Corporate favoritism in Kerry sponsored Senate bills

[rightcoast]

I've done a little bit of research into John Kerry's Senate votes, and specifically legislation that he sponsored as a Massachusetts Senator. I'd appreciate any input or further information from any fellow Freeper researchers.

I've found some interesting bills sponsored by Kerry, that all have connections to either Massachusetts businesses or his wife's Heinz Foods. All of these bills relate to import duties, and to differing degrees they all had the potential impact (if enacted as law) to give kickbacks to corporations in Massachusetts (and a certain ketchup maker in Pittsburgh).

107th Congress (2001-2002)

S.2869 - "A bill to facilitate the ability of certain spectrum auction winners to pursue alternative measures required in the public interest to meet the needs of wireless telecommunications consumers." (August 1, 2002)

This bill specifically mentions spectrum (i.e. radio frequency used for communications) licensed to the then-defunct NextWave Personal Communications. This is a bill related to the auction of this spectrum to another buyer. Verizon was very interested at this spectrum at the time, and Verizon's New England unit is a big player in the region. This bill was passed by the Senate on November 14, 2002.

S.2302 & S.2303 - "A bill to suspend temporarily the duty on certain filament yarns." (April 25, 2002)

This is a bill to stop the import duty on filament yarns, which could have been an intended benefit to Boston Textile Co., Inc.

S.2304 & S.2305 - "A bill to suspend temporarily the duty on certain high-performance loudspeakers." (April 25, 2002)

This is a bill to stop the import duty on speakers, which could have been an intended benefit for Boston Acoustics, which is based in Peabody, MA.

S.2306 through S.2311 (6 bills) - "A bill to suspend temporarily the duty on a certain chemical used in industrial coatings formulation." (April 25, 2002)

I'm not sure which company this was intended to benefit, but I'm sure there are a number of chemical / industrial companies in Massachusetts that would benefit.

S.2379 through S.2382 (4 bills) - "To provide for the liquidation or reliquidation of certain entries of tomato sauce preparation." (April 29, 2002)

As I understand it, liquidation in this bill refers to the liquidation of duties for imported merchandise that has been abandoned or damaged. These bills seem to be an attempt to relax the rules allowing for liquidation. Kerry's wife Teresa Heinz Kerry is an heiress of tomato sauce and ketchup king Heinz Foods.

106th Congress (1999-2000)

S.64 - "To amend ... the Tariff Act of 1930 to allow duty drawback for grape juice concentrates, regardless of color or variety." (January 19, 1999)

This is a bill to allow duty drawback (i.e. refund of import duties paid under certain circumstances) on grape juice concentrates. Grape juice giant Welch's is based in Concord, MA.

S.65 - "A bill to apply the rates of duty effective after December 31, 1994, to certain water resistant wool trousers that were entered, or withdrawn from warehouse for consumption, after December 31, 1998, and before January 1, 1995." (January 19, 1999)

The "certain water resistant wool trousers" could be an offer of help and privilege to Timberland, which is based in nearby Stratham, NH. This is a bit of a stretch though; the others are more obvious.

S.1802 - "To suspend temporarily the duty on instant print film." (October 27, 1999)

Instant film pioneer and maker Polaroid is based in Waltham, MA.

"A bill ... to allow duty drawback for grape juice concentrates made from Concord or Niagara grapes." (March 2, 2000)

Again, grape juice maker Welch's is based in Concord, MA.

[ravingnutter]

Now all we need is someone to match the dates up to contributions to Kerry, LOL!

[ravingnutter]

I actually went out to match dates to contributions and found this:

Sen. John Kerry's Hypocrisy - Special Interests’ Best Friend

Some interesting info there.

[rightcoast]

106th Congress S.65 above -- which was a bill introduced by Kerry on January 19, 1999 -- may have indeed been an intended kickback to The Timberland Co.

Opensecrets.org lists the following contributions from the Swartz family of Marblehead, MA:

Sidney Swartz (Timberland Co.) - $25,000 - Democratic National Committee - December 4, 2001

Sidney Swartz (Timberland Co.) - $12,375 - Democratic National Committee - October 25, 2000

Judith Swartz (retired) - $12,375 - Democratic National Committee - October 25, 2000

[CyberAnt]

ping