In defending his ownership of three homes during Wednesday’s Democratic presidential debate, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) listed each and the justification for buying it.
One is in Washington, D.C., where he works much of the year. A second is in Burlington, where he served nearly a decade as mayor.
“And like thousands of other Vermonters, I do have a summer camp,” Sanders said, referring to the $575,000 lakefront home in North Hero he purchased in 2016. “Forgive me for that.”
So is Sanders right? Do thousands of Vermonters own summer camps?
First, one must consider that the word “camp” can be interpreted a few ways in the Green Mountain State. Some consider it a descriptor for a primitive structure, such as a deer camp for hunting season. Others — and Sanders appears to be among this contingent — use it to refer to a seasonal home. Indeed, property listings do describe Sanders’ North Hero house as seasonal, despite its price tag.
Data show that Vermont has 17,000 seasonal homes that the owners don’t use as a primary residence. Of those, nearly 8,000 were owned by people or companies who provided the tax department a Vermont mailing address, Farnham said.
He warned, though, that analyzing the data in terms of Vermont mailing addresses could lead to “inappropriate conclusions.” Some addresses, for instance, could be duplicates, as in the case of a company that owns multiple seasonal cabins that it rents out. And homeowners, including someone like Sanders, could use a mailing address outside Vermont — yet still be a Vermont resident.
Translation: Sanders wasn’t wrong that thousands of Vermonters own summer camps.
“I think his statement was broad but fair,” Farnham said. “But exactly how many thousands is not something we’d be able to determine.”
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But, how many “camps” are a private island on Lake Champlain? This is a privilege of the millionaire class, not the typical “camp” on Lake Iroquois or something similar.
Not a good look, Comrade Bernie.
4MERVTER, so now that he’s earned some money, he should change his politics to stick it to the poor? He supports policies that help poor people, he hasn’t taken a vow of poverty.
@ 4mervter :The house is not on a private island, if it helps.
A half million dollar camp doesn’t exactly sound like a camp. Not a very well phrased explanation.
“‘Like thousands of other Vermonters, I do have a summer camp,” Sanders said.”
“Like” is improper grammar. The proper construction is “as do.” (What he is trying to say is, “I am like other Vermonters.”)
But that is a false claim. He is not a Vermonter. He is a New Yorker.
(As the old expression goes, “just because a cat has her kittens in the oven does not mean they are biscuits.”)
Technically correct!
Now, Bernie, how many people working at one of these corporations you hate have a second home?
How’d you pull off this feat working for the people as a public servant?
I live in Addison County near scores of summer camps on the lake. Over the last fifteen years they’ve doubled and tripled in value, now being worth more than their owner’s full time residences. Any attempt to make this sound nefarious is merely an excuse by those making the charge to make the camp’s owners look bad, and is a deceitful use of the facts. These camps are not some “privilege of the millionaire class,” but the sort of things that many regular Vermonters own. To make it seem otherwise is both disingenuous and dirty pool, saying more about the person making the charge than anyone who happens to own one.
“nobody needs two homes when children are starving”
Talk about hard-hitting journalism! Am I reading the Freeps?! Oh, and the comments criticizing Bernie? As always, very insightful and not whiny at all!
I’m certainly not a Bernie acolyte and recognize the policies he proposes would be a disaster for any modern day society, as has been amply evidenced over the years, however the headline here is misleading. A summer camp and a second home are two completely different things, and even Bernie knows it and that is why he used the misleading term ‘camp’.
His “$575,000 lakefront home in North Hero” is no summer camp, despite the fact that a man of his wealth may only use it in the summer. Bernie is not a Vermonter, he is a carpetbagger from New York, who has used the easily manipulated liberals who have transplanted to Vermont to further his own political career. Bernie, just like Howard Dean who followed him, recognized the easy path to public office Vermont’s liberal flatlander’s have provided him.
Fortunately, while he has taken over and practically killed the Democratic party, we won’t have to worry about him occupying the Oval Office, because Americans are smarter than that.
He and Lady Jane have never accounted for where the half million for his third home came from. First they claimed it was from the sale of a property in Maine. But then after some pretty basic math showing her share of that sale was less than a third the cost they switched to the “we don’t have to tell you” line. And nary a mention of her shady Olde Towne “media consulting” business run out of her friend’s home in suburban VA.
Based on her prior work hooking up her daughter’s failing woodworking school with lucrative Burlington College contracts (RIP) and steering other college boondoggles to her former cohort Leupold’s resort in the Caribbean, should we be surprised they’re right back at it; figuring out how to “redistribute” as much wealth as possible right into their own pockets.
Is it considered a summer home if the occupants cannot afford the price of heat in the winter? That might be more common.
True. Thousands own a “camp”, but not all “camps” in rural Vermont are created equal, most are quite small and often uninsulated. The average owner-occupied, single family home in Grand Isle sold for roughly $260,000 in 2019 (according to the MLS) and didn’t feature a lakeside location or dock access.
Basically Bernie is the guy now that Bernie was actively protesting against at City Hall Park in 2010/2011, the “1 Percenters”. Hilarious.
$550,000 gets you something like this https://www.hickokandboardman.com/real-estate/grand-isle/6-8-sandy-cove/4745887.html. Not something that “thousands” of Vermonters own as a primary residence, let alone as a secondary residence or third residence. His assets put him in the top 0.2% of all Vermonters and income well inside the top 1% as well.
Yes, Bernie’s a successful person. Yes, houses cost half a million dollars now. He could afford it because he wrote a best-selling book. It doesn’t invalidate him as a person speaking up for those people who are less fortunate.
Why not look at all the millionaires in Vermont who don’t crusade for equality? There are hundreds – somewhere between 200 and 600. Being jealous of folks who have more money than you do is not proof that they are selfish.
If you wanted to make sure that everyone had the same amount of money, it would make you a socialist. [No private property; it all belongs to “the people.”] He’s not a socialist.
He Did Not Say ‘Summer Homes’ HE SAID SUMMER CAMPS! The Average Vermonter Does Not Own a $600,000 Summer ‘CAMP’! What a hypocrite!~
Just to be clear, if under 7000 Vermonters have this second “camp”, they’d be in the one percent of Vermonters who do.
Bernie, you know this was an admittance of your one percent status, right?
I guess all this about Bernie actually being in the one percent makes him a traitor to his class, just like the greatest president of the twentieth century, FDR. The twenty-first century awaits…
Yes, he’s in the one percent. Since he cares about poor people, why would that disqualify him from being a good choice? Do people think you can run for President without using millions of dollars? You can’t. Why do these comments consistently taunt Bernie for silly things? What would you do in his situation?
He is just another Eastern Elitist that thinks he is smarter than everyone else and therefore should have a bigger slice. If he were truly concerned for the poor, he could have used his excess to help those in need. Actions always show the true nature of a person.
To Ken;
Dude, if he gives money away it wouldn’t do nearly as much good as it will if he becomes President. Relax – be angry at all the hundreds of VT millionaires who aren’t doing anything to help the poor.
Someone here clearly doesn*t understand the difference between campaign money and personal money. The Dear Hypocrite totally could spend his personal millions on charity (instead of a 3rd home) without in any way affecting his presidential campaign.
And how do you know that there are “hundreds” of VT millionaires who aren*t doing anything to help the poor? Have you looked at their tax returns? Many of them probably give more to charity every year than Bernie ever has.
Hey Dr. Know,
I hope you speak from personal experience. You know what you’re talking about, don’t you?
1. At least I understand the difference between campaign money and personal money.
2. You didn’t answer the question how you know that there are *hundreds of VT millionaires who aren*t doing anything to help the poor.*
How do you know? Do you have personal information that there are HUNDREDS of VT millionaires whose tax returns show that they give absolutely nothing to charity?
By the way, unlike you, I don’t know how many VT millionaires there are, but I know that one of them is Bernie. How much did he give to charity? And how does that compare to the other VT *millionaires* that you seem to know about?