Article:Quincy Patriot-Ledger - Mass folks (and others!), insight on this?

[Luftmensch067]

Hope this hasn't already been posted -- I don't see it at first glance.

full article here:http://www.patriotledger.com/articles/2006/02/15/news/news02.txt

Kerry got donation from backer of LNG port: AES co-founder gave $5,000; aide denies it swayed senator

By JOHN ZAREMBA
The Patriot Ledger

The co-founder of a company that wants to build an LNG port two miles off Hull has donated more than $200,000 to political candidates and groups in the past decade, including $5,000 to Sen. John Kerry.

Kerry offered conditional support for the liquefied natural gas project this week, saying it was at least worth considering, a position that put him at odds with some local residents and environmentalists who vehemently oppose the project.

Roger W. Sant, who helped found AES Corp. in 1981 and is the chairman emeritus of its board of directors, has given Kerry campaigns $5,000 since 1997, federal campaign finance records show. In the same period, Sant has contributed more than $200,000 to other candidates or groups, many of them Democrats or Democratic organizations.

(snip)

In an interview this week with The Patriot Ledger’s editorial board, Kerry said the LNG project proposed for Outer Brewster Island "is worth looking at," provided it does not disrupt the integrity of the Boston Harbor Islands National Park Area. Outer Brewster is two miles off Point Allerton in Hull and is one of 34 islands in the national park area.

The LNG terminal "holds some promise and potential, and it’s worthy of being thoroughly explored," Kerry said. "I’m not opposed to it."

A Kerry spokeswoman issued a statement yesterday dismissing the notion that Sant’s contributions have in any way colored Kerry’s judgment of the project.

"John Kerry has raised over $300 million in recent years," spokeswoman April Boyd said. "To arbitrarily suggest a contribution of any size, but particularly one-one-hundredth of one percent of a fundraising total, could influence a decision is completely irresponsible and a baseless smear of a public servant of real integrity."

[Mass]

1. $ 5,000. Kerry is easy to buy!

More seriously, as I understand it, it is a much better location than Fall River, but it may be a problem for the National Park, which is one of Kerry's reservations.

Here is the editorial the article refers to.

http://ledger.southofboston.com/articles/2006/02/14/news/news02.txt

Kerry: LNG plan worth a look - Senator tells Patriot Ledger that U.S. needs to explore more sources of alternative energy

Sen. John F. Kerry (GARY HIGGINS/The Patriot Ledger )

By TOM BENNER
Patriot Ledger State House Bureau

QUINCY - Sen. John Kerry is offering conditional support for a proposal to build a liquefied natural gas terminal on Outer Brewster Island off the tip of Hull.

Kerry said the LNG proposal for Outer Brewster should not be dismissed out of hand.

‘‘I do think the LNG proposal in Boston Harbor is worth looking at. It holds some promise and potential, and it’s worthy of being thoroughly explored,’’ the Democrat said in his most specific remarks to date about the controversial proposal. ‘‘I’m not opposed to it.’’

Kerry told the Patriot Ledger’s editorial board yesterday his primary concern is whether the LNG terminal would harm the Boston Harbor Islands national park system. Outer Brewster is one of the 34 islands in the system.


...

Kerry said the harbor island plan is far more preferable than a proposed LNG terminal in Fall River, which would require tankers to travel under several bridges near densely populated areas.

‘‘The LNG project down in Fall River is not a smart project,’’ Kerry said. ‘‘The Coast Guard has problems with safety issues, bridge issues, community issues. I don’t think it’s the right location.’’

By contrast, an LNG facility on an abandoned state-owned island on the outskirts of Boston Harbor would be removed from populous areas, Kerry said. Hull residents view the LNG project, which Arlington, Va.-based AES Corp. unveiled in September, as a safety risk.

[globalvillage]

5. And this story is about Kerry how?

The guy gave 200K in political donations in the past 10 years and only 2.5% of it was to the 2004 Dem presidential candidate? And yet he gave 25K to the DCCC in 2004?

Why is the headline not "Kerry Slighted by Campaign Donor"?

edit sorry, intended to reply to the OP.

[ProSense]

2. I expect a lot more articles like this

targeting Kerry and every Democrat with suggestions of impropriety now that corruption is plaguing the Republican Party. I saw one today about Lieberman:

http://www.courant.com/news/local/hc-ap-lieberman-perk-0215,0,4904988.story?track=rss


But the real crooks are Republicans like Pombo:

http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-na-pombo15feb15,0,783018.story?coll=la-headlines-politics

[karynnj]

3. This guy and Kerry really planned it long ago.

Roger Sant, the chairman emeritus ( retired from AES at the time of the 2004 contribution) gave Kerry campaigns $5,000 since 1997. From Open secrets, he gave Kerry $1000 in 1997, $2000 in 2001, and $2000 in 2004. All because he knew that Kerry could help him in 2006. Except, he can't because I don't think this is a US Senate decision. So, maybe he gave him money because he was a good Senator.

It would be far more damning if he gave Kerry a larger amount in a lump sum recently before he actually did something. It looks like someone played with one of the campaign fund data bases.

Kerry's comment is really that he thinks it should be looked at and he even conditioned that. This is not inconsistent with all his alternative energy comments. At this point, he hasn't done anything other than to say he wouldn't rule it out of hand.

I think April Boyd was completely justified, in fact totally understated, in her comment.

[karynnj]

4. Will people in this area see through this?

[ProSense]

6. Bizarre! This article is

popping up in the top three on Google and Yahoo. This is from Yahoo:

Your questions for Kerry
Patriot Ledger - Feb 15 7:58 AM
Readers sent questions for Sen. John Kerry to answer at a meeting with Patriot Ledger editors yesterday. The following are questions to which Kerry responded.


Kerry: LNG plan worth a look - Senator tells Patriot Ledger that U.S. needs to explore more sources of alternative
Patriot Ledger - Feb 15 7:57 AM
QUINCY - Sen. John Kerry is offering conditional support for a proposal to build a liquefied natural gas terminal on Outer Brewster Island off the tip of Hull.


Student has fun hanging out with Kerry; Junior Achievement program pairs Quincy youth with senator
Patriot Ledger - Feb 15 7:58 AM
Not many 17-year-olds get to spend a day with a former presidential candidate. However, David Finnegan, a North Quincy High School senior, did just that when he shadowed Sen. John Kerry yesterday.

The middle story is the title from yesterday, but it links to the article in the OP. The other two titles link to articles unrelated to Kerry. Bizarre.

It's almost as if this is intentionally placed to impact perception.

[wisteria]

12. How about that! n/t

[Mass]

7. This is sloppy reporting at its best - The issue is so important and

the risks so big and, rather than explaining the different projects and how they are more or less bad, the Ledger writes about a contribution that was made over the last 8 years.

[TayTay]

8. It's not that big a deal.

It is an insight into the standard that Sen. Kerry has always been held to in Mass though. Some of this is fair and some of it isn't. Sen. Kerry, famously, didn't take PAC donations in his Senatorial campaigns. Sen. Kennedy did and took over $100K in a 1988 race. That was the year that Sen. Kerry was head of the DSCC and the DSCC used PAC money to fund it's races. Sen. Kerry got the complaints.Every other person running for a Federal elected office got PAC contributions in that cycle save Kerry and one other office holder. So, who got the complaints about being duplicitious about that. Sigh!

Sen. Kerry has always been held to a higher standard than everyone else here. IT's because he is an outsider to the system and because the press likes to play games. The PAtriot LEdger knows this and is just trying to play 'catch ya' with him.

[karynnj]

9. But this charge has way too many holes.

The last time he gave Kerry money was 2004. (1997- $1000, 2001 - $2000, 2004 - $2000). He was already retired in 2004 and I this LNG plant may not have even been thought of then. So, the timing is kind of off. (It also looks like there's a pattern of him supporting the Senator.)

The other thing is that whether this gets approved here has to be a state or local decision, so what action could Kerry do for it.

It's weird that it comes right after the charge that he actually accepted rides in Teresa's jet on non-campaign trips. Although it's really hard to figure out what's wrong with this. (Question: For any of the women Senators married to wealthy men - Is using their assets as big a deal as they make of it with Kerry?)

[TayTay]

10. No. It's the conservative media diddling themselves silly.

See, the Abramoff thing is a Republican scandal. And it involves taking money from contributors. Then, the Repubs change their votes. That's called bribery. But the media is beyond stupid and sees 'campaign contributors' and says, 'Okay Dems: do you have campaign contributors.' The Dems, bless their hearts, say, ahm, duh, of course we do. The press then says, 'Gotcha!'

Everyone else scratches their heads and say, ahm, that's not the issue, the issue is bribery and misuse of contributor funds. The press says, sorry, we have moved on to another murder case involving dead white women, what did you want to talk about?

[karynnj]

11. Can we outsource the press? Please

The Indian press seemed really well written. Covered serious issues like ours used to do.