Carper works for his DowDupont paymasters – not Delawareans
This Forbes expose from Austin Frerick could not be any more plain spoken.
Tom Carper is on the take and simply doesn’t give a fuck about Delaware.
Tom Carper: Senator DowDuPont
…Almost a year ago this month, DuPont merged with the Dow Chemical Company to create DowDuPont, the world’s largest chemical company in terms of sales. This merger occurred amid a massive wave of consolidation in the agricultural sector. The merger of Dow and Dupont, coupled with the concurrent mergers of Bayer-Monsanto and ChemChina-Syngenta, will limit the major players in the agrichemical and seed sectors to just four companies. In fact, two companies — Monsanto-Bayer and DowDuPont — will soon control about three-quarters of the U.S. corn seed market.
Consolidation often leads to layoffs. After Kraft and Heinz merged in 2015, they announced that the combined company would cut 2,500 jobs. AT&T and Time Warner completed their merger in June, and the new company plans to eliminate 14,600 jobs over the next three years. It is not unreasonable to expect a similar outcome in Delaware.
Yet despite the potential for disruption in Delaware, the state’s senior U.S. senator, Tom Carper, has not opposed the merger. In a February 2016 op-ed in The Wilmington News Journal before the merger closed, Carper acknowledged that it “brings with it real adversity for a lot of people” and that it will likely lead to layoffs that are “painful for the DuPont workers and their families.” Nevertheless, he pointedly refused to oppose the merger, instead calling it an “important first step in [a] journey.” He has since failed to take any action to prevent the merger from moving forward.
It is perhaps unsurprising, then, that DuPont has been Carper’s third-largest campaign contributor since 2013. Moreover, his most recent Senator Financial Disclosure report revealed that Senator Carper and his wife own investments in Dow and DuPont valued between $315,000 and $650,000. These conflicts of interest may explain why Carper has done little to oppose a merger that will have such deleterious impacts on his constituents.
Note: I was going to post this before REV got it in the comments, but he is quick like a rabbit.
Also – with that amount of stink on him, no wonder he doesn’t want to debate.
This is stupid… why would anyone from DE oppose this merger? And also, Carper’s wife’s a former executive from Dupont who received a bunch of stock over her years, way before she met Carper. She has the wealth, not him. The fact that it’s just assumed that a couple’s wealth is generated by the husband, just shows that sexism isnt just a playground for Trumpers.
If that rationalization was anymore contorted it would be in Cirque du Soleil
This is like the most unoriginal blog post ever. Jason–You need more material. How many bites can you get out of this and the pic with the logo on him?
First, your research of their lay offs and hiring is lazy. Your posting is about a year late. Your pretty weak post hoc logic can be taken apart quickly. If DuPont had also not just invested 200 million into the ex station, expanded a manufacturing facility, and making a good deal of money, then this might be a good post.
Lastly, if Kerri cared about the people of Delaware, she would care about the solvency of DuPont as well. If they go bust, so the the pensions and heath and dental benefits for a ton of seniors retirees that still live in DE.
You can hate the company, and you can hate Carper, but you got to respect that they did not shed their pension agreements which could have saved them a ton and really screwed a lot of people in DE and around the country.
You act like you found a smoking gun with your stumbling across her investments in her former employer for a number of years. If they drove a BWM and lived in a really tricked out house, you might be onto something. Have you seen the POS he drives?!
Would Kerri have opposed the merger? That’s a good question. What would she have done in the same situation depending on her committee assignments? The funny thing is that she also sort of works for/used to work for/unclear an organization that is housed in a former DuPont owned building. Dont hear her or that non profit complaining about the low rent they pay. Dont hear her calling for the renaming of schools with the name DuPont in them.
I know she wont take money from companies (which is cute, but a great way to come in second). Has she also said she will not take money from current and former employees of DuPont? Doubt it. Imagine the level of purity she would attain if she did go farther, and not take any money from people who worked for corporations!!!! Now we are talking. I mean, whats the fucking difference, right? Money from a corporation to her vs money from a corporation to an employee to her still winds up in her pocket from the same source.
All I’m getting from that post, golden eye, is “actually, it’s okay to have your office literally be in the Chase building”.
Carper is corrupt, and is unqualified to represent the state. His voting record is enough for me, he needs to go.
No one gets to “shed their pension agreements”. Moving pension liabilities is a highly regulated process. ERISA came about in 1974 because of the propensity of companies to screw their employees out of promised pension benefits when it suited them.
I don’t doubt that DuPont cares at least enough about its retirees and reputation to not break their promises, but they really don’t have much of a choice.
Thinking the “solvency of DuPont” is a big issue sounds like I stepped back in time to 1979.
These excuses are very rich and funny to me.
Perfect example of Golden Eye’s Carney canard from the man himself in today’s paper.
https://www.delawareonline.com/story/news/politics/2018/08/02/ashland-moving-corporate-headquarters-delaware-2020/887591002/
So we learn that Ashland will be moving its HQ to a a Wilmington office they already have. “The move to Delaware will follow a corporate downsizing at the 94-year-old company that recently fell out of the Fortune 500.” This move will add less than 100 DE jobs.
Based on this:
“Ashland has a long history of innovation and success, including right here in Delaware,” Gov. John Carney said via email. “We’re thrilled they have selected Delaware for their corporate headquarters. This is additional proof that Delaware remains a great place for companies of any size to put down roots, grow, and create jobs.”
This is a Starkey cut and paste job I think. If they had any shame at all they’d be embarrassed.
This is the Golden Eye point in a nut shell. Convinced that the solvency and success of the oligarchy is some standard of success. It doesn’t meet the first order material needs of most people.
So the only conclusion I can reach is that Golden Eye and people like Golden Eye don’t care about directly addressing the material needs of most people.
Also on today’s front page from Karl Baker.
https://www.delawareonline.com/story/news/2018/08/02/ghost-gunner-case-exposes-delaware-loophole-corporate-taxes/878356002/
The tax haven the oligarchs have built here literally steals money. So the next time one of you worm-brained dolts make the point that Delaware’s school are bad think about why.
For years, Delaware has boasted about how it keeps personal taxes low because of the revenue derived from incorporation fees and corporate taxes.
And corporations say they like to set up here because of the state’s great corporate lawyers.
And here we have an example of how those great corporate lawyers write legislation that allows corporations to pay next to nothing in taxes.
It doesn’t make sense … that’s why it’s Delaware.
Caper is a a self-righteous person; a hypocrite of the first order. He is the reason our sustainability is in serious jeopardy. He went into office getting 10% budget increasess
for 8 years and did nothing about our fresh water problems now 90% of our fresh water is polluted. Our air that stank. 94% ozone pollution from Penn and Carper’s home state of WVA from coal fired electric generation plants. Delaware is now 2nd from the bottom with cancer in the 50 states. That’s exactly what happens when you have bad air, bad water and a bad Govenor that doesn’t care about people. It gets worse. Our sustainability is on the line. On Sept 6th vote the 72 out with his four pesions he got screwing us over.
You mean he’s not an “environmental warrior” in the senate? I feel deceived…
🙂
Environmental warrior is the theme of a bunch of FB ads I’ve seen. (BTW – be sure to click 1,000 times on each of his social media ads. He has money to burn, so it is only being neighborly to help him burn it. )