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Sanders cracks $1 million mark in income


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Bernie Sanders

Sen. Bernie Sanders speaks at the Statehouse in 2016. File photo by Erin Mansfield/VTDigger

U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., made more than $1 million in 2016, a sharp increase for the democratic socialist, who has historically been one of the poorer members of Congress.

The financial details, provided by Sanders in his annual Senate disclosure, dwarf his net income in previous years and show how his newfound political stature has translated into dollars and cents. In publicly available Senate reports going back to 2012, Sanders never cracked $1 million made in a year.

The vast majority of Sanders’ 2016 earnings came from payments for his book “Our Revolution.” St. Martin’s Press gave Sanders a $795,000 advance for the writing of his political guidebook, which debuted at No. 3 on the New York Times best-seller list.

Sanders also received $63,750 for “Bernie Sanders’ Guide to Political Revolution,” a forthcoming children’s book written with Kate Waters. For years, Sanders has taken relatively small royalty checks for his 1997 memoir “Outsider in the House,” which he co-wrote with longtime adviser Huck Gutman. In 2016 Sanders got $6,735 in royalties for the book.

He also took in $2,521 in royalties for his 1987 folk album “We Shall Overcome,” which went viral during his 2016 presidential bid.

Sanders’ total 2016 haul from music and publishing — $868,006 — plus his annual Senate salary of $174,000 pushes his 2016 earnings to just over $1.04 million.

Sanders — who served as Burlington’s mayor from 1981 to 1989 — also took in $5,086 in pension payments from the city.

The senator reported no gifts during 2016.

Bernie Sanders

Bernie Sanders’ book “Our Revolution.” File photo by Kevin O’Connor/VTDigger

His book publisher paid for Jane and Bernie Sanders to travel cross-country to promote “Our Revolution.” Sanders traveled everywhere from Portland, Maine, to San Francisco to promote his book and make speeches, all of which was covered by St. Martin’s Press, according to the 2016 disclosure.

Senate disclosure reports do not require exhaustive financial records from a member’s spouse, but a few of Jane Sanders’ financial details are provided.

A retirement plan is listed, but no financial details are attached.

The disclosure details more than 30 mutual fund investments in the name of Jane Sanders. Because disclosure guidelines require only broad estimates of a fund’s worth, it’s impossible to know exactly how much the funds are worth in total, but they range somewhere between $192,000 and $815,000.

Since his 2015 report, Sanders appears to have paid down some of his financial liabilities.

Sanders’ 2015 disclosure reported between $15,001 and $50,000 in credit card debt, but that is not listed in 2016.

Both the 2015 and 2016 reports detail two mortgages held by Sanders, but one has been reclassified to a lower financial bracket in 2016. A Quicken Loan mortgage was worth between $250,001 and $500,000 in 2015, but Sanders reports owing between $100,001 and $250,000 on the mortgage in 2016.

Sanders has shielded from the public the financial details of his family’s purchase of a lakeside home in North Hero in August. Sanders set up the Islands Family Trust, explaining in his disclosure that he is “a co-trustee in a family trust created when we bought a summer home.”

When the family purchased the home, Jane Sanders said it was done with proceeds from a Maine property her family owned. She also said proceeds from Sanders’ book and her retirement account were used to pay for the Champlain Islands home.

Bernie Sanders

Bernie and Jane Sanders’ home in North Hero. MLS photo

She had been a part-owner of the property in Maine, and property transfer documents obtained by VTDigger showed she sold her stake for $150,000.

The home in North Hero was purchased for $575,000, and no mortgage was taken out.

Bernie Sanders donated to charity $4,050 he made for appearances and speeches, though the specific charity isn’t disclosed. The amount includes a total of $2,550 for three appearances on the HBO show “Real Time with Bill Maher,” plus $500 for appearing on Conan O’Brien’s late night talk show. He also took in, and donated, $1,000 for a speech at the Climate Change Leadership Institute in Santa Fe.

Sanders’ 2016 disclosure, filed Sunday afternoon, came after the Vermont senator missed the initial May 15 deadline to file and received an extension. (U.S. Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., met the May 15 deadline, and his financial details are available here.)

Sanders has shown an aversion to sharing personal financial information.

During his presidential run, he bypassed two filing deadlines for his 2015 Senate financial report. The report posted in early June 2016, after VTDigger requested documents from staffers.

Sanders’ presidential campaign also never filed required financial disclosures with the Federal Election Commission. The campaign requested — and was granted — three 45-day extensions from the FEC, effectively running out the clock until he ended his campaign and was no longer required to file documents.

According to a report from the Center for Public Integrity, “Sanders expertly exploited a system that effectively allowed him to delay, delay, delay — all while he chided (Hillary) Clinton receipt of six-figure paydays for delivering closed-door speeches to officials at investment bank Goldman Sachs and other powerful special interests.”

(Both Clinton and then-candidate Donald Trump filed the required presidential financial disclosures in May 2016 without asking for extensions.)

In the end, Sanders provided little financial information in his campaign for president, releasing only a partial tax return from 2014.

https://vtdigger.org/2017/06/05/sanders-cracks-1-million-mark-income/

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  • Platinum Contributing Member

Got to thank Sanders for driving the DNC into a frightened frenzy that helped cause Clinton to lose the election.   Thanks Bernie.  :bc:

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  • Platinum Contributing Member
4 minutes ago, Kivalo said:

He still sold out his integrity to Hillary Clinton. 

To Hillary of all people who went on to lose to Trump of all people. Crazy how that part of the circus turned out 

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12 minutes ago, hayward said:

I'd like to know what bank loaned Bhent7f  $63,750?  :news:

:lol: bent has a good life insurance plan he uses as collateral...

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6 minutes ago, Zambroski said:

What insurance company in their right mind is insuring his ass?!?!?

for sure a non-profit company, which would be the first i've ever heard of in the insurance business....

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6 hours ago, Mainecat said:

Good for him.

 "St. Martin’s Press gave Sanders a $795,000 advance for the writing of his political guidebook".  He wrote a fucking political guidebook....read as "he got paid $800K on how to throw the election"

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Broke a million and just happened to start a non-profit around the same time.....HMMMMM.   Seems to me he just started doing like all the other wealthy, profitable politicians are doing.  Screwing the taxpayers.

Edited by racer254
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  • Platinum Contributing Member

Reality is running for POTUS is extremely hard work especially in the manner Sanders went about it.  If he makes some coin telling the story of the campaign then more power to him.   Doesn't change my thoughts of him as a sellout but good for him for legally cashing in on his hard work.   Now give the govt half. :lol: 

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  • Trying to pay the bills, lol

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