation present let her live there, but technically they’re the owners. Does that count as one of McCain’s houses or doesn’t it?

e Obama campaign is mocking John McCain for owning seven houses. McCain’s staff, being less precise but in some ways more accurate, has said McCain owns at least four. Over here you can find the most expansive count which gives McCain ten. You could probably even push this up to eleven if you want to count the Phoenix double-condo as two separate homes. But I think that’s tendentious. To get to ten homes, you also need to count his various ranch properties as separate homes which I likewise think is tendentious — that’s best understood as a single $1.1 million vacation property. So that’s two homes. Then indisputably there’s the $847,800 pied à terre in Arlington where the McCains can stay when they’re in DC. That’s three. Then somewhat confusingly they own two different beach condos in Coronado, CA one worth $2.7 million and one worth $2.1 million so that’s five. And I’d say that five is arguably the correct answer.

To get to seven, you need to add in two additional properties that the McCains own. One is a $700,000 loft in Phoenix that they own and rent out. That’s unquestionably a McCain family financial asset, but I wouldn’t call it a “home,” it’s more akin to an investment. Then the tricky one is Meghan McCain’s loft. This was bought for her as a graduation present and I assume the underlying conceit is that it’s her loft rather than her parents’ and I think the precise ownership status of the property may be somewhat unclear. If they actually transferred title of the property to Meghan, there could be a large tax liability so probably the elder McCains own it. But I see five, six, and seven as all defensible answers to the question “how many homes does John McCain own?”

http://yglesias.thinkprogress.org/

Silly issue to nail McCain for. Let's talk about how he's borderline insane instead.

[Lord of the Abyss]

Do they think they can just slander Obama into submission?

That's pretty much been their standard mode of operation as long as I can remember. And it's not like they can come with many positive reasons to vote for McCain.

[General Zod]

Silly issue to nail McCain for. Let's talk about how he's borderline insane instead.

Not knowing how many houses you own is a bit like not knowing how many children you have. Someone should ask McCain how many kids he has to see if he does the same thing.

[Gandalf]

Do they think they can just slander Obama into submission?

That's pretty much been their standard mode of operation as long as I can remember.

But with Bush they at least tried to pretend that he wasn't a moron.

They could point to the short period after 11/9 where he apparently looked good. The economic situation looked ready for tax cuts. Iraq didn't look too bloodbathy and was part of Bush the Lionheart's democratic crusade in which a Baghdad McDonald's was only weeks away.

[Ace Pace]

Silly issue to nail McCain for. Let's talk about how he's borderline insane instead.

Not knowing how many houses you own is a bit like not knowing how many children you have. Someone should ask McCain how many kids he has to see if he does the same thing.

Did you read what was written? It could be, that in the legal sense, one "condo" can be counted as two. Or in practice, as one. Thats a problem and something he can be hammered at. It's a stupid thing not to know, since it's his property, but the legal and practical answers in this case can come out differantly.

[Turin]

What the hell? What's wrong with the arugula? The comment Obama made was asinine because he said "Anyone see what they charge for arugula in Whole Foods?" when there were no Whole Foods in the state he was in. But arugula is in a lot of salad mixes people eat... so... what the hell? Might as well rail him for eating soy products. There's some farmer out ther with a tear in his eye going, "B-but I grow arugula." It is his secret shame.

The hilarious thing is they're railing him for being concerned about the price of Arugula as though it's supposed to mean he's out of touch with the common person. . .but what's one of the biggest thing the common person would be concerned with except skyrocketing food costs?

First, apparently only communist yuppies go to dirty hippie places like Whole Foods. Which is strange, because I'm a communist yuppie and I go the local farmer's market.

Second, Americans by and large don't have a goddamn clue what they're eating. They just shovel their faces with shit (and wonder why they're fat). If McCain's camp did rail against Obama for eating soy products (as Covenant says tongue-in-cheek), half the country would go "fuck yeah, none of that sissy tofu for us red-blooded Americans," because they have no idea that it's in half the food they eat.

[General Zod]

Did you read what was written? It could be, that in the legal sense, one "condo" can be counted as two. Or in practice, as one. Thats a problem and something he can be hammered at. It's a stupid thing not to know, since it's his property, but the legal and practical answers in this case can come out differantly.

I read it, and it's largely irrelevant to my point. Were McCain a bit brighter he could have given off a direct answer that distinguishes the types of property he owns in addition to how many houses, and nobody would've batted an eye, even applauding him for keeping a tight ship. But saying "Uh, you'll have to ask my staff" is really stupid no matter the legal distinction.

[Darth Wong]

"You'll have to ask my staff" is exactly the sort of response you would expect from someone who is so rich and pampered that he has people to wipe his ass for him. It reminds me of the time George H.W. Bush got nailed for not having any idea what a carton of milk costs, because the man was above actually going to the grocery store himself.

[RedImperator]

"You'll have to ask my staff" is exactly the sort of response you would expect from someone who is so rich and pampered that he has people to wipe his ass for him. It reminds me of the time George H.W. Bush got nailed for not having any idea what a carton of milk costs, because the man was above actually going to the grocery store himself.

Yeah, seriously. I'm surprised more people in this thread aren't getting it. This isn't about how many houses McSame actually owns, it's about McSame, the candidate who allegedly understands the plight of the middle class, being so fucking rich he's lost count, the way a regular person might forget how many pairs of socks he owns.

What's really awesome is his staff made it even worse by panicking. On the one hand, you've got the spectacle of a spokesman waving the bloody shirt in the least subtle way imaginable--one more of those, and "A noun, a verb, and POW" is going to be McCain's epitaph. Then you have another one bringing up Rezko, as if McCain can really afford talk about Senators' past associations with felons, and screaming that Obama made $4 million selling his books--one million dollars less than McSame's own definition of rich!

[Fingolfin_Noldor]

In some countries, it is a crime to fail to report assets properly, especially for politicians. Does that apply to the US?

That aside, it seems McCain fits the usual "rich southern land owner" stereotype and something all Republicans aspire to be.

[CmdrWilkens]

You have to report gifts and obviously for income and property tax purposes everyone has to report ownership (which in turn is public record). The McCains (Cindy most likely) almost certainly have enough paid accountants/real estate folks that they have all their documents properly filed. The problem is that McCain is so rich that he doesn't even bother to keep track of how rich he is.

The real middle class keep track of what the house is worth, what the mortgage, utility, and sustenance bills add up to and how that all affects the balance in the bank account.

[Darth Wong]

It's not just that it's a sign of how filthy rich he is. It's that it proves he's out of touch in a very real way. He has a protective layer of serfs, er- employees, who have completely insulated him from all the things that normal people have to deal with. That's not figuratively being out of touch with reality; that is literally being out of touch with reality. It's the same way the monarchy used to live: so isolated from reality that they are ignorant of it.

People made fun of Obama for naming a grocery store in his own home area rather than the midwestern town he was in at the time, and saying that he buys arugula there. At least it shows that he probably bought his own groceries recently enough to remember. Yes, he may have an upper class lifestyle, but he still has a grip on reality. McCain doesn't. He has people to deal with reality for him.

[Elfdart]

Obama earned the money for his house. Unlike REAL Merkins, who marry beer heiresses and offer to pimp them out to mobs of bikers. Besides, Dungeon Master McCain saw a Cross In The Dirt!

[Erik von Nein]

Holy shit, that's beautiful. I'm going to have to steal that from you, Elfdart.

[Elfdart]

Credit where it's due: I found it on Daily Kos.

[The Star Marshall]

I’ve seen a lot of liberals giving John McCain a hard time about not knowing how many homes he owns. But this is a genuinely difficult question to answer! There’s the case of his two-for-one condo in Phoenix, for example. And there’s also the tricky question of McCain “Hidden Valley Ranch” house situation. The Cindy Hensley McCain Family Trust owns 11455 E Hidden Valley Road, 11445 E Hidden Valley Road, 11415 E Hidden Valley Road, and 11405 E Hidden Valley Road. But is that four properties or is it one property? What’s more, according to McCain there are six houses on the property. So that ranch situation could be anywhere from six houses to one house, depending on how you look at it. Combined with the condo situation, we’re now in the 2-7 house range.

UPDATE: And of course you have to consider the case of Meghan McCain’s loft in Phoenix. Her parents paid $700,000 for it and as a graduation present let her live there, but technically they’re the owners. Does that count as one of McCain’s houses or doesn’t it?

e Obama campaign is mocking John McCain for owning seven houses. McCain’s staff, being less precise but in some ways more accurate, has said McCain owns at least four. Over here you can find the most expansive count which gives McCain ten. You could probably even push this up to eleven if you want to count the Phoenix double-condo as two separate homes. But I think that’s tendentious. To get to ten homes, you also need to count his various ranch properties as separate homes which I likewise think is tendentious — that’s best understood as a single $1.1 million vacation property. So that’s two homes. Then indisputably there’s the $847,800 pied à terre in Arlington where the McCains can stay when they’re in DC. That’s three. Then somewhat confusingly they own two different beach condos in Coronado, CA one worth $2.7 million and one worth $2.1 million so that’s five. And I’d say that five is arguably the correct answer.

To get to seven, you need to add in two additional properties that the McCains own. One is a $700,000 loft in Phoenix that they own and rent out. That’s unquestionably a McCain family financial asset, but I wouldn’t call it a “home,” it’s more akin to an investment. Then the tricky one is Meghan McCain’s loft. This was bought for her as a graduation present and I assume the underlying conceit is that it’s her loft rather than her parents’ and I think the precise ownership status of the property may be somewhat unclear. If they actually transferred title of the property to Meghan, there could be a large tax liability so probably the elder McCains own it. But I see five, six, and seven as all defensible answers to the question “how many homes does John McCain own?”

http://yglesias.thinkprogress.org/

Silly issue to nail McCain for. Let's talk about how he's borderline insane instead.

The articles above take a simple concept and is trying to make it more difficult to cover for McCain being an idiot. Based on the above lets see how many houses he really has.



The Condo's in Phoenix; As long as they're actually condo's and not apartments those are two homes. Condo's can be bought and sold separately so of course they're two homes.


The "Hidden Valley Ranch" is four properties, four addresses would equal four different parcels which would be four different homes. Even if some of them also have guest homes they wouldn't count as additional homes. so its four, no more no less.

That's six homes so far.

They're on title for Meghan home, so that's their property, Next the house in Arlington can't be debated that's clear. Next two california beach homes.

Ten Homes so far. And its eleven when you add in the rental property, they're on title so its theirs even if they rent it out and don't live there, they're liable for the property.

It's eleven homes, any other answer is is just republican whitewashing, unless of course we find out the phoenix "two for one condos" are apartments instead in which case they only count as one. Or that the "Hidden Valley Ranch" is only one parcel. In which case the count would be 5 at the lowest, but that number is very unlikely.

[LMSx]

[url=http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0808/12700.html]Link[/quote]

The McCains increased their budget for household employees from $184,000 in 2006 to $273,000 in 2007, according to John McCain's tax returns.

The additional cash supports an "increase in the number of employees," the McCain aide told Politico. The aide did not answer a question about whether the growing staff stemmed from addition of new properties to the family's real estate portfolio.

I've read that it's more then the median price of an American home.

You there! Butler! Fetch me a steak! I need to look like a peon!