William Harrison Binnie
Encyclopedia
William Harrison "Bill" Binnie (February 02, 1958—) is a New Hampshire industrialist, investment banker, and former political candidate who currently serves as president of Carlisle Capital Corporation and was formerly chairman of Carlisle Plastics, Inc. until Carlisle Plastics was sold to Tyco International
Tyco International
Tyco International Ltd. is a highly diversified global manufacturing company incorporated in Switzerland, with United States operational headquarters in Princeton, New Jersey...

 in Sept, 1996.

Binnie currently resides in Rye, New Hampshire
Rye, New Hampshire
Rye is a town in Rockingham County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 5,298 at the 2010 census.-History:The first settlement in New Hampshire, originally named Pannaway, was established in 1623 at Odiorne's Point. The first settler in Rye was William Berry...

.

Early years and education

Binnie was born in Scotland and immigrated to the United States at the age of 5. Binnie attended Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...

 on a scholarship. As a student, Bill served as a research fellow for the Accounting Review, a journal on finance and accounting. Upon graduation from Harvard College, Binnie attended Harvard Business School
Harvard Business School
Harvard Business School is the graduate business school of Harvard University in Boston, Massachusetts, United States and is widely recognized as one of the top business schools in the world. The school offers the world's largest full-time MBA program, doctoral programs, and many executive...

. where he served president of the Management Consulting Club. Upon graduation, Binnie began his business career as a consultant at McKinsey & Co.

Business career

Over the years, Binnie has founded a number of corporations large and small. Until September 1996, Binnie was the chairman of Carlisle Plastics, Inc., a manufacturer of plastic trash bags, coat hangers and plastic sheeting. Binnie served as the chairman of the board of Carlisle Plastics from 1985 onwards and as Chief Executive Officer and President from 1985 to 1994. In 1996, Binnie owned 62.5% of Carlisle's class B shares making him the majority and controlling owner. In September 1996, Binnie sold his controlling interest to Tyco International
Tyco International
Tyco International Ltd. is a highly diversified global manufacturing company incorporated in Switzerland, with United States operational headquarters in Princeton, New Jersey...

.

Binnie built Carlisle Plastics into a large plastics products manufacturer which employed thousands of workers. Carlisle Plastics was voted one of Walmart’s “Vendors of the Year”. During Binnie's tenure, Carlisle Plastics expanded significantly, employed thousands of workers and opened facilities throughout the United States, Europe, Latin America and Asia.

Binnie is currently the President of Carlisle Capital Corporation, an investment and venture capital company in New Hampshire. "Current estimates show this company has an annual revenue of $2.5 to 5 million and employs a staff of approximately 5 to 9," said the tracking site Manta.com in 2009.

Binnie currently owns the Wentworth By The Sea Country Club in Rye, once part of the Wentworth by the Sea Hotel
Wentworth by the Sea
The Wentworth by the Sea is a historic grand hotel in New Castle, New Hampshire, United States. It is now called The Wentworth by the Sea Hotel & Spa...

 in New Castle
New Castle, New Hampshire
New Castle is a town in Rockingham County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 968 at the 2010 census. It is the smallest town in New Hampshire, and the only one located entirely on islands. It is home to Fort Constitution Historic Site, Fort Stark Historic Site, and the New Castle...

.

In 2011, Binnie acquired Television station WZMY, renaming it WBIN-TV.

Racing career

A lifetime driver and mechanic, Bill drove for Lotus before forming Binnie Motorsports. Binnie is a two-time class winner of the 24 Hours of Le Mans
24 Hours of Le Mans
The 24 Hours of Le Mans is the world's oldest sports car race in endurance racing, held annually since near the town of Le Mans, France. Commonly known as the Grand Prix of Endurance and Efficiency, race teams have to balance speed against the cars' ability to run for 24 hours without sustaining...

, twice as a driver and once as a team owner. Bill has also won the ALMS Petite Le Mans Road Atlanta in Georgia, as well as the 12 hours of Sebring. The Team Binnie car is emblazoned with the Saint Andrew's Cross
Flag of Scotland
The Flag of Scotland, , also known as Saint Andrew's Cross or the Saltire, is the national flag of Scotland. As the national flag it is the Saltire, rather than the Royal Standard of Scotland, which is the correct flag for all individuals and corporate bodies to fly in order to demonstrate both...

, the national flag of Scotland, which also adorns the side of their garage building.

Philanthropy

After the death of his long-time friend George Jackson, Binnie became a co-founder of the George Jackson Academy in New York City, NY which serves underprivileged youth.

Binnie also makes a number of large anonymous charitable contributions which he refuses to publicly disclose.

Candidacy for United States Senate

Binnie unsuccessfully ran
United States Senate election in New Hampshire, 2010
The 2010 United States Senate election in New Hampshire was held on November 2, 2010, alongside other midterm elections to the United States Senate in other states as well as to the United States House of Representatives. A primary election was held on September 14th. Incumbent Republican U.S....

 as a Republican
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...

 for the United States Senate
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...

 seat currently held by Kelly Ayotte
Kelly Ayotte
Kelly A. Ayotte is the junior United States Senator from New Hampshire and a member of the Republican Party. She earlier served as the Attorney General of New Hampshire.-Early life, education and career:...

. The primary was held on September 14, 2010. Binnie ran for the Republican nomination against Hollis
Hollis, New Hampshire
Hollis is a town in Hillsborough County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 7,684 at the 2010 census. The town center village is listed on the National Register of Historic Places as Hollis Village Historic District....

 businessman Jim Bender, former State Board of Education chair Ovide Lamontagne, and former state Attorney General Kelly Ayotte
Kelly Ayotte
Kelly A. Ayotte is the junior United States Senator from New Hampshire and a member of the Republican Party. She earlier served as the Attorney General of New Hampshire.-Early life, education and career:...

, who won the primary contest and went on to win the election.

Binnie announced his candidacy in November 2009, stating that his political beliefs were modeled after the former President Ronald Reagan
Ronald Reagan
Ronald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States , the 33rd Governor of California and, prior to that, a radio, film and television actor....

's vision of a limited government that fostered economic growth.

Individuals working on the Binnie campaign included Republican consultant Arthur J. Finkelstein
Arthur J. Finkelstein
Arthur J. Finkelstein is a New York-based Republican Party consultant who has worked for conservative candidates in the United States, Canada, Israel and Eastern Europe over the past four decades. With his brother he runs a political consulting and lobbying firm based in Irvington, New York...

, based in New York, former NHGOP executive director Paul Collins, and Sheri M. Keniston, formerly a congressional staffer for John E. Sununu
John E. Sununu
John Edward Sununu is a former Republican United States Senator from New Hampshire, of Lebanese and Palestinian Christian ancestry. Sununu was the youngest member of the Senate for his entire six year term. He is the son of former New Hampshire Governor John H...

.

Death threats

During the 2010 Senate run Binnie's pro-choice
Pro-choice
Support for the legalization of abortion is centered around the pro-choice movement, a sociopolitical movement supporting the ethical view that a woman should have the legal right to elective abortion, meaning the right to terminate her pregnancy....

 view on abortion attracted death threats from radical anti-abortion terrorists
Special interest terrorism
Special interest terrorism, also called single-issue terrorism, is a category of terrorism. It differs from traditional right-wing terrorism and left-wing terrorism in that extremist special interest groups seek to resolve specific issues, rather than effect widespread political change.Special...

, both against Binnie himself and against his elderly father. Other acts against Binnie and his family included vandalism of his daughter's car and threatening and harassing phone calls and postal mail.

Political Contributions

Binnie and his wife have a history of making political contributions to a variety of political causes and candidates.

In 2010 Bill gave tens of thousands of dollars in contributions to New Hampshire Republican candidates for state and federal offices including New Hampshire Republican Congressman Frank Guinta, Florida Congressman Connie Mack, and Connecticut Candidate Tom Foley, as well as hundreds of thousands for New Hampshire Congressional Candidates through Revere America and sizable contributions to the New Hampshire Republican State Committee.

Binnie gave $8000 during the '00 political cycle, $5000 to the National Republican Congressional Committee
National Republican Congressional Committee
The National Republican Congressional Committee is the Republican Hill committee which works to elect Republicans to the United States House of Representatives....

, $2000 to New Hampshire Republican John Sununu's campaign, and $1000 to New Hampshire Democratic state Senator Martha Fuller Clark
Martha Fuller Clark
Martha Fuller Clark is a former Democratic member of the New Hampshire Senate, having represented the 24th District from 2004 through 2010. Prior to her Senate service she was a member of the New Hampshire House of Representatives from 1990 through 2002...

.
Binnie also donated a total of $5000 to Ronald DiNicola in 1996, a Democrat in Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...

; $1000 to Marty Meehan
Marty Meehan
Martin Thomas "Marty" Meehan is an American attorney and politician from the state of Massachusetts. He is the current Chancellor of the University of Massachusetts Lowell, a position he assumed on July 1, 2007...

, a Democrat in Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...

; $3850 to Bill Zeliff
Bill Zeliff
William H. Zeliff, Jr. is a Republican politician from New Hampshire who was a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from 1991 to 1997....

, a Republican in New Hampshire.

A&E Plastics

According to The Children of NAFTA: Labor Wars on the U.S./Mexico Border by journalist and communist activist David Bacon (University of California Press), Carlisle Plastics closed a factory located in Santa Ana
Santa Ana, California
Santa Ana is the county seat and second most populous city in Orange County, California, and with a population of 324,528 at the 2010 census, Santa Ana is the 57th-most populous city in the United States....

 named A&E Plastics in 1989 and transferred its production to a factory located in Tijuana
Tijuana
Tijuana is the largest city on the Baja California Peninsula and center of the Tijuana metropolitan area, part of the international San Diego–Tijuana metropolitan area. An industrial and financial center of Mexico, Tijuana exerts a strong influence on economics, education, culture, art, and politics...

, Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...

, a claim that has been disputed by Former Carlisle Plastics CFO Rajiv Bhatt in signed affidavits.

Binnie has stated that Carlisle Plastics' labor relations with employees under his tenure had been excellent and that Carlisle's holdings had included a number of unionized U.S. facilities, that there had never been a strike at Carlisle during his tenure as the CEO, and that it is incorrect to say that the operations of A&E Plastics were moved to Mexico.
Binnie claims, "the employees were retained, they were doing different things."

Americans for Responsible Health Care

2010 promotions in the form of personal television appearances made by Binnie, a New Hampshire resident, in advertisements aired by the tax-exempt 527 organization Americans for Responsible Health Care in favor of the campaign of Massachusetts senator Scott Brown
Scott Brown
Scott Brown is a United States senator.Scott Brown may also refer to:-Sportsmen:*Scott Brown , American college football coach of Kentucky State...

 in the special election
United States Senate special election in Massachusetts, 2010
The 2010 United States Senate special election in Massachusetts was a special election held on January 19, 2010, in order to fill the Massachusetts Class I United States Senate seat for the remainder of the term ending January 3, 2013...

 to fill the seat vacated by the death of Senator Ted Kennedy
Ted Kennedy
Edward Moore "Ted" Kennedy was a United States Senator from Massachusetts and a member of the Democratic Party. Serving almost 47 years, he was the second most senior member of the Senate when he died and is the fourth-longest-serving senator in United States history...

 resulted in accusations from the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee
Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee
The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee is the Democratic Hill committee for the United States Senate. It is the only organization solely dedicated to electing Democrats to the United States Senate. The DSCC's current chair is Sen. Patty Murray, who succeeded Sen. Robert Menendez following...

 that Binnie's promotion of Brown, as one Senatorial candidate promoting a different Senatorial candidate in a separate race, was illegal.

DSCC spokeswoman Deirdre Murphy told an affiliate of Congressional Quarterly
Congressional Quarterly
Congressional Quarterly, Inc., or CQ, is a privately owned publishing company that produces a number of publications reporting primarily on the United States Congress...

, "Senate candidates are, by law, not allowed to form a '527' Issues Advocacy Group and run television advertisements for other candidates."

Americans for Responsible Health Care stated that it was formed by and is run by Parker Collier of Naples, Florida
Naples, Florida
Naples is a city in Collier County, Florida, United States. As of July 1, 2007, the U.S. Census Bureau estimated the city's population at 21,653. Naples is a principal city of the Naples–Marco Island Metropolitan Statistical Area, which had an estimated total population of 315,839 on July 1, 2007...

, a friend of Binnie but that Binnie did not found it and does not fund it. However, Binnie simultaneously stated to the New Hampshire Union Leader
New Hampshire Union Leader
The New Hampshire Union Leader is the daily newspaper of Manchester, the largest city in the state of New Hampshire. As of September 2010 it had a daily circulation of 48,342 and the circulation of its Sunday paper, the New Hampshire Sunday News, was 63,991. It was founded in 1863.It was called...

 that he had formed the group.

The accusations did not result in formal charges. Binnie stated to journalist James Pindell, "The advertisement I appear in to support Scott Brown is entirely lawful and appropriate. Indeed, it was carefully reviewed by experienced campaign lawyers. The ad is being paid for entirely out of hard-dollar funds consistent with the federal election laws out of Mrs. Parker Collier’s personal funds and will be reported to the FEC
Federal Election Commission
The Federal Election Commission is an independent regulatory agency that was founded in 1975 by the United States Congress to regulate the campaign finance legislation in the United States. It was created in a provision of the 1975 amendment to the Federal Election Campaign Act...

 as such."

Ethics investigations by the media

During Binnie's candidacy, the New Hampshire Union Leader, the Concord Monitor, and several other newspapers raised questions about Binnie's business ethics in various articles discussing Binnie's candidacy. At one point Binnie personally visited the Union Leader offices offering documentation to contradict the signed Carlisle Plastics annual report mentioned above that was quoted in the paper's August 22nd, 2010 story http://www.unionleader.com/article.aspx?&articleId=879eeaa0-aa84-4b2b-8877-80167043a7e4, calling for a retraction of that story. The Union Leader refused. The Binnie campaign then requested that an unaffiliated paper, Foster's Daily Democrat
Foster's Daily Democrat
Foster's Daily Democrat is a six-day morning broadsheet newspaper published in Dover, New Hampshire, USA, covering southeast New Hampshire and southwest Maine...

, retract the Union Leaders story, which Foster's and The Portsmouth Herald
The Portsmouth Herald
The Portsmouth Herald is a seven-day daily newspaper serving greater Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Its coverage area also includes the municipalities of Greenland, New Castle, Newington and Rye, New Hampshire; and Eliot, Kittery, Kittery Point and South Berwick, Maine.News Corporation acquired The...

 had reprinted. Foster's Executive Editor Rodney Doherty explained that it is the responsibility of the newspaper that originally prints a story to retract it.

Campaign expenditures

As of October 27th, 2010 Binnie had spent more than six million dollars on his campaign.

Federal government stimulus plan

Binnie publicly stated that he would have voted "no" on the stimulus plan
American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, abbreviated ARRA and commonly referred to as the Stimulus or The Recovery Act, is an economic stimulus package enacted by the 111th United States Congress in February 2009 and signed into law on February 17, 2009, by President Barack Obama.To...

 had he been in office at the time. Binnie also publicly stated he would have fired CEOs on Wall Street had they had taken public monies because their companies had failed and it was therefore time for new management to be brought in.

Jobs

As an immediate solution for unemployment, Binnie stated that "he would advocate proposals for a job tax credit to aid the unemployed get jobs and by helping help employers afford their salary."

Spending

After announcing to the Rye Republican Party that he would be filing for the US Senate, Binnie stated that he would make holding Washington spending accountable one of the key platforms of his campaign.

Health care

Binnie proposed building new public medical schools for doctors, dentists, and nurses to handle the expected increase in demand for medical services.
Binnie also said he would work to repeal the 2010 health care legislation
Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act
The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act is a United States federal statute signed into law by President Barack Obama on March 23, 2010. The law is the principal health care reform legislation of the 111th United States Congress...

, which he says is ineffective because it does not address affordability.

During his own 2010 New Hampshire Senate campaign Binnie simultaneously founded and assisted the tax-exempt 527 organization Americans for Responsible Health Care in support of the campaign of victorious Senator Scott Brown
Scott Brown
Scott Brown is a United States senator.Scott Brown may also refer to:-Sportsmen:*Scott Brown , American college football coach of Kentucky State...

 in the neighboring state of Massachusetts. Brown's success in that election altered the balance of power in the United States Senate, depriving the Democratic majority of the ability to overcome the filibuster parliamentary procedure
Obstructionism
Obstructionism is the practice of deliberately delaying or preventing a process or change, especially in politics.-As workplace aggression:An obstructionist causes problems. Neuman and Baron identify obstructionism as one of the three dimensions that encompass the range of workplace aggression...

, and hence affected the course of the legislative work on the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act
Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act
The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act is a United States federal statute signed into law by President Barack Obama on March 23, 2010. The law is the principal health care reform legislation of the 111th United States Congress...

.

Same-sex marriage

In 2009 Binnie told reporters that he personally believes the term marriage applied only to a union between a man and a woman, but took no issue with the settled law in New Hampshire. New Hampshire law allows both same sex and heterosexual couples to marry.

Illegal immigration

Binnie, himself a legal immigrant, said during his 2010 campaign that he favors a path to legal citizenship for illegal aliens. He stated during a debate that he opposes Arizona SB 1070 then subsequently released a radio advertisement saying that he understood why Arizona passed it.

In a video campaign advertisement, Binnie stated that if elected he would insist that immigrants learn English.

In the same advertisement Binnie stated that Americans "should have allegiance to one flag."
Border fence

Binnie stated in 2010 that he is in favor of constructing a wall or fence across the southern border of the United States for the purpose of controlling immigration. "The most profound problem we have with illegal immigration and the one that so disturbs fair-minded Americans is the inflow over the border of illegal aliens. We just feel viscerally that that's unfair, illegal, and wrong... we as a great superpower can certainly build a secure wall or fence that secures our borders."

He said that although he supports the idea of a fence along the Mexican border he does not think that this is part of the solution for securing the Canadian border because the immigration challenges are different.

External links

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