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John Edwards on CorporationsDemocratic Nominee for Vice President; NC Jr Senator |
FACT CHECK: Edwards made several allegations about what Cheney had done as CEO of Halliburton. We can only give Edwards partial credit for his Halliburton attack, however. He implied that Cheney was in charge of the company when it did business with Libya in violation of US sanctions, but that happened long before Cheney joined the company. Edwards was also slightly off when he said Halliburton paid millions in fines " while Cheney was CEO." He meant that it paid fines for matters that took place while Cheney was in charge. And in fact, the SEC announced Aug. 3 that Halliburton will pay $7.5 million to settle a matter that dates back to 1998, when Cheney was CEO.
A: We can have a real impact on the loss of jobs. We can do something to bring jobs back to replace the jobs that we've lost. I've seen mills close, I've seen what it does to communities, I've seen what it does to families. We need to close loopholes in our tax code to give breaks to companies that are leaving, give tax breaks to American companies that will keep jobs here.
North Carolina's product liability statute was not crafted with the best interests of [negligence victims] in mind. For example, it protected a manufacturer from liability if its product had been altered or modified from its intended use. Sta-Rite contended, "If the screws are in place [on the drain cover], it's not a hazard," but they didn't indicate in their instructions that screws were required,] Sta-Rite had dumped a product on the market without considering its hazards. Underlying this case was Sta-Rite's corporate indifference. It's hard to sit there and listen to strangers say, "Lawsuits like these are what's wrong with America!" and then go home to your innocent daughter and her feeding tubes. [The jury awarded $25 million against Sta-Rite].
The trucking industry did indeed take notice of the verdict. Trucking firms in the state of North Carolina were soon placing greater emphasis no driver safety training. Some companies even abandoned the practice of paying drivers by the mile.
Unfortunately, the insurance companies lobbied the Republican state legislature and soon a bill was passed disallowing punitive damage awards against a company as a result of an employee's actions, unless the particular action was specifically ratified by corporate officers.
Yes, our lawsuit had sent a message, and that message ultimately was: if you don't like the law, change it. The message to me was: if you can't help enough people being a lawyer, consider being a lawmaker.
EDWARDS: We ought to have trade agreements that have real protections in them that allow our people here at home to compete. But we also ought to close down loopholes in our tax code that give American companies an incentive to go overseas. In fact, we ought to give tax breaks to American companies that will keep jobs right here in America.
We have to protect the jobs we have. We have to create jobs. And in order to create jobs, we ought to identify those places in America where job losses occurred and say to new business, "If you'll start there, we'll give you the seed money with a national venture capital fund"; and second, to existing businesses and industry, "If you'll locate in an urban area, in an inner city, in a rural area, we will give you incentives to go there."
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