[vacets-gen] Kerry vs Bush
Tin Le
tin at le.org
Thu Sep 2 07:51:40 PDT 2004
Hello,
I've seen this message being passed around before. It's too bad that the
Republicans like to use negative campaign and attack the person instead of
the issues.
These attacks are usually a mix of facts, myths, half-truths and... well,
outright lies... e.g. urban legends (made up stories that fooled people
into thinking it's true).
Since the original message combined 3 urban legends together, the answer
for them could be long. I'll send the answers for the other 2 "points" in
separate messages.
I don't know if you have heard of a web site call Snopes.com. They are
famous for debunking Urban Legends, e.g. false stories that are made up in
such a way to sound as if they could be true. For example, the stories
about a guy that pick up pretty girl at a bar, went to her appartment and
later woke up in the tub with missing kidney... That's an urban legend.
They have a very good article debunking the urban legend that the attack
on the Kerrys is based on.
http://www.snopes.com/politics/kerry/heinz.asp
Quote:
"Although Senator Kerry has been critical of the Bush administration for
rewarding "Benedict Arnold CEOs" who move "profits and jobs overseas," the
above-quoted attempt to link Kerry (through his wife) with the very
outsourcing he decries is flawed in two major ways. First off, Teresa
Heinz Kerry does not "own the Heinz Corporation" . she has no involvement
whatsoever with the management or operations of the H.J. Heinz Company,
nor does she own anything close to a controlling interest of the company's
stock. According to Heinz itself, the Heinz family trust which Mrs. Kerry
inherited sold most of its shares of Heinz stock back in 1995 and
currently holds less than a 4% interest in the company:
Neither Mrs. Heinz Kerry nor Senator Kerry nor any of the Heinz trusts
or endowments -- either individually or collectively -- holds a
significant percentage of shares of the H.J. Heinz Company. In 1995 the
Heinz Endowments and family trusts sold a large percentage of Heinz shares
in a secondary share offering to diversify their holdings. As a result,
their current holdings are under 4 percent.
There is no connection between any philanthropic programs of the H.J.
Heinz Company and its Foundation and the Heinz family interests (including
the Howard Heinz Endowment, the Vira Heinz Endowment, and the Heinz Family
Philanthropies).
(A 4% stake in a company as large as Heinz still represents a considerable
amount of money, but it isn't nearly large enough a share to give the
holder any significant control or influence over the company's business
decisions.)
Moreover, the Heinz Company's operations are not an example of the type of
outsourcing that is currently a hot political issue (i.e., sending out
work to offshore companies to provide services which a company might
otherwise have employed its own staff to perform). Heinz is a U.S.-based
global business which sells its products in dozens of other countries, and
like other food companies it has to localize some of its production at
factories located in its foreign market areas. (It makes little sense from
either an economic or a freshness standpoint to be shipping fruits and
vegetables and/or finished food products halfway around the world rather
than producing them locally.) One wouldn't expect, for example, every can
and bottle of Coca-Cola sold anywhere in the world . whether it be
Australia, China, or Portugal . to be produced by U.S. bottlers.)
As the H.J. Heinz Company notes, well over half its sales come from
foreign markets, and it therefore operates overseas facilities to serve
those markets:
Currently, 60% of the sales of the H.J. Heinz Company are outside the
United States and to accommodate those customers by providing facilities
closer to those markets, the company maintains a number of overseas
facilities that provide products for consumers in those markets. This
allows Heinz to pack the freshest ingredients, tailor its recipes to local
tastes and deliver the finished products in a timely and efficient manner.
In the United States, Heinz makes its flagship ketchup in factories in
Fremont, Ohio; Muscatine, Iowa; and Stockton, California."
EndQuote
Cheers,
Tin Le
> ------------
>
> I have combined 3 different emails that I have
> received lately concerning Sen. John Kerry and his
> wife. They are very interesting, and disturbing.
>
> Shortly after reading the following e-mail content, I
> happened to look at the label of a jar of Heinz
> sandwich slice pickles. Yep...."Made in Mexico"
>
> Check some of your Heinz products.
>
> ARTICLE #1:
> Sen. John Kerry keeps talking about U.S. corporations
> leaving this country and setting up shop in foreign
> countries, taking thousands of jobs with them. He is
> right, because that has happened. However, he is
> trying to blame it on George W. Bush. As far as I
> know, Bush has not moved one factory out of this
> country because he is not the owner of a single
> factory.
>
> That cannot be said about Kerry and his wife, Teresa
> Heinz-Kerry.
>
> According to the Wall Street Journal, the Kerrys own
> 32 factories in Europe and 18 in Asia and the Pacific.
> In addition, their company, the Heinz Company, leases
> four factories in Europe and four in Asia. Also, they
> own 27 factories in North America, some of which are
> in Mexico and the Caribbean.
>
> I wonder how many hundreds of American workers lost
> their jobs when these plants relocated in foreign
> countries. I also wonder if the workers in Mexico and
> Asia are paid the same wages and benefits as workers
> in the United States.
>
> Of course they're not. However, Kerry demands that
> other companies that relocate should pay the same
> benefits they did in the U.S. Why does he not
> demand this of the Heinz Company, since he is married
> to the owner?
>
> If Kerry is elected, will he and his wife close all
> those foreign factories and bring all those jobs back
> to America? Of course they won't.
> They're making millions off that cheap labor.
>
> ARTICLE #2:
> Every year an independent tax watchdog group analyzes
> the average tax burden on Americans, and then
> calculates the "Tax Freedom Day". This is the
> day after which the money you earn goes to you, not
> the government.
>
> This year, tax freedom day was April 11th. That's
> the earliest it has been since 1991. It's latest day
> ever was May 2nd, which occurred in 2000.
>
> Notice anything special about those dates? Today
> John Kerry gave a speech in which he claimed Americans
> are actually paying more taxes under Bush, despite the
> tax cuts. He gave no explanation and provided no data
> for this claim.
>
> Another interesting fact: Both George Bush and John
> Kerry are wealthy men. Bush owns only one home, his
> ranch in Texas. Kerry owns 4 mansions, all worth
> several million dollars. (His ski resort home in Idaho
> is an old barn brought over from Europe in pieces.
> (Not your average A-frame.)
>
> Bush paid $250,000 in taxes this year; Kerry paid
> $90,000. Does that sound right? The man who wants to
> raise your taxes obviously has figured out a
> way to avoid paying his own.
>
>
> ARTICLE #3
> OUTSOURCED by John F. Kerry and his wife Teresa
> Heinz-Kerry
>
> Do you find it strange that Kerry's wife is never
> with him? Do you find it strange that you never hear
> any thing about her? This may be why!
>
> As time goes on, we're just getting to know the
> possible future First Lady of the United States of
> America, and it is quite interesting. You'll be
> hearing even more about Teresa Heinz Kerry, wife of
> Democratic front-runner.
> She has quite a track record, especially when it
> comes to the causes she donates to.
>
> One of her favorite charities is the Tides
> Foundation. What is that, you ask? This foundation
> sends hundreds of millions of dollars to groups that
> protested the invasion of Iraq; that demands open
> U.S. borders; and provides legal defense for suspected
>
> terrorists. Among other groups supported by
> Kerry's wife: Ramsey Clark's International Action
> Center. This is the same Ramsey Clark that offered to
> defend Saddam Hussein. Another group seeks to
> ease restrictions on immigration from terrorist
> nations. Another group has links to the terrorist
> group Hamas. And on and on. American jobs are
> OUTSOURCED by John F. Kerry and his wife Teresa
> Heinz-Kerry!
>
> Heinz overseas factories:
>
> HEINZ WATTIE'S AUSTRALASIA - Melbourne, Victoria,
> Australia
> HEINZ SINGAPORE PTE. LTD. - Republic of Singapore
> HEINZ WATTIE'S LIMITED - Auckland, New Zealand
> HEINZ JAPAN LTD - Tokyo, Japan
> HEINZ-UFE LTD. - Guangzhou, People's Republic of
> China
> HEINZ COSCO - Qingdao, People's Republic of China
> HEINZ KOREA LTD. - Inchon, South Korea
> HEINZ WIN CHANCE LTD. - Bangkok, Thailand
> HEINZ INDIA PRIVATE LIMITED - Mumbai, India
> PT HEINZ ABC INDONESIA - Jakarta, Indonesia
> PT HEINZ SUPRAMA - Surabaya, Indonesia
> HEINZ UFC PHILIPPINES - Manila, the Philippines
> HEINZ HONG KONG LIMITED - Wanchai, Hong Kong
> H. J. HEINZ (Botswana) (Proprietary) LTD. -
> Gaborone, Botswana
> KGALAGADI SOAP INDUSTRIES (Pty) LTD. - Gaborone,
> Botswana
> REFINED OIL PRODUCTS (Pty) LTD. - Gaborone, Botswana
> OLIVINE INDUSTRIES (Private) LIMITED - Harare,
> Zimbabwe
> CHEGUTU CANNERS (Pvt) LTD. - Chegutu, Zimbabwe
> HEINZ SOUTH AFRICA (PTY) LTD. - Johannesburg, South
> Africa
> HEINZ WELLINGTON'S (PTY) LTD. - Wellington, South
> Africa
> HEINZ EUROPE - Hayes, Middlesex, England
> H. J. HEINZ COMPANY LIMITED - Hayes Park, Hayes,
> Middlesex, England
> H. J. HEINZ COMPANY LIMITED - Rovereto, Italy
> H. J. HEINZ COMPANY LIMITED - Telford, England
> JOHN WEST FOODS LIMITED - Liverpool, England
> H. J. HEINZ FROZEN & CHILLED FOODS LIMITED - Hayes,
> Middlesex, England
> H. J. HEINZ COMPANY (IRELAND) LIMITED - Dublin,
> Ireland
> H.J. HEINZ COMPANY OF CANADA LTD - North York,
> Ontario, Canada
> OMSTEAD FOODS LIMITED - Wheatley, Ontario, Canada
> ALIMENTOS HEINZ C.A. - Caracas, Venezuela
> DISTRIBUIDORA BANQUETE, S.A. - San José, Costa Rica
> HEINZ ITALIA S.r.l. - Milan, Italy
> FATTORIA SCALDASOLE, S.p.a. - Monguzzo, Italy
> COPAIS FOOD AND BEVERAGE COMPANY, S.A. - Athens,
> Greece
> HEINZ POLSKA Sp. Z.O.O. - Warsaw, Poland
> PUDLISZKI S.A. - Pudliszki, Poland
> WODZISLAW, S.A. - Wodzislaw, Poland
> ETS. PAULET S.A. - Douarnenez, France
> H. J. HEINZ FROZEN S.A.R.L. - Paris, France
> HEINZ IBERICA S.A. - Madrid, Spain
> IDAL (Industrias de Alimentacã, Lda.) - Lisbon,
> Portugal
> MIEDZYCHOD S.A. - Miedzychod, Poland
> HEINZ C.I.S. - Moscow, Russia
> HEINZ GEORGIEVSK - Georgievsk, Russia
> CAIRO FOOD INDUSTRIES SAE - Cairo, Egypt
> HEINZ REMEDIA LIMITED - Tel Aviv, Israel
> STAR-KIST FOOD DÃ''OR LIMITED - Haifa, Israel
> H. J. HEINZ GMBH - Dì² ì³¥ldorf, Germany
> SONNEN BASSERMANN - Seesen, Germany
> KONINKLIJKE DE RUIJTER BV - The Netherlands
> HAK BV - The Netherlands
> FOODMARK - The Netherlands
> HONIG MERKARTIKELEN BV - The Netherlands
> DRUKKERIJ DE GROENBOER - The Netherlands
> H. J. HEINZ B.V . - Elst, The Netherlands
> H. J. HEINZ BELGIUM S.A. - Brussels, Belgium
> SERV-A-PORTION - Turnhout, Belgium
> Arimpex Industrie Alimentari S.R.L. - Rovereto,
> Italy
> Comexo S.A. - Chateaurenard, France
> HEINZ EUROPE - UK and IRELAND - Factories: Chorley,
> Fakenham, Grimsby, Kendal, Kitt Green, Leaminton,
> Luton, Okehampton, Telford, Westwick
>
>
>
>
> =====
> Dr. Viet-Dung (Jack) Hoang
>
>
>
>
>
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