House GOP leader Kevin McCarthy apparently pays $1,500 to live in a 12-bedroom, 16-bath penthouse

[marble falls]

House GOP leader Kevin McCarthy apparently pays $1,500 to live in a 12-bedroom, 16-bath penthouse

https://news.yahoo.com/house-gop-leader-kevin-mccarthy-124216435.html

Peter Weber
Thu, May 6, 2021, 7:42 AM·2 min read

Tucker Carlson was right: House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) is living in the Washington, D.C., penthouse of Republican pollster and messaging maven Frank Luntz, and it does sound like a pretty sweet deal. Carlson was tipped off to the roommate arrangement, and McCarthy confirmed it Tuesday, telling Fox & Friends he has "rented a room from Frank for a couple of months, but don't worry, I'm back to — going back to where I normally am, on my couch in my office. But, yes, we pay fair market rate"

Washington Post fact-checker Glenn Kessler looked into Luntz's apartment, and it's actually a 7,000-square-foot, 12-bedroom, 16-bathroom amalgamation of 4 three-story penthouses Luntz purchased for nearly $4.3 million in August and September 2018 and merged in November 2019. The homeowner's association fees on the four units is $4,976 a month, Kessler calculates, citing Redfin.

Neither McCarthy nor Luntz responded to the Post's request for comment, but a McCarthy spokesman told the Daily Wire the minority leader "calculated the fair market value amount at $1,500/month" to rent an "approximately" 400-square-foot room in Luntz's penthouse. Kessler's Apartments.com search found that a comparable studio or one-bedroom would run about $5,000 a month. Regardless, he writes, "besides the 'room' he rented, McCarthy would have had access to a 24/7 concierge, a rooftop pool, a fitness center, a media room, a business center, and a party room with a bar and pool table."

"This is quite a deal, especially considering that Luntz has talked about how he's on the road all the time," Politico muses. "Imagine paying $1,500 a month for what is essentially a mansion carved into a high-rise? It's good to be the minority leader!"

-snip-

[Under The Radar]

1. $1,500 a month will not pay the utility bill on 7000 square feet

[jimfields33]

2. It says for a couple months.

Waiting on his own place? I’m actually surprised he had to pay anything since it was so short. If I had a friend who needed to stay at my home for a short time of two months, I wouldn’t charge at all.

[marble falls]

4. Bidness as usual.

[jimfields33]

6. I agree. Most don't charge people to stay at their home for a short time.

In fact, many need a place to stay if they are homeless and they are not charged.

[Totally Tunsie]

8. It's probably a "CYA" move, designed to cut short

all the speculation of how beholden he might be, and what is Luntz getting in return. This way they can say "fair market value, tit for tat; it's all about reciprocity."

If he were staying there for free, he'd be open to even more criticism.

[Kingofalldems]

11. Did you forget that he is probably lying?

[BobTheSubgenius]

22. No one I know would make a friend pay "rent."

That being said, I once did. He gave me $300 a month, and that was all-in, except for the use of my car. He had a decent income, being on Worker's Comp from a good union job, so I didn't feel too bad about it.

[Lancero]

24. I don't charge rent, but I do charge a HVAC control fee.

It's a easy solution to arguing over what temperature it should be set at. As long as they don't want anything below 65, because thats when my hands start locking up.

[BobTheSubgenius]

26. That is more than reasonable. Any colder than that isn't that comfortable anyway.

A friend of mine once acquired a 3-ton (don't know what that means) heat pump that wasn't adequate for this commercial building, so when he put in a newer, larger unit they told him to scrap the old one. He installed it in his house, where it was massive overkill. On a HOT July day, you could just about see your breath after 10 minutes of that thing being on. That "luxury" was soon abated after their first utility bill.

The friend I had move in for some months offered to pay by one day just putting $300 in my hand. That became the de facto amount. I was a single father with a small private income and couldn't add a 6'2" construction worker to my food budget. If I could have, I would have.

[Progressive Jones]

3. He downsized, to make a quick escape easier. nt

[JI7]

5. If he just rented a room while other rooms were also rented out

Its probably not much of an issue.

But if he was renting out that entire place for himself that's different.

[Bettie]

7. Average 3 bedroom in Cedar Rapids IA

is 1400 a month. I don't think it would have 12 bathrooms.

Maybe we should move to DC, sounds like living is cheap there! (Sarcasm, obviously, McCarthy is a crook)

[mahina]

9. And the alternative is sleeping on his sofa for free

In our House?

Poor thing!
/sarc

Cretin.

[Me.]

10. And Tucker Carlson & Marjorie Green Are Making Hay Out Of This

by suggesting they are lovers and share a toothbrush.

https://www.politicususa.com/2021/05/05/conspiracy-theorists-taylor-greene-and-carlson-push-idea-that-kevin-mccarthy-and-frank-luntz-are-lovers.html

[marble falls]

29. They packed a lot of hate speech in that nasty little crack.

[Me.]

32. They Certainly Did

Some are positing that they are doing their best to get rid of McCarthy

[Useless in FL]

12. Wow. How fortunate for him!

I pay $1200 for a 980 SF rental with 1 bedroom and 1 bath, kitchenette in a private home. I'm lucky because most rentals here are infrequent and even fewer accept pets. I have 6 pets, all rescues, 3 dogs and 3 cats. Nobody wants to rent property to people who have pets.

[Indykatie]

17. Many Landlords are Good on Pets But Not 6 in the Same Apartment .

[Hekate]

13. The Man from Bakersfield is doing well, I see

[Mike Nelson]

14. Hmm...

... Frank and Kevin should see their doctors, if they need that many bathrooms!

[FakeNoose]

30. It's 4 condos purchased and rolled into one

Frank Luntz probably took over the whole top floor of his building by buying out his neighbors' places. You know that people this rich often have a live-in maid or waitstaff, so that explains the need for extra bathrooms.

This spotlights the huge freebee that Kevin McCarthy receives from a Washington insider, without having to declare it on any income statement. He's dirty and compromised, he needs to go.

[Demovictory9]

15. shady

[Indykatie]

16. Luntz is a Single Never Been Married 59 Year Old Guy - Why Does He Need a 7000 SF Penthouse Pad?

12 Bedrooms and 16 Baths? That's obscene even by Hollywood standards.

[marble falls]

18. To help out itinerant GOP elected officials in leadership positions keep from homelessness.

[southerncrone]

23. My thoughts exactly.

Perhaps to house "foreign visitors" or to throw lavish, private "parties".

"Temporary roommates", huh...

[TheRickles]

19. Is this leak the (start of the) revenge of the Cheney's?

[Marcuse]

20. Does he rent to Gaetz too?

[lastlib]

21. I guess they need 16 bathrooms because the GQP is so dirty?

Or so full of shite. (full of trump, as we say at my house....)

[TheBlackAdder]

25. Or because they're that full of shit.

[Blue Owl]

27. No conflict of interest there

[Champp]

28. special lowball republican "discount" smells

quid pro quo is another stinking republican "value"

[FakeNoose]

31. McCarthy is dirty, he's compromised, he has to go

This is a huge freebee from a Washington insider, and McCarthy doesn't have to declare it on any income statement or campaign funding report.