Posted on 07/10/2004 8:02:01 PM PDT by kattracks
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — In the four years before he joined the Senate, John Edwards had income totaling $26.9 million, most of it from his work as a plaintiff's trial lawyer, campaign aides for the Kerry-Edwards campaign said Saturday.The disclosure of the income figures, first reported in the New York Times, came as the Democratic campaign pondered how much of Edwards' financial and tax records to release.
Edwards grew up in a small North Carolina town as the son of a textile mill worker. He built a fortune as a personal injury lawyer and is one of the richest senators.
His selection on Tuesday as Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry's vice presidential running mate drew new attention to Edwards' wealth. Both candidates are multimillionaires; Edwards' wealth was self-made while Kerry achieved his largely through marriage.
Campaign spokeswoman Stephanie Cutter said a more detailed release of Edwards' financial material was planned. It was not immediately clear what records would be disclosed.
Edwards has never made public any of his tax returns. Also, he has yet to file his return for 2003, obtaining an extension that will enable him to file them by October, campaign aides said.
The Senate financial disclosure forms he has filed annually since entering the Senate, which deal only with broad ranges, show he is worth $12 million to $60 million.
In campaigning for the presidential nomination last winter, Edwards called for rolling back Bush tax cuts, saying they benefited mostly the wealthy. He also complained that some tax shelters undermined the Medicare program.
Edwards created an S Corporation tax shelter for himself in 1995 that has enabled him to shield some of his income from taxes. The shelter became an issue in Edwards' 1998 Senate campaign.
The Times, citing records it requested and obtained from the Kerry-Edwards campaign, said Edwards paid $9,353,448 in federal taxes on his income of $26,869,496 over the four-year period.
The tax shelter allowed him to avoid paying $591,112 in Medicare tax during the period, the newspaper said.
Kerry-Edwards campaign aides confirmed the figures and said the shelter was created on the advice of Edwards' accountant and was entirely legal.
"He believes that no individual should pay more than they owe," said Kerry-Edwards spokesman David Ginsberg.
Good for him .... it's not like he will ever get all that money back in benefits.
Good for him. I say expand the S Corporation eligibility to the poor and middle class.
A trial lawyer that has made a fortune on the backs of the medical community I'll bet, and is part of the reason for sky rocketing health care costs.
Good for him, except for the fact it makes him a hypcorite.
When I was a working person, I had to pay Medicare tax. And my taxes supported the paychecks of John Edwards and the rest of the government elite that makes us follow the rules but exempts themselves.
BS AP, trial lawyers money is never self-made. They suck it off from everyone else.
Trial lawyers are the tapeworm parasites of wealth creating productive society.
"My tables--meet it is I set it down That one may smile, and smile, and be a villain." Hamlet Prince of Denmark (Hamlet at I, v)
$20,000 a day isn't bad pay for a common man.
just another poor, downtrodden democrat. they are all so destitute. you know, like fightin' algore. so poverty-stricken in his $4 million house. we all know it's those nasty republicans who have all the money. /bitter sarcasm off.........
Wow! You said something I can agree with.Lawyers like Edwards will ruin us.
Trial lawyers are the tapeworm parasites of wealth creating productive society.>>
Wasn't Abraham Lincoln a trial lawyer?
Trial lawyers are the tapeworm parasites of wealth creating productive society.
Absolutely correct.
I know of a lawyer who is retired at age 40, has a house in the U.S. and Bahamas, drives a classic car and plays tennis frequently at a pricey club. How did this self made man make his fortune? He won big time in the tobacco settlement, which was intended to benefit tobacco victims. How many tobacco victims did the the settlement enrich?
i would like to know what he made-got while in the senate
Which is worse? A trial lawyer or a gigolo?
Uh no, I believe he was a defense lawyer, also your urine poor comparison, does not point out the differences between in jury awards and how the judicial system is being abused by people like your hero edwards today, and the judicial system of the 1840's and 1850's when Lincoln was practicing.
Nice try but no ceegar there Coleus, back to the old kerry/edwards basement for you.
>
The tax shelter allowed him to avoid paying $591,112 in Medicare tax during the period, the newspaper said.
>
Bush to elderly voters: Neither I nor Dick Cheney dodged 1/2 million dollars in Medicare tax. Draw your own conclusions as to who is compassionate.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.