While the amateur Somalians are busy raiding rich tourists and cargo ships, Captain Morgan knows that far bigger booty lies in the pockets of American politicians, not just because they're fat. They're stupid too.
Lawmakers and the public are just now discovering some of the curious subsidies tucked into TARP.
Governor John deJongh Jr. agreed to give London-based Diageo Plc billions of dollars in tax incentives to move its production of Captain Morgan rum from one U.S. island -- Puerto Rico -- to another, namely St. Croix. The Diageo deal started shortly after deJongh took office in 2007. The governor says the company contacted him to say it planned to leave Puerto Rico after having decided the U.S.V.I.
might be a better location to produce Captain Morgan. [as in they were already planning to move]
The U.S.V.I. will give subsidies representing as much as 44.5 percent of tax revenue to Diageo.
Diageo also qualifies for additional tax incentives, reducing its U.S.V.I. tax liabilities to as low as 3.5 percent, from 35 percent.
The $2.7 billion Diageo tax break in the October bailout bill gives the most financial aid to a non-U.S. company. Diageo, which had a stock market value of 21 billion pounds ($35 billion) as of June 8, reported net sales of 5.07 billion British pounds in 2008. Revenue from selling rum accounted for 5 percent of Diageo’s income. [do the math on the value of the subsidy relative to product revenue on this one] Still, Captain Morgan, named for Henry Morgan, the 17th-century Jamaican privateer, is a major driver of earnings for Diageo, spokeswoman Zsoka McDonald says. [well, it is now!]
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