Thanks for jogging my memory on something related....
When Vito went into hiding in New Hampshire, Tony was lamenting to Melfi about how Vito was a great earner and helped out tremendously when Tony was in the hospital. Melfi called BS on it and told Tony he had implied earlier that he had "millions of dollars" and questioned how the hospital stay could have cost so much. Tony stammered around some excuse, but the veneer was certainly off.
Yes indeed, we are in season 6 here:
Tony at this point:
- Lost his biggest earners: Vito and Ralphie
- Drained from the Separation from Carm (ie Spec House and paying her monthly expenses)
- The Tony B. situation certainly caused cash flow problems between them and NY
Captain of the Goodship Lollipop or not, Tony seriously considered bringing Vito back remotely to work out of AC and get that nice residual to keep up with the lifestyle.
That's another thing, how much and how long do the widows and spouses of these guys get taken care of financially? They obviously can't leave a will that says "Look in the birdfeeder for inheritance" as the Feds can probably seize it. Being in jail or dead obviously cuts into your earning power.
