Kerry's second family

[mastein]

Ok, As I look and see that Kerry has won Iowa and NH, I am to the point where regardless of my own opinion, I gotta think the guy is going to be giving an acceptance speech in Boston.

The thing that makes me very uncomfortable with him is that he is married to a Heinz Ketchup heiress and seems to be rather cozy with the folks on Wall Street, As evidence I put forth the fact he is the candidate with the greatest % of his donations from Wall street. Anyone have any evidence of just how cozy he is with them? I want objective information and not just rhetoric.

Thanks,

[displacedtexan]

1. I'll research Kerry-Heinz; you research Dean-Witter.

We'll meet back here when we're done. Okay?

[mastein]

2. Deal, will probably finish by COB tomorrow

[janx]

5. The Dean in Dean-Witter has nothing to do with Howard Dean's

family ties, except for the fact that his father worked for the firm. The names are coincidental.

[tjdee]

9. Dean's ties are in SMITH BARNEY.

His great granddad or his granddad was one of the founders of Smith Barney.

On edit--it was in the Newsweek article "Feeling Dean's Pain".

Herbert Hollingshead Dean was a founder of Smith Barney and Howard Dean was the fourth generation of his family to be an investment banker.

[progressivebydesign]

19. ..and he rejected the financial biz to help people as a doctor.

That is all I need to know. I don't hold it against people for having money, or being born with it. That sounds like jealousy to me. What I DO look for, is someone that has made great choices in their life, choices that help other people, choices that suit their own dreams, and not relying on simply having money. That's what I like about Howard Dean.

[mopinko]

24. and is a cheapskate

raised in wealth, is a doctor, and duct tapes his shoes. i dunno, that just shows to me a man who has character. he could just be sittin' back, having the chauffer take the boy to the hockey game, sucking up the family dough. he's his own person.

[progressivebydesign]

30. Exactly.. n/t

[tjdee]

10. Psst. Smith Barney not Dean Witter. nt

[bearfartinthewoods]

40. don't forget the forbes connection

cousin stuart forbes to be exact.

[blm]

3. He's been working with Clinton's former economic team for over a year.

They helped him draft his tax plan and health plan to make sure both work.

They have confidence that he can rebuild the economy fairly. He plans to sink alot of money into infrastructure projects, putting as many plumbers, electricians, construction crews and environmentalists and their projects to work within the first 100 days.

[mastein]

4. Not what I was asking

Econ. plans are one thing, what I am talking about is what and how he is known on wall street.

[blm]

29. He's known as the guy who uncovered money-laundering and

more govt. corruption than any other lawmaker in modern history.

Kerry was ostracized by most of Washington for his dogged investigations.
>>>>>
Kerry and the Iran-Contra Fight
Before the conventional wisdom sets in on Kerry as some kind of careful pol with no bite, folks should reach back and remember his role back in the 1980s in challenging the whole Reagan administration ties to money laundering, drug running and the Contras down in Central America. Kerry was willing for years to face down the CIA, the Justice Department and narco-terrorists in pursuing the dirty dealings of the Reagan-North network of rightwing drug-linked paramilitaries.

http://www.nathannewman.org/log/archives/000945.shtml

The point about Clinton's economic team is that they were meeting in NY on Wall St. for a year coming up with his plans. I don't doubt that many there felt confident in the plans that emerged. Robert Rubin carries alot of weight on Wall St.

[hlthe2b]

6. Sounds a lot like FDR's civilian conservation corps (CCC)

interesting, though and much preferred to recruiting more "workers" to go to yet another war!

[library_max]

7. A nominee who is hostile to Wall Street

might not be good for the economy and therefore not good for the country. And such a candidate would probably be a dead duck on Election Day anyway. This isn't the election to run against capitalism (if indeed there is going to be such an election in the foreseeable future).

[Tansy_Gold]

48. Wall Street is NOT the economy.

Repeat --

Wall Street is NOT the economy.

Thank you.

eom

tansy gold

[molly]

8. Married to Teresa - this is a HUGE plus!

she is a supporter of numerous humanitarian causes - including the environment. Here you go....

"Teresa Heinz Kerry brings an extraordinary range of experience and talent to the campaign trail for her husband. She has been deeply involved with a number of issues that are equally important to her husband, including the environment, children, women's issues, and health care and wellness. She has been an outspoken advocate for human rights, and a strong supporter of the arts."

http://www.johnkerry.com/about_teresa/

[Dark Star]

15. Molly,

no disrespect, because I love reading a lot of your posts, but Teresa was a good repuke married to a repuke politico for yeeeeeears. I've seen other candidates and spouses and endorsers get viciously attacked just for that.

[tigereye]

18. couldn't resist since I am from Pittsburgh

where Heinz is based. Yes, she was a Republican. Her husband was a moderate, much more moderate than Slick Rick Santorum ( of course that is easy), who was voted into Heinz old Senate seat, unfortunately. She has lambasted Santorum on numerous occasions, and did have quite 'progressive' politics for a Rep. There are still a few moderate Rep women here, but many of them are bailing to the Dems, understandably.

So you might want to think of her as another Moderate Rep ( my husband says this is a misnomer, but I disagree) who has come to her senses and joined the Dems.

[Dark Star]

20. Good point!

The parties have blurred.

We have to win in 2004 because I don't know if we can survive 4 more Bush years.

However, after that, we really need to rethink the whole party structure. Perhaps having Liberal; Labor; Moderate; Conservative; Libertarian; Green instead of repukes who can be more left than some dems and dems who can be more right than some repukes.

I'm sure everyone realizes how the 2-party system causes these party-line votes that are insane and reflect only how the 2 parties order their members to vote. I want that finished!

[tigereye]

22. kind of wish we had more options, period

I have lately wished we had a parliamentary-type system, where all of those different views could have more of a say!

[molly]

11. Corporate ties you say?

Howard Dean is fond of criticizing politicians who provide tax breaks to "large corporate interests," and one of his favorite campaign lines is a blast at the Bush administration for doling out tax cuts to top executives of Enron Corp.

But during Dean's 11 years as Vermont governor, he enacted tax breaks that attracted to the state a "Who's Who" of corporate America -- including Enron -- to set up insurance businesses. Indeed, Dean said in 2001 that he wanted Vermont to "overtake Bermuda" as the "world's largest" haven for a segment of the insurance industry known as "captives," which refers to firms that help insure their parent companies.

With little notice then -- and barely any mention now in the Democratic presidential campaign -- Dean succeeded in turning Vermont into the kingdom of captives. Vermont has more of these companies than the other 49 states combined. As part of the enticement, Dean led efforts to cut state taxes of such companies, and he helped defeat a Clinton administration effort that would have eliminated $100 million worth of federal tax deductions given to the industry.

http://www.boston.com/news/politics/president/dean/articles/2003/12/12/for_dean_captive_insurance_a_vt_boon/

[KC21304]

12. I have a feeling this thread was not to compare Kerry to Dean. It was to

trash the front runner in the Democratic party, if you know what I mean. There are many, many similiar today.

[onehandle]

14. Oh, come now...

If we don't stick to our communist roots, how will we ever get a Democrat into the White House?

Be fair!

:+

[Dark Star]

16. You know what's really weird?

Every other thread I've run across in this forum this morning has been either to bash Kerry (frontrunner) or Lieberman (loser) - this is just plain bizarre!

[progressivebydesign]

21. It's called the front-runner malady. Dean had a case of it earlier n/t

[Dark Star]

26. Actually,

the front-runner bashing is more understandable to me than the kicking the horse after it's dead (not just down!). The vitriol levelled at Lieberman seems out of whack. :shrug:

[progressivebydesign]

28. Joe has been treated badly... not by the press..

.. but mostly by DUers. I am not his supporter, though I do have empathy for him. I reject some of the all good or all evil attitudes here on DU. He obviously had hopes, and those of his family, friends, and supporters, that he could be a serious contender for President. I feel badly for them, it has to be painful.. especially to see him ridiculed, for really no other reason than.. what? Appearance? Charimsa? I'm not sure when it happened, but America bought into a Madison Avenue ideal of what President should look like. It cheats us of good candidates.

[KC21304]

37. Wise words, Caliphoto.

[molly]

38. I think I know, but I can't say.......

[ieoeja]

39. I think it has more to do with what he has done ...

... than in how he looks.


He sided with Republicans during the impeachment farce. I know REPUBLICANS who switched Democrat because of that nonsense, yet you expect us to support him?

There is his penchant for competing with Bush to see who can invoke the Lord's name more often during a speech that is supposed to be political rather than religious.

And, of course, he is one of the diminishing number in this country who believe we should be in Iraq.

[onehandle]

13. What a surprise!...

A politician has ties to rich people and big business.

This must be a first!

[redqueen]

17. *psssssst*

Kucinich

:)

[mastein]

23. Thank you

all for the insights and facts. To answer the motivation questions posed by a previous post: no, I am not trying to bash anyone. My question is more along the lines of "Is Kerry going to give preferential treatment to larger more entrenched firms over smaller ones?"

I agree that we need a strong economy to keep the economy functioning and dollars moving through the system, and the relationship between government and industry will always be a push-pull on just about every subject where regulation of work and commerce occurs.

However, the last time I looked small employers still employ more than half of all of those with jobs. I don't want us nominating someone who is too cozy with Wall Street. After all wasn't a Houston based utility, who was a darling of the street the largest donor to Shrub 00? We need to strike a middle-ground.

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

25. Hate to break it to you, but Americans are more invested in Wall Street

than ever. If a president is not somewhat friendly to Wall street (one CAN be friendly but firm) there will be a lot more suffering.

[spooky3]

31. I agree. Can we get to a place where "corporations"

are not seen as uniformly bad or good, any more than people are? When corps or their leaders behave unethically, including exercising undue influence on our representatives, I condemn that. But there are huge differences in the quality of people running companies.

[bigtree]

27. Ask an objective question that doesn't rely on snarky innuendo

and half-truths. Can you ask a question about John Kerry with out the insults? Go on now. You can do it.

[mastein]

32. Snarky, INSULTS?

C'mon, Go back and look at my posts on just about every other topic, you will see I am clearly on topic and am rather reasonable, thus I take great exception to your comments. Further I believe they go against rules 3 and 4 for this forum.

Be that as it may I will still respond and try to keep the discourse civil and reasoned.

I am skeptical of someone who is married to an ultra-rich socialite. What I hoped to do with this string was to find out the character and nature of Mr. Kerry's relationships with Wall Street firms, beyond Heinz, who to be blunt, he is in bed with, literally. As I and others have brought up, yes a president must be pro jobs and for a solid economy, but we have a right and responsibility as citizens to know who else he is close and or beholden both financially and personally.

[sangh0]

33. How do you feel about Clinton?

Clinton was as close to Wall St as one could get.

[mastein]

35. Clinton

I was one of about 4% of Iowans who voted for him in the caucuses and in the GE. At that point the party had just suffered 2 huge defeats in 84 and 88 and I thought we needed a moderate lest the party be torn asunder. On the whole he campaigned (especially the second time) to the right of most of his policies (save welfare reform). This time around I think it will be easy to paint Bush as a RW nut, and convince moderate folks someone to the left, especially on social issues is a reasonable choice.

Clinton also did have a passive attitude toward the street and one reason why we are seeing a number of huge failures of corps. at the end of his tenure and through Shrub's first couple of years. (I am no defender of Shrub's, but I try to be objective. Shrub certainly didn't help matters until Donaldson came to town and is actually acting like a cop.)

[genius]

34. Dean is straight from Wall Street. That's why he's for the rich.

Check his record. Oh that's right. It's sealed.

[Hoppin_Mad]

36. Is that why Dean has the lowest % of $2000+ donors ?

BY FAR ? ( of tier one candidates )

[sangh0]

41. It must be

because there's no denying Dean's roots with Dean-Witter

[in_cog_ni_to]

42. I'm changing my KETCHUP brand.

Anyone want to join me? No more Heinz in my house.

Go Wes!

[KC21304]

43. O come on, pretty please? If you stop using Heinz, John Kerry

will never make it . ;( . I love Clark, by the way and would love to see him as VP.

[molly]

44. Teresa and her sons are out and

are not involved AT ALL in the company. The company is not owned
by the Heinz family anymore.

[KC21304]

47. Shhh, don't tell them. I was going to short Heinz stock. LOL

[OutlawCorporatePolls]

45. who? John Forbes Kerry?

eom.

[OutlawCorporatePolls]

46. OpenSecrets.org - Top Kerry Contributors

Kerry - 2004 Contributors
http://www.opensecrets.org/politicians/contrib.asp?CID=N00000245&cycle=2004

Kerry - 2002 Contributors
http://www.opensecrets.org/politicians/summary.asp?CID=N00000245&cycle=2002

Kerry - 2000 Contributors
http://www.opensecrets.org/politicians/contrib.asp?CID=N00000245&cycle=2000

Kerry - 1998 Contributors
http://www.opensecrets.org/politicians/contrib.asp?CID=N00000245&cycle=1998

Kerry - 1996 Contributors
http://www.opensecrets.org/1996os/contrib/S4MA00069.htm

Kerry - 1994 Contributors
http://www.opensecrets.org/1994os/osdata/kerryjoh.pdf