rssInBev Deal Could Be Tricky for McCains
Tuesday, July 15, 2008 at 8:37 am
- 4 Comments
Albuquerque, N.M. — The $52 billion purchase of Anheuser-Busch, the maker of Budweiser, by the Belgian-owned InBev SA could cause some headaches for the McCains. Sen. John McCain’s wife, Cindy, is the chairwoman of Hensley & Co., the nation’s third-largest Anheuser-Busch distributor, and the exclusive dealer in the Phoenix-area. Cindy’s late father, James Hensley, founded the company. John McCain’s son from his first marriage, Andy, is now the firm’s chief financial officer.
As The Caucus notes, Cindy and her family own two-thirds of Hensley, which, in turn, owns at least $1 million in Anheuser-Busch stock. After doing the math, Hensley would reap a $1 million to $2 million windfall from the InBev deal, and two-thirds of that would go to the McCain family. Not bad.
This could be problematic for the McCain campaign in two ways. First, McCain has been railing against Sen. Barack Obama’s calls to raise the capital-gains tax — which taxes stock dividends. The capital-gains tax rate was lowered to 15 percent as part of President George W. Bush’s 2003 tax cut package — which McCain at first opposed strongly but now supports extending. Common sense dictates that Cindy McCain will not cash out her Anheuser-Busch stock while her husband is on the campaign trail talking about capital gains, but the appearance of personal gain from McCain’s favored policies still remains. Later today, McCain is scheduled to visit St. Louis — home of Anheuser-Busch — where he plans to talk to local media and attend a fund-raiser. The InBev deal will surely be a topic of interest to reporters there.
Second, and perhaps more important, the enormous windfall is a stark reminder that the McCains are fantastically wealthy. This flies in the face of the image the McCains have been promoting on the stump — that they are an ordinary couple, in touch with the economic concerns of working-class families.
4 Comments
Comment posted July 16, 2008 @ 8:31 am
Since McCain and his current wife were both “born with a silver spoon in their mouths”, how on God’s green earth can they try to portray themselves as an “ordinary couple”??? There’s NO WAY they can identify with the economic concerns of working-class families, since neither of them ever had to “work” very hard …. unless you call reading the financial pages and managing your investments “hard work”.
A McCain presidency will be just as most Americans fear ….. 4 more years of George Bush, and even worse, given McCain’s explosive temper, his health and his age, and his PTSD from having been a prisoner of war. Also, the latest info indicates he has a gambling addiction, which literally SCREAMS that he is a reckless and careless, not to mention IMPULSIVE man. His main concern for America, just like the Bush regime, is more money for the rich and how they can avoid paying taxes on their wealth, while burdening the middle class and worse yet, wiping out the middle class altogether. Don’t know why the Republican party wants to kill off its “cash cow”, other than getting carried away with their greed.
McCain sure isn’t the one I’d want to be in charge of our country’s nukes, our military, and our economy. What a horror!!!!!
Comment posted July 16, 2008 @ 3:31 am
Since McCain and his current wife were both “born with a silver spoon in their mouths”, how on God's green earth can they try to portray themselves as an “ordinary couple”??? There's NO WAY they can identify with the economic concerns of working-class families, since neither of them ever had to “work” very hard …. unless you call reading the financial pages and managing your investments “hard work”.
A McCain presidency will be just as most Americans fear ….. 4 more years of George Bush, and even worse, given McCain's explosive temper, his health and his age, and his PTSD from having been a prisoner of war. Also, the latest info indicates he has a gambling addiction, which literally SCREAMS that he is a reckless and careless, not to mention IMPULSIVE man. His main concern for America, just like the Bush regime, is more money for the rich and how they can avoid paying taxes on their wealth, while burdening the middle class and worse yet, wiping out the middle class altogether. Don't know why the Republican party wants to kill off its “cash cow”, other than getting carried away with their greed.
McCain sure isn't the one I'd want to be in charge of our country's nukes, our military, and our economy. What a horror!!!!!
Comment posted October 12, 2008 @ 3:23 pm
Why do you think it is so hard for John McCain to say Middle Class?
Look at Obama's tax plan scale versus McCain's? Most people and now small businesses will in general share a smaller burden of the taxes.
Let's have cross the board decreases. Most Middle Class and small business owners are better off with Obama's until you really get to $650K and above.
Sorry, I don't have time to worry about people who make that much money. You are you railing against in the bailouts. Last I heard McCain is worth many times over Obama's. Just like most average community level workers in America.
Think people.
Comment posted October 12, 2008 @ 10:23 pm
Why do you think it is so hard for John McCain to say Middle Class?
Look at Obama's tax plan scale versus McCain's? Most people and now small businesses will in general share a smaller burden of the taxes.
Let's have cross the board decreases. Most Middle Class and small business owners are better off with Obama's until you really get to $650K and above.
Sorry, I don't have time to worry about people who make that much money. You are you railing against in the bailouts. Last I heard McCain is worth many times over Obama's. Just like most average community level workers in America.
Think people.
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