Edward M Kennedy
From Corruptapedia
| Edward "Ted" Kennedy | |
 | |
| Assumed Office November 6, 1962 | |
| State | Massachusetts |
| Party | Democrat |
| Preceded By | Benjamin A. Smith II |
| Succeeded By | Incumbent (2013) |
| Born | February 22, 1932 Boston, Massachusetts |
Edward (Ted) Kennedy has been a United States Senator from Massachusetts since November 6, 1962. He is the second-longest server member of the Senate after Senator Byrd.
Kennedy is the Chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee. He also serves on the Judiciary Committee, where he is the Chairman of the Immigration Subcommittee and the Armed Services Committee, where he is the Chairman of the Seapower Subcommittee. He is also a member of the Congressional Joint Economic Committee, a founder of the Congressional Friends of Ireland and a trustee of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C.
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[edit] Family
He is the younger brother of President John F. Kennedy and Senator Robert F. Kennedy who were assassinated in the 1960s. He is the father of Congressman Patrick J. Kennedy.
One year after he was elected into the Senate (1963) his brother, President John F. Kennedy was assassinated. The following year Ted Kennedy was in a tragic plane accident in which a pilot and Kennedy aide was killed. In 1968 his last surviving brother, Robert, was assassinated during a presidential campaign. It was thought and wildly accepted that Ted Kennedy would make a run for the White House. This never came to realization, mostly due to the Chappaquiddick incident.
[edit] Litigation
[edit] Chappaquiddick
In 1969, Senator Kennedy drove his mother's vehicle off a bridge and into a channel after a party on Martha's Vineyard. His passenger, Mary Jo Kopechne, was killed. Kennedy was able to swim free from the vehicle. Mary Jo Kopechne was not. Kennedy claims he attempted to retrieve her from the vehicle numerous times then rested on the bank. He then returned by foot to the Lawrence Cottage and went back to the scene with his cousin Joseph Gargan and party co-host Paul Markham. Although there was a telephone at the ranch, they opted to not call for help.
The three were unable to rescue Mary Jo Kopechne. Since the ferry had stopped running, Kennedy swam across the 500 foot channel to his hotel room. Still, none had contact emergency services to attempt a rescue of Kopechne.
The next morning, Kennedy witnessed on his hotel television that police had recovered his vehicle and the body of Mary Jo Kopechne. He called his lawyer, and then called the police.
Kennedy entered a plea of guilty to a charge of leaving the scene of a accident after causing injury. He received a sentence of two months in jail, which was suspended.
The incident quickly became a scandal. Kennedy was strongly criticized for failing to save Kopechne, failing to summon help immediately and for contacting his lawyer before the police.
Later studies of the incident determined Mary Jo Kopechne hadn't drowned in the incident. She suffocated in an air pocket in the passenger foot well. It is widely believed she could have been rescued had Kennedy reported the incident.
[edit] Personal Politics
[edit] Cape Wind Project
Jim Gordon decided to begin a clean energy project in Massachusetts due to the strong energy policies of the local politicians, namely Kennedy. In 2003, after years of research Gordon and his associates launched the Cape Wind Project in an effort to provide clean energy to the Cape Cod area. Their hope was to replace the coal fired plants that were powering much of the area and believed to be causing health problems. The Cape Wind Project was estimated to provide three-quarters of the electrical power to the Cape Cod area and surrounding islands.
Kennedy complained about the location of the wind turbines. It was widely released within the media and late night programs that Kennedy did not want to see the turbines from his home. But in reality Kennedy wouldn't have been able to see them from his main estate. However, Robert Kennedy Jr, complained the turbines would be built in their favorite yachting area, Nantucket Sound.
The US Army Corps of Engineers were assigned to conduct a comprehensive review of the proposal. Cape Wind was sure this would satisfy Kennedy. Gordon stated, "I believe that when he (Kennedy) sees the results of this comprehensive environmental review, he will see the compelling public interest benefits: lower electrical costs, a cleaner, healthier environment, and energy independence and minimal environmental impact."
In November of 2004, the US Army Corps of Engineers released their massive 3,800 page assessment. Their conclusion was that the project would provide "compelling environmental and economic benefits."
Environmental groups such as Greenpeace USA quickly surrounded the project in support.
In the days after the report was published Kennedy called for greater federal regulation of wind farms. Kennedy got his longtime friend Senator John Warner (R-VA), chairman of the Armed Services Committee, to sneak an amendment to the defense budget to stop the project. The amendment was presented quickly as a major Iraq defense appropriation bill was being voted on.
[edit] Oil Scandals
The Kennedys' began their business in oil in the 1950 when Joe Kennedy purchased Arctic Oil. He then purchased Kenoil and Mokeen Oil Company in 1961. They then acquired mineral rights to hundreds of properties throughout the nation from mostly poor farmers who at the time didn't know what mineral rights were. The Kennedy family receives heavy profits from these investments.
In the late 1970s Kennedy was upset over what he called "excessive profits by oil companies." He led the battle in the Senate to end the tax loopholes in the oil industry. This was the central pillar for his campaign against Carter who challenged Kennedy for the Democratic nomination. Kennedy claimed that Carter was out to "boost the already ample profits of the oil industry, put millions of consumers through the wringer, and sharpen the class division in our society."
To punish the industry for its "greed" and cut back on the "excessive profits," Kennedy led a drive to kill the 22 percent depletion allowance for oil companies, claiming that the tax breaks amounted to welfare. But, when Kennedy wrote this legislation he drew a very peculiar distinction between "small struggling oil producers" and the "already cash-rich companies." Larger companies lost their tax shelters, while smaller companies were untouched. The tax bill draw that line placing the Kennedy oil companies under the category of "small struggling oil producers" despite their multi-million dollar revenues. Thus, the Kennedys continued to receive their "welfare." Moreover, the Kennedys have managed to not pay their share of taxes on their oil profits. The family came up with the ingenious idea to convert their corporate oil holdings into a so-called "royalty trust."
The Kennedys started the Arctic Royalty Limited Partnership for their oil profits in Kansas, Texas, Mississippi, Texas and Delaware. This prevents the Kennedys from paying any corporate taxes or income tax. Instead a flat fee of 15% of capital gains.
