Heinz Co. Is Campaign Weapon for Bush

Though John Kerry (news - web sites)'s wife is an heir to the H.J. Heinz Co. fortune, the food company and its executives are providing President Bush (news - web sites) with money and a campaign issue � jobs flowing overseas � in this year's election.

Members of the board of the Fortune 500 company and its corporate political action committee have donated thousands of dollars to Republicans in recent years, including contributions to the Bush campaign. The corporate PAC has given nothing to Kerry.

The Republicans are accepting the cash even as they criticize the Pittsburgh-based company's job cuts and overseas moves � part of an effort to taint the presumptive Democratic nominee with the conglomerate's business practices.

While Teresa Heinz Kerry gained much of her $500 million portfolio through her Heinz inheritance, she does not serve on the board and is not involved with the management of the company. Even her late husband, Sen. H. John Heinz III, R-Pa., did not serve on the board.

story.news.yahoo.com.../ap/20040420/ap_on_el_pr/heinz_politics

That is a kick to the head if I ever heard one!