Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Kavanaugh carried $200,000 in credit card debt for a decade, until his debts magically vanished in 2017. That debt, not including mortgage, tuition, country club fees, sometimes exceeded his annual household income. Its enough to disqualify and applicant for the FBI or CIA.

Sheesh I wish people would stop with this $200k in debt crap. Let me explain it again...the financial disclosure form has check boxes on it, with ranges for the amount owed. He listed four accounts - three credit cards and a home equity line of credit. For each of the accounts, he checked the box that indicated that the amount of indebtedness was "$15,000 to $50,000." The media keeps reporting that he disclosed "between $60k and $200k" in debt. There is no way to know from the disclosure whether in fact he owed a total of $60k or a total of $200k, or something in-between. The forms also require you to indicate based on indebtedness "at any time" during the reporting period. Take a look at 12 months of your own credit card activity? What was the most you ever owed at one time? That's the box you check. I make about the same as Kavanaugh, and I can easily see how my accounts could add up to similar amounts, even though I pay every account in full at the end of every month. Even credit card accounts paid in full are still reported at their high water mark.

In any event, your statement that he "carried $200k in credit card debt for a decade" is untrue.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think he's more the norm than people would like to admit in DC. $300K income but house-poor with a $1.2 MM home in Chevy Chase and private school tuition. His parents were typical white-collar in CC as well. He likely had student loans that were paid off, so he didn't start saving for retirement until later (thus the $500K TSP). He has wealthy friends and a slight desire to keep up with the Joneses (see said house and the expensive baseball tickets). I think he's pretty typical.

Are you kidding? His father is a multi millionaire.

https://prabook.com/web/everett.kavanaugh/1365780

He grew up in my neighborhood at around the same time I did (I did not know him). It was a normal neighborhood of small lots and small houses. Some have been renovated since then but relatively few compared to other parts of Bethesda because they lots are so small. In those days B-CC was not very highly regarded so it was not at all unusual for kids in the neighborhood to go to private school (I did too). Anyway, I'm sure his parents are comfortable, but someone who grew up where I did is NOT a trust fund kid, or likely to have parents paying credit card bills in his 50s.

Anonymous wrote:Kavanaugh carried $200,000 in credit card debt for a decade, until his debts magically vanished in 2017. That debt, not including mortgage, tuition, country club fees, sometimes exceeded his annual household income. Its enough to disqualify and applicant for the FBI or CIA.

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.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I like Kavanaugh but there is something squirrelly about his finances, in my view. Why does someone at his point in life only have $950K net worth?

Perhaps because, as a federal judge, he will have a pension of his full salary. I would probably feel better about just spending my money if I knew I'd get a full pension.

Well that quote aged badly. Are you sure he'll have a federal pension? His old judgeship? A law license?

This is why it's good to have some savings.

I disagree that the previous quote "aged badly." Even if Kavanaugh is not approved for the U.S. Supreme Court, he is still a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit. I don't believe anyone is suggesting that he resign from that position. Therefore, the earlier statement about his pension still stands. It's still a full pension for judges. The salary for his current position is a bit less than it would be on the U.S. Supreme Court.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I like Kavanaugh but there is something squirrelly about his finances, in my view. Why does someone at his point in life only have $950K net worth?

Perhaps because, as a federal judge, he will have a pension of his full salary. I would probably feel better about just spending my money if I knew I'd get a full pension.

Well that quote aged badly. Are you sure he'll have a federal pension? His old judgeship? A law license?

This is why it's good to have some savings.

I disagree that the previous quote "aged badly." Even if Kavanaugh is not approved for the U.S. Supreme Court, he is still a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit. I don't believe anyone is suggesting that he resign from that position. Therefore, the earlier statement about his pension still stands. It's still a full pension for judges. The salary for his current position is a bit less than it would be on the U.S. Supreme Court.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I like Kavanaugh but there is something squirrelly about his finances, in my view. Why does someone at his point in life only have $950K net worth?

Perhaps because, as a federal judge, he will have a pension of his full salary. I would probably feel better about just spending my money if I knew I'd get a full pension.

Well that quote aged badly. Are you sure he'll have a federal pension? His old judgeship? A law license?

This is why it's good to have some savings.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think he's more the norm than people would like to admit in DC. $300K income but house-poor with a $1.2 MM home in Chevy Chase and private school tuition. His parents were typical white-collar in CC as well. He likely had student loans that were paid off, so he didn't start saving for retirement until later (thus the $500K TSP). He has wealthy friends and a slight desire to keep up with the Joneses (see said house and the expensive baseball tickets). I think he's pretty typical.

Are you kidding? His father is a multi millionaire.

https://prabook.com/web/everett.kavanaugh/1365780

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I like Kavanaugh but there is something squirrelly about his finances, in my view. Why does someone at his point in life only have $950K net worth?

Perhaps because, as a federal judge, he will have a pension of his full salary. I would probably feel better about just spending my money if I knew I'd get a full pension.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What possible relevance can his finances be of any imortance? Totally ridiculous shallow question.

Finances are considered relevant for highly sensitive and powerful positions. High levels of debt or debt mysteriously disappearing could be red flags and so need to be fully explained. Similarly very rich people who have lots of business entanglements also have to satisfy concerns that their personal financial interests will not conflict with the public interest.
Financial disclosure rules, the emoluments clause etc. are really important in ensuring we remain a representative democracy and don't become a kleptocracy.

Anonymous wrote:What possible relevance can his finances be of any imortance? Totally ridiculous shallow question.