Contractor who bought Cunningham's house made employees give political con

[Lochloosa]

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/politics/20050620-1839-cnsmzm.html

By Marcus Stern
COPLEY NEWS SERVICE

6:39 p.m. June 20, 2005

WASHINGTON – A defense contractor who took a $700,000 loss on the purchase of Rep. Randy Cunningham's Del Mar residence in 2003, and provided a yacht for his use in the nation's capital, forced his employees to make political contributions that benefited the San Diego Republican and other members of Congress, according to three former senior officials of the company.
The former employees of the defense contractor, MZM, Inc., said separately that its founder, Mitchell Wade, routinely forced employees to give political donations.

"By the spring of '02, Mitch was twisting employees' arms to donate to his MZM PAC," said one senior former employee. "We were called in and told basically either donate to the MZM PAC or we would be fired."

Campaign finance laws prohibit employers from compelling their workers to contribute to the company's political action committee (PAC). They may encourage contributions, but not compel them by threats.
"It is illegal to solicit campaign contributions for the company's political action committee by the use of threats, force or threat of job reprisal," said Larry Noble, director of the Center for Responsive Politics, a nonpartisan organization that closely follows the flow of money to politicians. "If they say to somebody, 'You either give or you are going to be fired,' they have violated the law."

Ruh Roh...

[nadinbrzezinski]

1. Oh com'on how dare we all

speak ill of this honset and upstanding Republican... I mean if it walks like a bribe, it smells like a brige and it looks like a bribe it is only a bad move... :sarcasm:

[Lochloosa]

2. After reading the whole article, found this teaser about none other

than Katherine Harris....:woohoo:

MZM's PAC gave Reps. Katherine Harris, R-Fla., and Virgil Goode, R-Va., $10,000 each during the 2004 election cycle. Separately, MZM officials and their family members gave Harris a total of $44,000 during the 2004 election cycle and they gave Goode a total of $27,601 during the same period. :woohoo:

[UpInArms]

3. so when do these criminals start getting marched into prison?

But then, I forget - IOKALAYAR -

It's OKay As Long As You Are Republican.

:argh:

[spinbaby]

4. This is very common

I'm betting that almost every time you see a company where most of top and middle management donates to the Republican party, they're doing so to keep their jobs. There are Republican fund-raiser dinners where EVERYONE attending is either an employee of or sells something to the person organizing the fund raiser.

[AX10]

6. Isn't that illega?

:wtf:? I see myself moving up the corporate ladder some day, but I don't want to give money to the GOP. :argh:

[spinbaby]

9. Of course it's illegal

They used to be fairly subtle about it, but since * got elected, they don't even try to hide it.

[MisterP]

5. north Diegans, we'll be needing a smart, snappy, liberal decorated

vet who'll punch the stupidest Rep. in the House if he so much mentions him and bin Laden in the same MONTH. Alas, I'm stuck with close second Gary "what has the environment ever provided for us?" Miller.

[Judi Lynn]

7. Do you remember the right-wing pressure on Venezuelan workers

to sign the referendum petitions at their jobs, so the right-wing opposition could try to force the recall (Bush-supported,taxpayer sponsored) on Hugo Chavez?

According to union spokespersons, workers at a Coca-Cola plant in Antimano, Caracas, were fired from their jobs for refusing to go repair their signatures, which were included in the anti-Chavez signature drive without their authorization or under pressure. The workers introduced a formal complaint at the Ministry of Labor, and claimed that similar situations were experienced at Coca-Cola plants in the states of Carabobo, Lara, Bolivar, and Monagas.

The Venezuelan subsidiary of Coca-Cola is owned by billionaire Gustavo Cisneros, who also owns Venezuela’s biggest TV network, and who is believed to be the main economic supporter of the anti-Chavez movement in Venezuela.
(snip)

http://64.233.187.104/search?q=cache:sszQMjp5WeMJ:www.agrnews.org/issues/281/worldnews.html+Venezuela+Coca+Cola+forced+employees+sign+petition+Hugo+Chavez&hl=en

Here's Coca Cola,media owner Cisneros with elder _Bush, his good fishing buddy:

[MindPilot]

8. Nice to see Duncan Hunter (R-Pilaf) is wrapped up in this too!

They may have to release some pot smokers to make room for these treasonous pieces of shit.

On Edit: What’s up with the UT? Why aren’t they making excuses and covering it up? Is Robert Caldwell tied up in a basement somewhere?

[David Zephyr]

10. Cunningham = War Profiteer.

This shithead made a fortune on the deaths of our soldiers.

War profiteering.

[cascadiance]

11. An updated article link here...

Here's a pic of Wade. What an f'in sleezoid!!



http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/politics/20050622-9999-1n22mzm.html