Anyone Notice Kerry Endorsing Arianna Huffington's "Pigs At The Trough"?

[DrFunkenstein]

Kerry On The Back Cover Of "Pigs At The Trough"



Arianna Huffington has always been willing to speak and write with conviction about the world around her. Her sharp wit and thoughtful commentary help put issues on the agenda ignored by conventional thinkers. I'm certain, that with her powerful new book, Arianna Huffington will be stirring the waters for some time to come.

- Senator John Kerry

Kerry On Corporate Welfare

The special interests will stop at nothing to keep their special deals. That’s why I’ve joined John McCain in calling for a “Corporate Subsidy Reform Commission” modeled after the military base-closing commission. A bipartisan group would recommend corporate subsidies to be eliminated and Congress would have to vote up or down on the entire package.

It’s the only way to stop the games that go on in Washington. When I first came to the Senate, each year millions upon millions of dollars were lavished on a wool and mohair subsidy cooked up during WWI to make sure we’d have plenty of wool and mohair for our soldiers’ uniforms. But even after we stopped making our uniforms out of wool and mohair, the subsidy continued. I came to the Senate floor again and again - finally we killed it. Or we thought we did. Last year it came back. This kind of wasteful, no-growth, special interest giveaway is alive and well -- again. But it’s just the tip of the iceberg.

We were presented a defense bill that gave away $250,000 to an Illinois firm to research caffeinated chewing gum; $750,000 for grasshopper research in Alaska; $250,000 for a lettuce geneticist in Salinas, California and $64,000 for urban pest research in Georgia. This is our defense budget?

It’s a question of choices. The Fossil Energy Research and Development program spends more than $400 million on R&D for oil companies who can afford their own R&D- and even duplicates research they’re already engaged in. And for 130 years the Federal government has allowed companies to mine on publicly owned lands for free, in addition to letting them buy those lands way below market price -- $5 an acre or less. If we simply required small, fair royalties and eliminated the giveaway of public lands we could save another $519 million over 5 years.

Kerry On Tax Loopholes

Just think - offshore tax havens and shelters enable corporations and
executives to evade an estimated $70 billion in taxes each year. How can anyone in this country suggest we have a fair system when companies can take $70 billion off the table? That undermines the very essence of our government.

It’s a system only companies like Enron could love. And did they ever. Enron held over 800 subsidiaries in countries with no taxes on income, profits, or capital gains -- 692 in the Cayman Islands alone. I believe in opening new markets and I want American companies to win. But I know we can distinguish between legitimate businesses and sham transactions. Assets in offshore entities have climbed from an estimated $200 billion in 1983, to an estimated $5 trillion today - and too many are brass plate addresses with a fax machine in an offshore tax haven.

What does that say to the vast majority of Americans who actually pay taxes? And the silence from this Administration speaks volumes! They’ve dragged their feet and fought every attempt to crack down on corporate loopholes. It’s time we stood up and insisted on real reform and real tax fairness.

An SEC With Teeth

Unfortunately, while this President talks tough on corporate accountability - his administration has worked tirelessly to undermine reform and sabotage any meaningful oversight of the accounting industry. They even tried to cut next year’s budget for the SEC by $200 million - further weakening enforcement of corporate crimes.

Frankly, we need a President whose approach to abuse is a little more like Teddy Roosevelt and a little less like Herbert Hoover when it comes to keeping an eye on corporate America.

We need an SEC chairman who will put investors ahead of industry, an Accounting Oversight Board chairman who will make sure they correct the books, instead of cooking them. And we need to give the SEC the tools it needs to enforce the laws.

http://www.johnkerry.com/pressroom/speeches/spc_2002_1203.html

Eliot Spitzer to head the SEC?

[GreenPartyVoter]

1. Is Arianna endorsing him back?

[DrFunkenstein]

2. Honestly, I Haven't The Foggiest

n/t

[jpgray]

3. Doubt it. She has been very unhappy with Dem voting records of late

She may endorse him as the nominee, however.

[DrFunkenstein]

4. If She Follows Up On Her Anti-SUV She May

Kerry is a very big proponent of raising CAFE standards:

Hollings-Kerry proposal:

http://www.uaw.org/dclink/dclink.cfm?DcId=16

Kerry-McCain:

http://www.bu.edu/com/jo/washjocenter/Spring_2002_Stories/newswire_field_cafe0313.htm

[jpgray]

6. I'm aware of Kerry's leadership on this issue. I bring it up myself :-)

What Arianna is likely to take issue with are the IWR and Patriot Act votes. Based on her CA behavior, I have no doubt she will endorse the eventual nominee.

[JI7]

7. in 2000 also

she did vote for al gore even though she was criticial of both sides. it's what i like about her.

[JI7]

5. agree, it's better she not endorse anyways

i like it that she tends to be consistent in going after the wrongs in politics on all sides. but she also acknowledges there are differences which is why she voted for al gore and later supported gray davis. it shows she is willing to take those she agrees with to task for things she sees as wrong, but at the same time not wanting the right wing assholes to gain from it.