Of course, some of the rich may have pulled a John Kerry, one of the supercommittee members, and bought their yachts overseas, as the senior senator from Massachusetts did not long ago in order to avoid paying state taxes.

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For more than a decade Congress has obsessed over the fact that a handful of rich folks, including fund operator John Templeton, Kenneth Dart of Dart Container and Campbell soup heir John Dorrance III were able to escape U.S. income and estate taxes by renouncing their citizenship.

FORBES: Congress makes another grab at expats' money.

Presidential candidate John Edwards made a swing through California recently and told his audience he wants to raise taxes on "rich" earners.

FORBES: Is America Governable?

John Edwards dares to stand in the gap between rich and poor, black and white, urban and rural, a vision of a new America.

CNN: Jackson: Candidates 'represent hope and healing'