MONTPELIER, Vt. (AP) — Can a socialist own a summer house?
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That’s the question unabashed capitalist billionaire Mike Bloomberg posed Wednesday night as he tried to brand Sen. Bernie Sanders a hypocrite in Wednesday night’s fiery Democratic presidential primary debate.
“The best known socialist in the country happens to be a millionaire with three houses,” Bloomberg said of Sanders, the independent Vermont senator who is running for president as a Democrat and calls himself a democratic socialist. That charge prompted an irritated Sanders to start ticking through his real estate holdings onstage.
Yes, he has a home in Washington, where he works; one in Burlington, Vermont, where he lives; and “like thousands of other Vermonters, I do have a summer camp,” Sanders shot back. “Forgive me for that.”
The use of the word camp is a Vermont colloquialism. In other parts of the country, Sanders’ vacation home would be called a cabin or just a summer home. Its purchase price — $575,000 when he and his wife bought it in 2016 — suggests it’s not exactly a rough and rustic shack in the wilderness.
The waterfront home sits in 120-mile-long (190 kilometers) Lake Champlain, between Vermont and New York, on the island of North Hero in a tiny town of the same name. The population of 1,000 at least doubles in the summer, with visitors from around New England, Quebec and New York. Properties range from camps for $150,000 to some higher-end homes on the lake, according to Franz Rosenberger, co-owner of Coldwell Banker Island Realty.
Sanders’ place is a “modest seasonal house” on an acre with a decent amount of lake frontage, Rosenberger said.
“It’s not a fancy house at all. There are no granite countertops, stainless appliances or anything like that,” he said. He believes the cottage was built in 1910 and renovated in 1984, with a small one-bedroom bunkhouse added later.
Sanders’ wife, Jane, said around the time of the purchase that she and her husband paid cash for the four-bedroom house. She had sold a share of her family’s longtime vacation home in Bridgton, Maine, to her brother for $150,000, and to buy the property, added some money from her retirement account and from an advance her husband got on a book he was writing.
It was valued at $540,000 as of 2017, just less than what the Sanderses paid, according to Lisa Keyworth, assistant town clerk.
Sanders’ assertion that “thousands” of Vermonters have summer homes is difficult to check. Vermont has 77,000 second homes, rental properties or camps, according to Douglas Farnham, policy director for the Vermont Department of Taxes. Of the roughly 18,000 camps, about 45% have Vermont mailing addresses, but that doesn’t necessarily mean the owners are Vermont residents, he said.
During the debate, Sanders then asked Bloomberg where his home is, and in which tax haven, to which Bloomberg responded: “New York City, thank you very much, and I pay all my taxes.”
The Bloomberg campaign did not immediately respond to a query Thursday about how many homes he has.
There has always been a disconnect between the “haves” and the “have-nots”. One could ask, is it right for someone to own a house in Brooklyn, Lakewood or Monsey, Eretz Yisroel, & the Catskills, when his next door neighbor has been renting an apartment for years because they simply can’t afford to purchase a home even though both husband & wife are working full-time? It seems that the rich get richer and the poor get poorer. Maybe it has something to do with a gilgul, repayment from a previous life? Regardless, please don’t flaunt your wealth in our face. It hurts when you do that.
Both correct, but Sanders cant claim to be a socialist and keep giving everything to those who dont have, when he himself is just taking for himself.
Bernie Sanders is a Communist and under communism everyone is equal, but some are more equal than others. Bernie Sanders would be one of the “more equal”.
In answer to your question, that of whether a socialist can own a summer home, the answer is – depends who you ask. To a socialist, of course. To everyone else, no, its utter hypocrisy.
Someone once asked Ron Kuby, a communist self-hating Jewish lawyer, if he thought it was right for him to be wealthy while espousing the evils of capitalism. Kuby responded “of course. Why shouldn’t I do well for myself while doing good for others?” And he was serious.
Ron Kuby is a piece of garbage, who sued the person, who in 1984, legitimately used his firearm on the NYC subway, to defend himself, against three robbers. The news media, and certain politicians tried to paint the picture that the three perps were choir boys. The fact of the matter is that they tried to rob the victim, and all had prior records. In the end, the victim was acquitted of all of the serious charges against him. He was only convicted of carrying an unlicensed firearm, and served nearly one year in jail. However, Kuby had to take the victim to court and sue him for millions, on behalf of the three choir boys. To this date, Kuby and his beloved clients never received a penny in restitution from the robbery victim.