Although Democratic presidential front-runner John Kerry often rails on the campaign trail against U.S. companies that relocate jobs abroad, seeking lower tax and wage rates, federal records show that the Massachusetts senator is heavily invested in such companies and has recently received substantial support from some of their top executives.

Campaign finance reports reviewed by The Hill reveal that employees at 25 companies identified by CNN’s Lou Dobbs as “either sending American jobs overseas, or choosing to employ cheap overseas labor, instead of American workers,” have contributed more than $370,000 to Kerry’s presidential campaign.

On receiving an endorsement from the AFL-CIO last month, Kerry said: “When I am president, and with your help, we’re going to repeal every benefit, every loophole, every reward that entices any Benedict Arnold company or CEO to take the money and the jobs overseas and stick the American people with the bill.”

The Kerry campaign did not return phone calls seeking comment on Kerry’s investments and his receipt of funds from “Benedict Arnold” companies. But official records show the following pattern involving firms that outsource jobs:

• Citigroup executives have contributed $68,250 to Kerry’s presidential bid. There was a maximum contribution from the company’s chairman and CEO, Charles O. Prince.

• Morgan Stanley executives have contributed $38,000 to the campaign, including a maximum donation by Richard B. Fisher, chairman emeritus.

• AOL Time Warner executives donated $29,750 to Kerry, with maximum contributions from James V. Kimsey, AOL co-founder and chairman emeritus, and Kathryn Bushkin, president of the AOL Time Warner Foundation and a senior vice president of the company. AOL Time Warner ranks as the third largest donor to Kerry’s political career.

• Goldman Sachs executives have contributed $50,300 to the candidate’s presidential campaign, including a maximum contribution from Vice Chairman Robert S. Kaplan. The investment firm is Kerry’s ninth largest all-time donor base.
Likewise, Kerry’s most recent Senate financial disclosure shows that he and his wife are heavily invested in companies that outsource jobs.

Direct investments and trusts controlled by Kerry list assets of $124,026 to $636,000 in such companies. Trusts held by Teresa Heinz Kerry hold at least $8.5 million in outsourcing companies. Seven of those holdings — with AIG, Anheuser-Busch, General Electric, Goldman Sachs, IBM, Pfizer and Procter & Gamble — were valued at greater than $1 million.

Only Teresa Heinz Kerry’s investments produced income last year. Dividends and capital gains from those holdings or transactions brought in between $1.07 million and $9.47 million.

Last week, The Washington Post reported that Kerry received significant donations and fundraising assistance from executives at companies that have reorganized in offshore tax-havens. While no physical displacements directly result from such a move, it can drastically reduce a company’s tax burden.

Executives and employees at these companies have contributed more than $140,000 to Kerry’s campaign, the paper noted. Kerry has also benefited from the fundraising prowess of two investment executives who facilitate offshore corporate reorganizations. Those individuals have raised more than $400,000 for the presidential campaign, the paper reported.

The comments come at a time when tensions over domestic jobs and outsourcing are running high.

On Feb. 19, N. Gregory Mankiw, chairman of President Bush’s Council of Economic Advisers, triggered an outcry when he said offshoring service-sector jobs is “the latest manifestation of the gains from trade that economists have talked about … and that’s a good thing.”

Under criticism from Kerry and several other Democratic and Republican politicians, Mankiw conceded his remarks were “injudiciously worded.”

Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan defended Mankiw but said there is “a considerable gulf” in understanding between economists and at-risk employees.

“Our economy is best served by full and vigorous engagement in the global economy,” Greenspan said. “The protectionist cures being advanced to address these hardships will make matters worse than better.”

Analysis conducted by Forrester Research projects that 3.3 million U.S. jobs will have left the country by 2015.

http://www.hillnews.com/news/030304/kerry.aspx