Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is a long way of saying that he's bad with money.

Is that a good quality in a Supreme Court Justice? Or a bad one? It makes him relatable, that's true. More importantly, does it make him relate to the common man?

I can relate to the Kavanaugh financial situation. We are 2 fed employees (attorneys) who somehow chose to live in Chevy Chase, where the houses are old, but yet expensive (both to buy and maintain). DH and I both had a nice standard of living growing up, and so we seem to live a bit beyond our two-fed means. We have carried credit card debt for a while. We admit that it's idiotic, but we still do it.

We get annual gift money from our parents at an amount just below the gift limit. We figure we might get a little inheritance in the future. We both work full-time at our jobs and get good reviews at work. In a worst case scenario, our parents could bail us out in a financial pinch. (We haven't needed to ask for that.) So we probably live a little too close to the edge financially, just because we know that there's a safety net there in the form of our parents.

We're honest people, and there's nothing criminal or unethical about having credit card debt. Yes, it's idiotic to pay those high interest rates, but it is not criminal or unethical.

We're similar. We're bad at money, but we have secure fed jobs and parents who help out a bit. We admit it. Kavanaugh does not admit it.

Really? Admit it how? On an anonymous forum? Or do you walk up to your boss on the regular and say “I have credit card debt. I’m therefore bad with money and you should take that into account when deciding whether to promote me or give me significant responsibilities.” Somehow I’m doubting you “admit” any such thing.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is a long way of saying that he's bad with money.

Is that a good quality in a Supreme Court Justice? Or a bad one? It makes him relatable, that's true. More importantly, does it make him relate to the common man?

I can relate to the Kavanaugh financial situation. We are 2 fed employees (attorneys) who somehow chose to live in Chevy Chase, where the houses are old, but yet expensive (both to buy and maintain). DH and I both had a nice standard of living growing up, and so we seem to live a bit beyond our two-fed means. We have carried credit card debt for a while. We admit that it's idiotic, but we still do it.

We get annual gift money from our parents at an amount just below the gift limit. We figure we might get a little inheritance in the future. We both work full-time at our jobs and get good reviews at work. In a worst case scenario, our parents could bail us out in a financial pinch. (We haven't needed to ask for that.) So we probably live a little too close to the edge financially, just because we know that there's a safety net there in the form of our parents.

We're honest people, and there's nothing criminal or unethical about having credit card debt. Yes, it's idiotic to pay those high interest rates, but it is not criminal or unethical.

We're similar. We're bad at money, but we have secure fed jobs and parents who help out a bit. We admit it. Kavanaugh does not admit it.

Anonymous wrote:This is a long way of saying that he's bad with money.

Is that a good quality in a Supreme Court Justice? Or a bad one? It makes him relatable, that's true. More importantly, does it make him relate to the common man?

I can relate to the Kavanaugh financial situation. We are 2 fed employees (attorneys) who somehow chose to live in Chevy Chase, where the houses are old, but yet expensive (both to buy and maintain). DH and I both had a nice standard of living growing up, and so we seem to live a bit beyond our two-fed means. We have carried credit card debt for a while. We admit that it's idiotic, but we still do it.

We get annual gift money from our parents at an amount just below the gift limit. We figure we might get a little inheritance in the future. We both work full-time at our jobs and get good reviews at work. In a worst case scenario, our parents could bail us out in a financial pinch. (We haven't needed to ask for that.) So we probably live a little too close to the edge financially, just because we know that there's a safety net there in the form of our parents.

We're honest people, and there's nothing criminal or unethical about having credit card debt. Yes, it's idiotic to pay those high interest rates, but it is not criminal or unethical.

Anonymous wrote:Kavanaugh's already shown he has a tenuous relationship with telling the truth. His answers regarding the money questions are vague and somewhat self-righteous. He and his wife have probably been given quite a bit of money by family over the years and he's not being more specific about that because there are probably no gift tax returns filed.

He's lying about the dice game not being for money - who gets "aggressive" after losing a dice game that doesn't involve cash? If he did, then what does that say about his judicial temperament?

And the story about not telling spouses about his date with his future wife?? WTF? Was he screwing his friends' wives?

Yeah that last part is definitely off!

Kavanaugh's already shown he has a tenuous relationship with telling the truth. His answers regarding the money questions are vague and somewhat self-righteous. He and his wife have probably been given quite a bit of money by family over the years and he's not being more specific about that because there are probably no gift tax returns filed.

He's lying about the dice game not being for money - who gets "aggressive" after losing a dice game that doesn't involve cash? If he did, then what does that say about his judicial temperament?

And the story about not telling spouses about his date with his future wife?? WTF? Was he screwing his friends' wives?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:True but there is some confusion about why he had very high credit card debt ($200k) for a really long time and also this debt was abruptly paid off in full quite recently. I think these are relevant questions for a Supreme Court appointee

I wish people would stop with this $200k nonsense. Clearly none of you have ever filled out a government financial disclosure form. The forms have check boxes where you indicate a range of values for assets or liabilities. He checked the box indicating debt between $60,000 and $200,000. He did not buy $200K worth of baseball tickets, and he did not have debt "for a really long time." Hell, if he paid his kids' tuition with a credit card and paid it off the next month, that would be $20k right there. Still gets reported, even if it was paid off immediately.

You are talking about two different reports in your post, credit reports and his financial disclosure form. You're mixing them up.

Yes, he did have debt for a really long time. So do we -- I can explain it by saying that we are bad with money. Has Kavanaugh admitted that he's bad with money? I haven't heard him give that explanation.

No, it's the same thing. On financial disclosures, you report liabilities owed at any time during the reporting period.

This is a long way of saying that he's bad with money.

Is that a good quality in a Supreme Court Justice? Or a bad one? It makes him relatable, that's true. More importantly, does it make him relate to the common man?

He specifically addresses all these financial "concerns" in the questions for the record which were released this morning. From Slate:

Kavanaugh’s Debt
Ben Mathis-Lilley was unhappy senators didn’t ask Kavanaugh for more detail about his finances—he went from carrying between $60,000 and $200,000 on credit cards in 2016 to being debt-free except for his mortgage in 2017—and was interested in knowing more about an email in which he apologized for “growing aggressive after blowing a game of dice.” In response to a question from Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, Kavanaugh gave a two-page overview of his finances, the gist of which was that his debt came from home improvements and buying baseball tickets, and he was able to pay it off thanks to some combination of pay raises, his wife’s return to the workforce, and possibly financial gifts from family members, which are exempt from disclosure:


Our annual income and financial worth substantially increased in the last few years as a result of a significant annual salary increase for federal judges; a substantial back pay award in the wake of class litigation over pay for the Federal Judiciary; and my wife’s return to the paid workforce following the many years that she took off from paid work in order to stay with and care for our daughters. The back pay award was excluded from disclosure on my previous financial disclosure report based on the Filing Instructions for Judicial Officers and Employees, which excludes income from the Federal Government. We have not received financial gifts other than from our family which are excluded from disclosure in judicial financial disclosure reports. Nor have we received other kinds of gifts from anyone outside of our family, apart from ordinary non-reportable gifts related to, for example, birthdays, Christmas, or personal hospitality. On the 2018 financial disclosure report, I correctly listed “exempt” for gifts and reimbursements because those are the explicit instructions in the 2018 Filing Instructions for Judicial Officers and Employees.

As for gambling, Kavanaugh says he’s never had gambling debt or played fantasy sports, and by the way, did you know that houses require upkeep?


Over the years, we have sunk a decent amount of money into our home for sometimes unanticipated repairs and improvements. As many homeowners probably appreciate, the list sometimes seems to never end, and for us it has included over the years: replacing the heating and air conditioning system and air conditioning units, replacing the water heater, painting and repairing the full exterior of the house, painting the interior of the house, replacing the porch flooring on the front and side porches with composite wood, gutter repairs, roof repairs, new refrigerator, new oven, ceiling leaks, ongoing flooding in the basement, waterproofing the basement, mold removal in the basement, drainage work because of excess water outside the house that was running into the neighbor’s property, fence repair, and so on. Maintaining a house, especially an old house like ours, can be expensive. I have not had gambling debts or participated in “fantasy” leagues.

As for the baseball tickets themselves, they were all above board and, like home repairs, very relatable, even to people who’ve never had between $60,000 and $200,000 in credit card debt:


As is typical with baseball season tickets, I had a group of old friends who would split games with me. We would usually divide the tickets in a “ticket draft” at my house. Everyone in the group paid me for their tickets based on the cost of the tickets, to the dollar. No one overpaid or underpaid me for tickets. No loans were given in either direction.

Kavanaugh also specified that the dice game in his email “was not a game with monetary stakes,” said he had never sought treatment for a gambling addiction, and, in response to very specific question about whether or not he had “accrued gambling debt in the State of New Jersey,” said he’d occasionally played low-stakes blackjack there in his twenties but never accrued gambling debt.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:True but there is some confusion about why he had very high credit card debt ($200k) for a really long time and also this debt was abruptly paid off in full quite recently. I think these are relevant questions for a Supreme Court appointee

I wish people would stop with this $200k nonsense. Clearly none of you have ever filled out a government financial disclosure form. The forms have check boxes where you indicate a range of values for assets or liabilities. He checked the box indicating debt between $60,000 and $200,000. He did not buy $200K worth of baseball tickets, and he did not have debt "for a really long time." Hell, if he paid his kids' tuition with a credit card and paid it off the next month, that would be $20k right there. Still gets reported, even if it was paid off immediately.

You are talking about two different reports in your post, credit reports and his financial disclosure form. You're mixing them up.

Yes, he did have debt for a really long time. So do we -- I can explain it by saying that we are bad with money. Has Kavanaugh admitted that he's bad with money? I haven't heard him give that explanation.

All this false outrage. Guy is clean as a whistle. Get over it.

Anonymous wrote:True but there is some confusion about why he had very high credit card debt ($200k) for a really long time and also this debt was abruptly paid off in full quite recently. I think these are relevant questions for a Supreme Court appointee

I wish people would stop with this $200k nonsense. Clearly none of you have ever filled out a government financial disclosure form. The forms have check boxes where you indicate a range of values for assets or liabilities. He checked the box indicating debt between $60,000 and $200,000. He did not buy $200K worth of baseball tickets, and he did not have debt "for a really long time." Hell, if he paid his kids' tuition with a credit card and paid it off the next month, that would be $20k right there. Still gets reported, even if it was paid off immediately.

Correct me if i’m Wrong, but didn’t his TSP loan increase in value over time? He specifically said he was paying it down as part of his withholding.

He specifically says that he was exempt from having to declare family gifts, so it is possible that his parents each gave them $25k last year to pay down debt. Other than that, which really wouldn’t be a terrible thing to admit (not the total amount) he goes on to say that he has received “normal gifts” from others.

Someone help me with this, what are the reporting requirements for this? I know my husband as a fed can’t accept anything more than $20 in value from a non fed coworker. Do the same rules apply for judges?

Also people are wondering how he afforded the country club membership.

I think the explanation is probably that his parents are very very wealthy and gave him money to pay down their estate, but admitting how rich he is goes against the carpool dad/ man of the people/ basketball coach persona he is trying for.

He does need to explain the discrepancies. And why the White House said he carried the debt on his credit card while he claims people paid him back right away.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Lots of churches and country clubs have gambling nights. And lots of men his age have bi-weekly or monthly poker nights.

Gambling is illegal. He’s up for the Supreme Damn Court.

You're kidding yourself if you don't think the Supreme Court justices don't enjoy a little poker game now and then. There are long-running stories of little poker clubs in the courts, Congress and the White House.

True but there is some confusion about why he had very high credit card debt ($200k) for a really long time and also this debt was abruptly paid off in full quite recently. I think these are relevant questions for a Supreme Court appointee

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Lots of churches and country clubs have gambling nights. And lots of men his age have bi-weekly or monthly poker nights.

Gambling is illegal. He’s up for the Supreme Damn Court.

You're kidding yourself if you don't think the Supreme Court justices don't enjoy a little poker game now and then. There are long-running stories of little poker clubs in the courts, Congress and the White House.