That's a lot of money. I wonder how he saved that much on a Senator's salary? I'm guessing that a lot of folks in West Virginia are wondering that too - which would be why he tried to hush this up.Manchin bought a 65-foot yacht, which he named "Almost Heaven", in October 2013 for $700,000. Manchin later transferred ownership of the yacht to Country Roads Marine LLC—a West Virginia-based LLC—that Manchin and his wife incorporated and are listed as members and officers, recordsshow. Manchin docks the boat on the Potomac River in Southeast D.C. and resides in it while he is in the city.However, since 2013, Manchin has failed to report ownership of Country Roads Marine LLC, which FACT says is a "serious violation of Senate Ethics Rules," given they require senators to list "outside compensation, holdings, transactions, liabilities, positions held and gifts received" on their financial disclosure reports.
Oh, well, if he loses he can always take the boat out on the sea. Take us away, Lyle!
If I Had A Boat (Songwriter: Lyle Lovett)
If I had a boat
I'd go out on the ocean
And if I had a pony
I'd ride him on my boat
And we could all together
Go out on the ocean
Me upon my pony on my boat
If I were Roy Rogers
I'd sure enough be single
I couldn't bring myself to marrying old Dale
It'd just be me and trigger
We'd go riding through them movies
Then we'd buy a boat and on the sea we'd sail
And if I had a boat
I'd go out on the ocean
And if I had a pony
I'd ride him on my boat
And we could all together
Go out on the ocean
Me upon my pony on my boat
The mystery masked man was smart
He got himself a Tonto
'Cause Tonto did the dirty work for free
But Tonto he was smarter
And one day said kemo sabe
Kiss my ass I bought a boat
I'm going out to sea
And if I had a boat
I'd go out on the ocean
And if I had a pony
I'd ride him on my boat
And we could all together
Go out on the ocean
Me upon my pony on my boat
And if I were like lightning
I wouldn't need no sneakers
I'd come and go wherever I would please
And I'd scare 'em by the shade tree
And I'd scare 'em by the light pole
But I would not scare my pony on my boat out on the sea
And if I had a boat
I'd go out on the ocean
And if I had a pony
I'd ride him on my boat
And we could all together
Go out on the ocean
Me upon my pony on my boat
The people of WV paid him something like $900,000 in sum for his salary for the 6 years he was governor, and something like $450,000 in sum for the 5 years before that when he was secretary of state.
ReplyDeleteIt wouldn't surprise me to find that "owns" in reference to the boat omits mention of a leaseholder who provided a market rate loan.
It also wouldn't surprise me if his payments on a live-aboard yacht plus, say $1000/month for mooring at the National Harbor Marina sup to less than a luxury apartment that he would consider acceptable.
Not quite the shared run-down bachelor apartment vibe of the famed Rep. George Miller, Shumer, Durbin, Panetta, etc. house, but Manchin has been getting in trouble over his boats for ever.
Manchin occupies a tough spot, no doubt aboat it. His constituents see things one way. His Party Overlords see things quite otherwise. He'll never make both happy. His best play is to make both a little unhappy. So he may actually be no worse ethically than the dismal average for politicians but somebody is always watching him.
ReplyDeleteWhich is a good thing.
Ah, Lyle. A great voice from a vanished time. Now he'd be castigated for glorifying the genocide of Native Americans and for culturally appropriating that magnificent mop of hair from.....well, not sure where that occurs in the natural world, perhaps some alien species.
T.Wolter