John Kerry on Corporations Jr Senator (MA), Democratic nominee for President

Industry-sponsored chem safety research leaves US behind

We also need to question whether industry-sponsored research will provide the sort of independent information required.

Precautionary Principle: producers must prove harmlessness

Convincing elected officials of the harmful effects of toxic substances can be difficult in part because the manufacturers are working hard to convince them otherwise.

We must not allow our bodies to be used as part of an uncontrolled experiment without our knowledge and without our consent. And we do not need to quietly accept the presence of industrial and synthetic chemicals as a necessary condition of living in today's world.

96% of small businesses not affected by my tax plan

KERRY: That’s just not true. The Wall Street Journal said 96% of small businesses are not affected at all by my plan. And you know why he gets that count? The president got $84 from a timber company that[he partly] owns, and he’s counted as a small business. Dick Cheney’s counted as a small business. That’s how they do things. That’s just not right.

BUSH: I own a timber company? That’s news to me. Need some wood? Most small businesses are Subchapter S corps. 70% of the new jobs in America are created by small businesses. Taxes are going up when you run up the top two brackets. It’s a fact.

Kerry owned a small business: they’re engine of economy

Close the loopholes that reward corps taking jobs overseas

A: I will be a president who’s on the side of workers in this country to provide the American worker with a fair playing field, to provide the American worker with a fair shot to be able to compete. Because that’s not what they have today. We need a president who’s going to fight for trade that’s fair. We need a president who’s going to close the loopholes of these corporations that have a reward to take the jobs overseas.

Regulate on side of citizens, not on side of corporations

Our economic system relies on the safeguards to ensure transparency, arms-length transactions, and the effectiveness of watchdogs. It’s all too easy for criminals to infiltrate the informal networks that link the business world to the political world.

Offshore tax havens cause higher middle class taxes

And these offshore tax havens rob us of more than tax dollars, for they are where renegade corporations flee from all responsibility to shareholders, employees, rules of fair play, and their own country. It’s no accident that Enron had over 800 subsidiaries in countries with no taxes on income, profits, or capital gains. These included 692 in the Cayman Islands alone.

Taking on these abuses does not mean launching an attack on legitimate overseas operations of American businesses. I believe in opening new markets, and I want American companies to compete and win everywhere they can. But brass-plate addresses with nothing behind the door but a fax machine are not legitimate enterprises.

Democratize the process of corporate boards

KERRY: We need to democratize the process. Clearly, boards of directors need to be represented better with respect to shareholders. There are many things we can do. The reason to be concerned about it is not as a matter of targeting CEOs or being angry at business. It’s because it’s a matter of fundamental fairness of how we hold ourselves together as a country.

It goes to the core of how Americans ought to have a relationship between worker and those they work for. And that workplace has been abused. When you have misconduct in the boardroom, it’s as bad as a mugging in the streets, except that in many ways it’s broader because more people are hurt. And many Americans are feeling mugged by what is happening in this country today, the fundamental unfairness.

End “Get Mine and Get Out” ethic at White House

Voted YES on repealing tax subsidy for companies which move US jobs offshore.

Voted NO on reforming bankruptcy to include means-testing & restrictions.

• Declare a debtor eligible only for Chapter 13, as anyone financially capable of paying back their creditors at a rate that still allows them to earn above their state's median income
• Place domestic support obligations such as child support and alimony amongst the first priority claim category of non-dischargeable debts on a debtor filing for bankruptcy
• Require debtors to pay for and attend credit counseling prior to filing for bankruptcy
• Cap home equity protection at $125,000 if the debtor purchased a house within 40 months of filing for bankruptcy.

Voted NO on restricting rules on personal bankruptcy.

Increase SBA loan subsidies for small businesses.

Amends the Small Business Investment Act of 1958 to:
• Increase the amount that the Small Business Administration (SBA) may charge as a subsidy fee for guaranteeing the payment of a debenture from 1.0 to 1.38 percent of the debenture amount;
• Extend through FY 2001 the debenture maturity period.
• Reduces, for a two-year period: (1) the guarantee fee for SBA-guaranteed loans to small businesses; (2) the annual fee charged for such loans; and (3) the fee charged for the SBA guarantee.

Expand microloans to small businesses.

Amends provisions of the Small Business Act concerning the Microloan program (a program of start-up loans to small businesses) to:
1. remove the requirement that such loans be short-term;
2. allow up to 35 (currently 25) percent of grant funds made to intermediaries to be used to provide technical assistance to small businesses that are prospective borrowers under the program; and
3. authorize the Administrator of the Small Business Administration to use up to $1 million of the annual appropriations for technical assistance grants to subcontract with one or more national trade associations of eligible intermediaries or other knowledgeable entities to provide peer-to-peer capacity building and training to lenders and organizations seeking to become lenders under the program.

Rated 0% by the US COC, indicating an anti-business voting record.

Whether you own a business, represent one, lead a corporate office, or manage an association, the Chamber of Commerce of the United States of AmericaSM provides you with a voice of experience and influence in Washington, D.C., and around the globe.

Our members include businesses of all sizes and sectors—from large Fortune 500 companies to home-based, one-person operations. In fact, 96% of our membership encompasses businesses with fewer than 100 employees.

Mission Statement:

"To advance human progress through an economic, political and social system based on individual freedom, incentive, initiative, opportunity, and responsibility."

Rated 80% by UFCW, indicating an anti-management/pro-labor record.

The United Food and Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW) is North America's Neighborhood Union--1.3 million members with UFCW locals in all 50 states, Puerto Rico and Canada. Our members work in supermarkets, drug stores, retail stores, meatpacking and meat processing plants, food processing plants, and manufacturing workers who make everything from fertilizer to shoes. We number over 60,000 strong with 25,000 workers in chemical production and 20,000 who work in garment and textile industries.

The UFCW Senate scorecard is based on these key votes:
1. American Jobs Act (+)
2. Balanced Budget Amendment (-)
3. Rejecting Cut, Cap, and Balance (+)
4. Repeal Health Care Law (-)
5. Sen. Am. 14 Wicker Am. to S 223, excluding unionization at TSA (-)
6. Sen. Am. 740 McCain Am. to HR 2112, defunding TAA (-)
7. Trade Adjustment Assistance Extension Act (TAA) (+)