McCain Sold His Position on the Bermuda Tax Loophole for $50,000

Last updated on July 18th, 2023 at 11:16 am

Today, VP candidate Joe Biden accused McCain of changing his position on the Bermuda tax loophole for $50,000 in campaign contributions. On the floor of the US Senate, McCain spoke out against the Bermuda tax loophole, but he also went to Bermuda and promised to protect the $4-7 billion a year tax loophole.

“I want to give you one example that recently that came to our attention. Take the example of the most notorious tax loophole that exists in our law today. It’s this offshore deal – the Bermuda insurance loophole. Now what happens here is that big insurance companies say their headquarters are in Bermuda when in fact they’re in the United States of America, but by doing that they are able under the law to send the money that they earn in America off shore to Bermuda where they don’t pay any taxes on it. Now by the way folks this is no small loop hole these companies are evading between 4 and 7 billion dollars a year in tax liability. 4 to 7. They’re skipping out on billions of dollars of taxes. That money could be going to insure our children who lack health care, to make sure that our veterans as they come back to the VA that the VA is not underfunded, to rebuilding bridges that are crumbling around the nation – rebuilding our infrastructure,” Biden said.

He said that although McCain spoke out against the loophole in the Senate, he promised business leaders that he would protect it, “On the floor of the United States Senate, John spoke out against these offshore tax breaks not long ago. Then while he was in Bermuda, according to the Bermuda World Gazette the newspaper, he started singing a very, very different tune. He told local business leaders with whom he meet – covered by the paper- that he would oppose any efforts to close this loophole that exists allowing insurance companies to evade 4 to 7 billion dollars in taxes a year. And now, now we learn that shortly after he made these statements to these leaders and executives from those very companies. They held a fundraiser and contributed $50,000 to his campaign.”

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Biden said that McCain should put America first,”You know folks, maybe John should be asking those companies that he promised not close this loophole for – maybe he should be asking those companies to put America first.”This is the problem with promoting the image of McCain as a reformer who cares about the common man. Biden pointed out what most people already know. McCain’s words and actions rarely match up. McCain has no principles that aren’t for sale. He sold his position on the Bermuda tax loophole for $50,000. This is the type of leadership that we can expect from a President McCain.

Jason Easley

Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.

Awards and  Professional Memberships

Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association