Romney To Quadruple Size Of $12 Million California Home |

[deminks]

http://thinkprogress.org/politics/2011/08/21/300363/romney-to-quadruple-size-of-12-million-california-home/

Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney (R), who in June told voters that he was “also unemployed,” has applied for a permit to bulldoze his 3,000-square-foot, $12 million home in La Jolla, California, and replace it with one nearly four times its size. According to the San Diego Union-Tribune, the new home will be two stories and more than 11,000 square feet. Romney also owns a $10 million estate in New Hampshire. His campaign declined to comment on the renovation plans.

Update: Romney tells Politico that the existing $12M mansion is “inadequate for their needs.”

(end snip)

And this man is gonna tell us how to live under austerity? This man is gonna tell me to work until I die, if I can find a job?

[elleng]

1. Hey, they've got a big family, including dogs!!!

[CrispyQ]

3. Will they build a dog house on top of the house?

What a disgraceful display of excess.

[left on green only]

10. Yes, And I Understand That His Treatment Of Animals In The Past

has been somewhat less than humane. www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all...

[begin_within]

14. That link doesn't work

[left on green only]

16. New Link

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=439x1782078

[Skink]

2. He's turning it into a soup kitchen.

[BNJMN]

4. 'Corporations are people'

It pays to lick the corporate boot. Apparently.
But only at the cost of your immortal soul.

[gateley]

5. Surreal. nt

[MindPilot]

6. A rich person spending their money...why do you have a problem with that?

Carpenters, plumbers, architects, landscapers, cement finishers, painters, roofers, electricians, etc, etc will all have a job for the next few months.

The permitting fees alone will bring tens of thousands--if not more--directly to city coffers and then there is the increased property tax.

[Earth_First]

7. Yep! Projects of this scale keep me employed, my bills paid, family fed...

I don't give a shit what they spend it on.

[geckosfeet]

9. You say that so convincingly, like you really believe it...

[MindPilot]

11. You think elves are going to come in the night and POOF! make a house?

Or maybe ol' Mitt is pretty good with a hammer and saw so he'll be getting together with some neighbor for an old-fashioned mansion-raising.

[femrap]

15. Why do I think

he'll use labor that is paid under the table???? And surely he knows people in the gov't whose palms he can grease to get a deduction in fees. This is how the RICH work. They're above 'being fee'd' That's for 'regular' folks.

11,000 sq. ft. is just too ostentatious. It's disgusting.

[MindPilot]

19. Because Mitt in all likelihood will not be hiring anyone

He will commission a construction firm to do the job. Yes, in some cases helpers of subs of subs may be under the table but the vast majority of workers will be regular guys working for regular companies and, yes, even union members.

He will also probably get some "consideration" on the fees, but this is a town that has become very sensitive to that sort of pandering by our city officials, so it is likely he will pay the same as everyone else.

Yes, in a perfect world, Mitt would see the need for sacrifice at the highest economic strata, and use his money to build a school or a homeless shelter, but that ain't happening. He is building a huge expensive grossly ostentatious house in a place where huge expensive grossly ostentatious houses are completely the norm.

It matters not one whit to the construction workers if they are building a school or a hospital, or just another huge expensive grossly ostentatious house; they still have a job.

If Mitt had more than two brain cells to rub together, he would be in front of that place in mid-construction saying "folks, this is what job creation looks like...people who have money spending it."


Edited to correct for the spell-checker's inability to check anything but spelling.

[geckosfeet]

25. Possibly. But the laborers that he hires will probably be paying a higher tax rate than he does.

If more people had jobs, and some faith that they would have them long term, (not just until the house is done) they would spend money. Imagine 10 or 20 or 100 people taking out loans and building or improving homes. That would employ many more people.

The problem, besides mitt being a blazing hypocrite, is that the government is NOT doing anything to create jobs and mitt is quite happy with that. Preaching austerity for the little people and low taxes for the wealthy.

[treestar]

23. That's true

But it still seems waste to pull a house down and build a new one. Can't he sell it and buy a bigger one?

[MindPilot]

29. The land is worth much more than anything sitting on it.

The project would be to add a second story, so in all likelihood, the existing structure simply wouldn't support that. It is also always a good thing to have a new structure built with the latest materials and techniques, energy-efficient up-to-date insulation, plumbing and electrical.

And in most cases the old houses are not wasted; they are trucked off the site sometimes completely whole and sold to recyclers.

[Raven]

8. Western White House? Dream on, Mitt. n/t

[UTUSN]

12. K&R #3 for, what *timing*!1 What a finger on the PULSE of U.S.!1 What judgment!1 n/t

[UTUSN]

17. & we thought Poppy BUSH was clueless for not knowing what a grocery checkout scanner was

or knowing the price of milk. The (current fad word: ) OPTICS of this for Mittens ain't good. The Country Club Rethugs will have nightmares of hordes of unwashed, shorts-wearing, koozied-can-bearing TeaBaggers storming their Club portals demanding to use the bar, commodes, and golf courses!1

[begin_within]

13. He can expect a battle, possibly even in court. La Jolla residents don't take things lightly.

La Jolla is a very uspcale neighborhood of San Diego, one of the most expensive places to live in California, very politically aware and active and willing to defend their interests; and the Barber Tract, where his house is, has a tight-knit neighborhood organization. I wouldn't be a bit surprised if they band together against this, and with their money, time and energy they could prevail over him. But you never know; on the other hand the San Diego city government is hopelessly corrupt and pro-business, so they might give in after some well-executed maneuvers. Probably he will eventually get the house built, but it could end up costing him much more than $12 million when all the bribes and lawyer's fees have been paid.

[Little Star]

18. Well the last I heard he was living in his son's unfinished basement

in Belmont, MA!

Forbes.com
Did Mitt Romney Live In His Son's Unfinished Basement Last Year?

Mitt Romney lived in his son’s unfinished basement in Belmont, Massachusetts in 2010 – or at least that what he claimed to the state to be able to vote last year, says GOP candidate Fred Karger.

If that’s true, Romney showed a true commitment to voting for Republican Senator Scott Brown in last year’s special election, since he owns a $12.5 million home in La Jolla, Calif. and a $10 million home in New Hampshire’s Lake Winnipesaukee – but no home in the state he was once governor.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/brendancoffey/2011/06/15/did-mitt-romney-live-in-his-sons-unfinished-basement-last-year/

He is a lying, cheating piece of crap! I don't give one wit how he spends his money though.

[Retrograde]

20. This guy IS weird

What is it about Romney that makes him keep sticking his feet in his mouth? In the current economy does he really think that this gesture makes him look like he's more out of touch with his potential voters? Or is this idea of trickle-down economics?

How did he get elected in Mass. anyway? Was Bozo the Clown on the other ticket?

[KamaAina]

21. He's John McCain with better hair.

:eyes:

Does he live in San Diego? Massachusetts? Utah? :shrug:

[yardwork]

22. That worked well for John Edwards. /nt

[Zywiec]

24. kick

[Zywiec]

26. Kick

[amborin]

27. he'll have to get a variance from the zoning regs

probably not too hard given the monstrous high rise right
near the beach that screams corruption

[fishwax]

28. how much was that John Edwards haircut that republicans were all up in arms about

:rofl: