[NYCFarmboy]

by Matt Drudge
HEINZ BLASTS WAL-MART; OWNS $1 MILLION IN STOCK, PURCHASED BULK IN '02

Teresa Heinz Kerry blasted WAL-MART last week week -- but an investigation reveals she has over $1,000,000 in WAL-MART stock, and purchased a ton of it throughout 2002!

MORE

"Another thing that drives me crazy, and I hope I don't offend anyone here, is WAL-MART," Mrs. Kerry told a group of Democratic women activists at a luncheon in St. Paul last Tuesday. "They destroy communities."

Teresa Heinz Reality:

H.J. Heinz III Marital Trust

Wal-Mart Stores Inc.
Assets: Over $1,000,000
Dividends, Income: $2,501 - $5,000
Transactions:

04/04/02: Purchase: $500,001 - $1,000,000
04/05/02: Purchase: $500,001 - $1,000,000
06/04/02: Purchase: $15,001 - $50,000
06/06/02: Purchase: $50,001 - $100,000
11/13/02: Purchase: $50,001 - $100,000
11/14/02: Purchase: $15,001 - $50,000
11/14/02: Purchase: $15,001 - $50,000

[shmerek]

That is pretty ****in stupid on her part.

[NYCFarmboy]

Originally posted by shmerek:
That is pretty ****in stupid on her part.

well it was obviously an oversight. When you come from the wealth of the Heinz/Kerry fortunes, a million bucks is pocket change hardly worth noticing.

[zigzag]

It's most likely a marital bypass trust, in which case she probably has no control over the holdings. Doesn't look good, though.

[Face Ache]

Don't worry - when Heinz are in the Whitehouse...

[Demonhood]

Originally posted by Face Ache:
Don't worry - when Heinz are in the Whitehouse...

...catsup will be outlawed?

[Lerkfish]

Originally posted by NYCFarmboy:
by Matt Drudge
HEINZ BLASTS WAL-MART; OWNS $1 MILLION IN STOCK, PURCHASED BULK IN '02

Teresa Heinz Kerry blasted WAL-MART last week week -- but an investigation reveals she has over $1,000,000 in WAL-MART stock, and purchased a ton of it throughout 2002!

MORE

"Another thing that drives me crazy, and I hope I don't offend anyone here, is WAL-MART," Mrs. Kerry told a group of Democratic women activists at a luncheon in St. Paul last Tuesday. "They destroy communities."

Teresa Heinz Reality:

H.J. Heinz III Marital Trust

Wal-Mart Stores Inc.
Assets: Over $1,000,000
Dividends, Income: $2,501 - $5,000
Transactions:

04/04/02: Purchase: $500,001 - $1,000,000
04/05/02: Purchase: $500,001 - $1,000,000
06/04/02: Purchase: $15,001 - $50,000
06/06/02: Purchase: $50,001 - $100,000
11/13/02: Purchase: $50,001 - $100,000
11/14/02: Purchase: $15,001 - $50,000
11/14/02: Purchase: $15,001 - $50,000

Erm....I own stock in several companies that I don't agree with all their policies....its called "investing in the stock market". I don't see this as anything but another tempest in a teapot.

sigh....its an election year.

[Developer]

Originally posted by Lerkfish:
Erm....I own stock in several companies that I don't agree with all their policies....its called "investing in the stock market".

Good. That answers the question why corporations don't have any morale these days.

[Big Booger]

I heard this guy farting in a public toilet once. It sounded like 'Heeeeiiiiinnnnnnnzzzzz'.

[xi_hyperon]

Originally posted by Demonhood:
...catsup will be outlawed?

No, no, no. Mustard.

[spacefreak]

Originally posted by Lerkfish:
Erm....I own stock in several companies that I don't agree with all their policies....its called "investing in the stock market".

What a joke. We're talking about over a million dollars worth of Wal-Mart stock.

[Lerkfish]

Originally posted by Developer:
Good. That answers the question why corporations don't have any morale these days.

yeah, its all the fault of my little 401K money market fund. Sorry, america.

[shmerek]

posted by Lerkfish:
Erm....I own stock in several companies that I don't agree with all their policies....its called "investing in the stock market". I don't see this as anything but another tempest in a teapot.

sigh....its an election year.

I have to disagree, if you are going to invest in a company that "destroys communities" you should STFU about their business practices. If you are against the policies of a company you shouldn't be trying to profit from them, it is completely hypocritical.

[Developer]

Originally posted by Lerkfish:
yeah, its all the fault of my little 401K money market fund.

You call $401K little?!

It's not all your fault. But you are one of the more moral people, at least you talk about this stuff all the time, and yet when you invest your money you don't care about it any more. From that I conclude the "lesser moral" people do this as well.
So corporations that try to maximize profit while ignoring moral are doing exactly what their investors want them to do. That answers that question.

[Lerkfish]

Originally posted by Developer:
You call $401K little?!

It's not all your fault. But you are one of the more moral people, at least you talk about this stuff all the time, and yet when you invest your money you don't care about it any more. From that I conclude the "lesser moral" people do this as well.
So corporations that try to maximize profit while ignoring moral are doing exactly what their investors want them to do. That answers that question.

actually I have no control over what funds to put my 401K plan into. where I work its either Vanguard, Vanguard or oh yeah, Vanguard.

But regardless, I'll concede I spoke up on an issue I'm not that grounded in, so I'll withdraw.

[Shaddim]

Originally posted by Lerkfish:
Erm....I own stock in several companies that I don't agree with all their policies....its called "investing in the stock market". I don't see this as anything but another tempest in a teapot.

sigh....its an election year.

I don't, and neither would I. If I don't believe in a Co. I won't own part of them, simple.

Loose morals anyone?

[Lerkfish]

Originally posted by MacNStein:
Loose morals anyone?

LOL. is that directed at me?

[Shaddim]

Originally posted by Lerkfish:
LOL. is that directed at me?

Directed at anyone who owns stock ina company they view as immoral, unethical, or blatantly harmful to society. Why, do you think you fit that bill?

[ThinkInsane]

Originally posted by Developer:
You call $401K little?!

I think you misunderstand Developer. It's not $401k, it's a retirement fund, called a 401K.


Definition: A retirement plan that allows employees in private companies to make contributions of pre-tax dollars to a company pool that is then invested in stocks, bonds, or money markets.
_

[zigzag]

FWIW, I heard an interview with her this morning. It was pointed out that she was a registered Republican for a long time (Senator Heinz was a Republican) and was appointed by Bush Sr. as an emissary to various conferences. She said she "loves" Bush Sr. and voted for him, but has different feelings towards Bush Jr. I'm sure part of this is due to the fact that her current husband is running against him, but Bush II is nonetheless a different animal than Bush I.

Now I'm waiting for Drudge to run a "Teresa Heinz-George H.W. Walker Bush Love Nest" story.

[Lerkfish]

Originally posted by ThinkInsane:
I think you misunderstand Developer. It's not $401k, it's a retirement fund, called a 401K.


Definition: A retirement plan that allows employees in private companies to make contributions of pre-tax dollars to a company pool that is then invested in stocks, bonds, or money markets.
_

ahhhh...I couldn't see what he was getting at , but now I do. Yeah, I have nowhere near 400 thousand...of ANYTHING, much less dollars.

My 401K plan at work is run by one company, and I have no choice except to divide the contributions among 4 or 5 different money market funds it administers. Even if I object to a particular company in the fund, my choice is very limited, so I only look at the gestalt of the fund and see which performs relatively better, though I'm not a market expert so I'm shooting in the dark anyways.Actually, my eyes glaze over looking at the list of companies, so I imagine there are many that do things I disagree with. Hell, I disagree with outsourcing employees, but if you start eliminating stocks based on that, you can't keep up with it all.

My original point, poorly stated and lost in the morass that followed, was supposed to be that having stock in a company that does something you disagree with is not necessarily hypocritical, as the decision to invest is based on financial reasons that may have been made before or independently of subsequent decisions.

[BRussell]

Vanguard is one of the best, if not the best, companies. But money market funds for a retirement account? That's pretty silly, unless you're about to retire, Lerk.

Anyway, yeah, it was pretty hypocritical on her part, unless it's blind and she has no control over it.

[Lerkfish]

Originally posted by BRussell:
Vanguard is one of the best, if not the best, companies. But money market funds for a retirement account? That's pretty silly, unless you're about to retire, Lerk.

I'm the artist, my dad was the accountant. Not much rubbed off, somewhat intentionally. However, yes, our retirement choices include moneymarket funds. You can divvy up the contributions, once a year into different types of accounts, all owned by Vanguard. the guy who does my taxes told me a percentage to divvy it up, and I dutifully obliged, only to lose lots of it after 9/11. But...enough about me already.

Originally posted by BRussell:
Anyway, yeah, it was pretty hypocritical on her part, unless it's blind and she has no control over it.

....however, I don't think a person should be PREVENTED from saying they think walmarts ruin communities because they have walmart stock...should they? Seems to me, being a stockholder, they have MORE right to speak out against practices they disagree with.....*shrugs*

[vmpaul]

Originally posted by BRussell:
Vanguard is one of the best, if not the best, companies. But money market funds for a retirement account? That's pretty silly, unless you're about to retire, Lerk.

My last employers 401k plan allowed you to move your funds around in a handful of specified mutual funds, one being a money market fund.

Wasn't a silly thing to park some money there during the dot.com bust when stocks tanked. Of course that's monday-mornng QB'ing. I didn't do it at the time.

[scottiB]

Originally posted by Demonhood:
...catsup will be outlawed?

No but there will be found 57 known Communists in Congress.

(little shout-out to The Manchurian Candidate)

[Lerkfish]

Originally posted by scottiB:
No but there will be found 57 known Communists in Congress.

(little shout-out to The Manchurian Candidate)

um, actually, in the Manchurian Candidate, he was expressly UNKNOWN. and the assassins were unaware they were.

[IceBreaker]

Originally posted by Lerkfish:
um, actually, in the Manchurian Candidate, he was expressly UNKNOWN. and the assassins were unaware they were.

Isn't everything sold in Wal-Mart made in Manchuria?
so... Kerry's ownership of Wal-Mart stock would be taking away jobs from American factories?

[saab95]

Heinz Blasts Wal-mart; Owns $1 Million In Stock

I couldn't stop laughing when I heard that on the news!

How retarded that is!

[Lerkfish]

Originally posted by IceBreaker:
Isn't everything sold in Wal-Mart made in Manchuria?
so... Kerry's ownership of Wal-Mart stock would be taking away jobs from American factories?

Um.....either you've misunderstood me, or vice versa. The Manchurian Candidate was a classic movie about a candidate for president who was a communist mole, and captured american POWS who were brainwashed to be assassins....

[BRussell]

Originally posted by Lerkfish:
I'm the artist, my dad was the accountant. Not much rubbed off, somewhat intentionally. However, yes, our retirement choices include moneymarket funds. You can divvy up the contributions, once a year into different types of accounts, all owned by Vanguard. the guy who does my taxes told me a percentage to divvy it up, and I dutifully obliged, only to lose lots of it after 9/11. But...enough about me already.

Oh, OK. The way you said it, it sounded like you only had money market accounts available to you.

....however, I don't think a person should be PREVENTED from saying they think walmarts ruin communities because they have walmart stock...should they? Seems to me, being a stockholder, they have MORE right to speak out against practices they disagree with.....*shrugs*

I don't really get into the whole socially responsible investing thing, but if you're going to make a point of criticizing a company's practices in a political context, you probably shouldn't invest in them.

[Lerkfish]

Originally posted by BRussell:
I don't really get into the whole socially responsible investing thing, but if you're going to make a point of criticizing a company's practices in a political context, you probably shouldn't invest in them.

not that I'm defending her per se, but that would depend on the level of outrage of the criticism.

the quote was:

"Another thing that drives me crazy, and I hope I don't offend anyone here, is WAL-MART," Mrs. Kerry told a group of Democratic women activists at a luncheon in St. Paul last Tuesday. "They destroy communities."

I think its wrong to jump from "drives me crazy" to being an impassioned activist against them. I mean, that could just be that she finds it annoying vs. she finds it obscenely objectionable. To me, that comment seems on a low energy level of outrage, more of a passing observation. But, I wasn't there, so there might have been more to the quote than what was in the first post in this thread.


I think the charge of hypocrisy here is bit overwrought based on that statement, and again shows the level of barbed mudslinging we're likely to see this year, from both sides.

[voodoo]

Originally posted by Developer:
You call $401K little?!

It's not all your fault. But you are one of the more moral people, at least you talk about this stuff all the time, and yet when you invest your money you don't care about it any more. From that I conclude the "lesser moral" people do this as well.
So corporations that try to maximize profit while ignoring moral are doing exactly what their investors want them to do. That answers that question.

http://www.401khelpcenter.com/401k_defined.html

[BRussell]

They destroy communities. But it's OK for me to give them money to help them destroy communities, as long as I get a return on my investment.

[Lerkfish]

Originally posted by BRussell:
They destroy communities. But it's OK for me to give them money to help them destroy communities, as long as I get a return on my investment.

I used to live in Vegas. There is a large Mormon community there, and many mormons have partial ownership in casinos as an investment, even though their laws forbid gambling and they forbid them to enter a casino to gamble....

The world is a nutty place.

I would also personally have trouble with the validity of the idea that Walmart destroys communities. Not defending walmart, but they are, as far as I know, not doing anything legal by opening up stores. If so, then Odd Lots destroys communities, and Payless destroys communities, ad infinitum.

Like I said, I'm not defending her or her statements, just commenting that I think the charges of hypocrisy are overwrought in this particular instance.

[IceBreaker]

Originally posted by Lerkfish:

Like I said, I'm not defending her or her statements, just commenting that I think the charges of hypocrisy are overwrought in this particular instance.

Her statements are outlandish given the facts. Incredible...what a bunch of hypocrites.

[Lerkfish]

Originally posted by IceBreaker:
Her statements are outlandish given the facts. Incredible...what a bunch of hypocrites.

to whom do you refer now?

[IceBreaker]

Originally posted by Lerkfish:
to whom do you refer now?

To Mrs Kerry.. for trashing what Wal-Mart does to a community while all the time owning a significant amount of Wal-Mart stock.

The complete definition of a hypocrite.

I'd never say anything bad about any member..I'm new..and read that is not allowed.