8 Questions for Bob Ehrlich About Mary Kane

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8 Questions for Bob Ehrlich about Mary Kane

1. While Mary Kane was on its Board of Directors, The Kane Company

obtained federal government contracts worth millions yet paid lower

wages than mandated by law. Did you know the Kane Company was

under investigation for submitting false and fraudulent documents to

cheat taxpayers?

In 2009, federal prosecutors charged that the Kane Company had for years paid its workers less

than required by federal contracts and submitted false and fraudulent documents indicating

the company was in compliance. The federal complaint, filed under the False Claims Act, alleged

that the company and its subsidiaries paid lower wages than mandated for numerous moving

and office installation projects for the federal government dating to 1998. (The Washington

Post, Complaint Targets Ex-GOP Chief's Firm, July 11, 2009)

In 1999, The Kane Company won a large contract from the U.S. General Services Administration.This enabled the company and all of its subsidiaries to contract with multiple government

agencies. Public records indicate that between the years 2000 and 2009, The Kane Company

received approximately $30,086,856 in federal contracts.

2. Mary Kanes company stands accused of cheating taxpayers and its own

workers in order to secure for itself millions of dollars of taxpayer money.

Federal prosecutors say her company "routinely" violated federal law "for

most of its federal government contracts" during the period that she

helped lead it, and her company also faces allegations that it over-billedand double-charged the government. Why should taxpayers trust her as a

guardian of their funds?

3. In harassing emails submitted as evidence against The Kane Company,

Mary Kanes husband, John Kane wrote to an African American

businessman that any success he has had is because of minority set

aside programs. Do you agree with John Kane that minority set aside

programs are not part of the real world? What is your position onMarylands Minority and Women owned business program?

Email:

And by the way, what bullshit operation have you had any success with? Any success

you have had is thanks to set aside programs.

Come out in the real world with the big boys and show me how youre so smart.
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4. What is Mary Kanes position on the Purple Line? Does she agree with

your [Bob Ehrlichs] position to kill the project and does she still believe

that the residents of Silver Spring should be kept out of Bethesda? Do

you agree with her statement? Did you consider this when you selected

her as your running mate?

During her campaigns for office in 2000 and 2002, Kane opposed the inner Purple Line, the

route stretching from Bethesda to New Carrollton that has been endorsed by Governor

OMalley and Montgomery County leaders as the locally preferred alternative.

Kane, who endorsed an outer Purple Line that would have run from Silver Spring north to

White Oak before heading east, reportedly said that she could not see the benefit to Bethesda

residents of public transit connecting the city to the east, according toThe Maryland Gazette:

Still, the most telling thing that happened during the primary may have been the quotevanquished GOP council candidate Mary Kane gave The Gazette about the trolley in the

newspaper's voters guide. She said she could see the need to travel from Silver Spring

to Bethesda, but not from Bethesda to Silver Spring.

Her comment put on record what has been an undercurrent throughout the

Georgetown Branch debate. Why should the lower and middle classes of Silver Spring

be allowed easy access to Bethesda? (The Maryland Gazette, Purple Line has taken

circuitous path, March 24, 2000)

5. In 2003, Mary Kane left the Board of Directors of The Kane Company tojoin your Administration. The Kane Company benefited generously from

the State of Maryland during your tenure. How can you be trusted with

the States finances when Mary Kane has a personal interest in state

contracts?

A Baltimore Sun article reported that The Kane Company collected roughly $185,000 in

contracts from Maryland during Ehrlichs first year as governor. A public records search

indicated that The Kane Company received approximately 11 Maryland state contracts between

2005 and 2006.

The same Sun article reported that between 2002 and 2003, The Kane Company collected

approximately $481,811 in state contracts from Maryland. The article specifically referenced

Kanes status as chairman of MDs Republican Party, suggesting that Kane may have capitalized

on his political connections to win business. The article also noted that Mary Kane had been

hired to serve as Marylands assistant secretary of state and reported her salary to be $78,128 a

year(The Baltimore Sun, Business: Official jobs have been a boon to state GOP chairman John

Kane's company, May 13, 2003).
http://www.gazette.net/gazette_archive/2000/200012/montgomerycty/county/4478-1.htmlhttp://www.gazette.net/gazette_archive/2000/200012/montgomerycty/county/4478-1.htmlhttp://www.gazette.net/gazette_archive/2000/200012/montgomerycty/county/4478-1.htmlhttp://www.gazette.net/gazette_archive/2000/200012/montgomerycty/county/4478-1.htmlhttp://www.gazette.net/gazette_archive/2000/200012/montgomerycty/county/4478-1.htmlhttp://www.gazette.net/gazette_archive/2000/200012/montgomerycty/county/4478-1.htmlhttp://www.gazette.net/gazette_archive/2000/200012/montgomerycty/county/4478-1.htmlhttp://www.gazette.net/gazette_archive/2000/200012/montgomerycty/county/4478-1.htmlhttp://articles.baltimoresun.com/2003-05-13/news/0305130048_1_john-kane-office-movers-secretary-of-statehttp://articles.baltimoresun.com/2003-05-13/news/0305130048_1_john-kane-office-movers-secretary-of-statehttp://articles.baltimoresun.com/2003-05-13/news/0305130048_1_john-kane-office-movers-secretary-of-statehttp://articles.baltimoresun.com/2003-05-13/news/0305130048_1_john-kane-office-movers-secretary-of-statehttp://articles.baltimoresun.com/2003-05-13/news/0305130048_1_john-kane-office-movers-secretary-of-statehttp://articles.baltimoresun.com/2003-05-13/news/0305130048_1_john-kane-office-movers-secretary-of-statehttp://articles.baltimoresun.com/2003-05-13/news/0305130048_1_john-kane-office-movers-secretary-of-statehttp://articles.baltimoresun.com/2003-05-13/news/0305130048_1_john-kane-office-movers-secretary-of-statehttp://www.gazette.net/gazette_archive/2000/200012/montgomerycty/county/4478-1.htmlhttp://www.gazette.net/gazette_archive/2000/200012/montgomerycty/county/4478-1.htmlhttp://www.gazette.net/gazette_archive/2000/200012/montgomerycty/county/4478-1.html


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6. In 2002, Mary Kane made loans to her own campaign committee, Friends

of Mary Kane. Why has her campaign committee not paid her back the

$48,000 in loans after 8 years?

According to Kanes campaign committees most recent campaign filing, filed in January 2010,

$48,000 in loans Mary Kane made to Friends of Mary Kane in 2002 are still outstanding. The

committee has not raised any money since 2002; however, it spent over $17,000 on campaign

consulting, printing, and materials in 2003, when Kane was not a candidate for office.

(Maryland Elections Center)

7. The Kane Company exceeded the campaign contribution limits to Political

Action Committees while Mary Kane was on its Board of Directors. How

can voters trust that it wont happen again, now that Mary Kane is a

candidate for Lt. Governor?

The Kane Company and its subsidiaries frequently contribute to conservative political campaigns

and PACs. In 2001, the company was named in a Baltimore Sun article as one of approximately

40 companies that exceeded Maryland campaign contribution limits (The Baltimore Sun,

Dozens Exceed Campaign Gift Limit, December 18, 2001).

The Sun also reported that The Kane Company contributed a total of $14,320 in campaign and

PAC donations in 2001 (companies and/or individuals are prohibited from donating more than

$10,000 during a given election cycle). The article quoted John Kane glibly responding to the

allegations, saying: I look great in stripes." Kane also remarked, If I screwed up, I screwed up.

(The Baltimore Sun, Dozens Exceed Campaign Gift Limit, December 18, 2001)

A public records search verified that the Kane Company did in fact exceed spending limits,

although the amount ascertained in the public records ($14,675) differed slightly from the

amount reported in The Sun.
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8. Do you still favor thepay to playconversion tax that you and Mary Kanes

husband proposed while he was the Chair of the Republican Party in

Maryland?

Shortly after Ehrlichs inauguration as governor, John Kane, then state GOP chairman,

announced that special interests would have to pay a conversion tax that is, contribute to

Republicans 125% of what they had contributed to Democrats. Critics suggested that the taxsounded like influence peddling, and The New York Times editorialized that Kane sounded like a

Tammany Hall boss:

The new Republican administration in the Maryland statehouse is little more

than a month old, but someone should start collecting the sayings of John Kane,

the triumphalist G.O.P. state chairman, on the subject of campaign donations.

He could rival the enduring political candor of George Washington Plunkett, the

Tammany Hall boss famous for admitting: I seen my opportunities and I took

'em.

"There is a conversion tax now, Mr. Kane exulted soon after the inauguration.He was explaining his view that corporate donors who for years backed the

entrenched statehouse power of the Democrats were now being asked to pay

his conversion tax -- contributing $1.25 to his party for every dollar they had

been paying the opposition. To the victor goes the spoils, Mr. Kane needlessly

announced of his quick success in seeing the G.O.P. raise more than half a

million dollars for the re-election of Gov. Robert Ehrlich Jr. barely before he

claimed office.

People are investing in the two-party state of government, says Mr. Kane as he

aims at the Democrats' rich record. The flow of funds is increasing as the

Republicans take over the governorship for the first time since Spiro Agnew

ruled decades ago. Alas, Mr. Agnew strode beyond the limits of what Plunketttermed honest graft and was ultimately investigated and proved to have taken

envelopes of money and bags of free groceries as his bonus for public service.

Mr. Kane proclaims a healthier day, accepting the donations as a symptom of

bipartisan democracy. It's the way the system works, he says of all the racing

interests suddenly giving to a party committed to more legal gambling. I don't

see it as buying influence or even buying access, added Mr. Kane. It's nothing

short of an investment in good government. (The New York Times, Who Says

No New Taxes? February 20, 2003)

8 Questions for Bob Ehrlich About Mary Kane

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