Captain Morgan.jpgAs the TARP legislation was being thrown together and rubber stamped last September, Captain Morgan had a lot more to smile about. Buried in the midst of the tax breaks that were extended last fall was a seemingly innocuous one relating to a federal excise tax on rum. In 2008, Diageo Plc (which owns Captain Morgan) agreed to billions in tax breaks from the governor of the USVI in exchange for moving its rum production from Puerto Rico to St. Croix. Now, through that agreement and the TARP extension of a rebate on part of the excise tax, Diageo stands to gain about $2.7 billion in benefits over the next 30 years. No doubt somewhere on the desk of Max Baucus (who recommended the tax breaks) there’s a cocktail napkin that reads ‘The Captain was here’.
Bailout of U.S. Banks Gives British Rum a $2.7 Billion Benefit [Bloomberg]

Comments (8)

  1. Posted by merkin capital partners | June 26, 2009 at 3:55 PM

    ok maria looks absolutely ginormous today.

  2. Posted by guest | June 26, 2009 at 4:01 PM

    Greg, wake the fuck up son. Here’s a story – run with it dumbass.
    Bank of America Corp.’s (BAC) board of directors is beginning to pursue
    succession plans for Chief Executive Ken Lewis, CNBC’s Charlie Gasparino
    reported Friday, citing sources. A source warned, however, that the succession
    could happen any time between now and “three years from now,” according to
    Gasparino. The board has started to talk to possible successors, he said. “The
    buzz as of now, though,” Gasparino reported, “is that the firm is looking to
    bring in someone from outside.”

  3. Posted by guest | June 26, 2009 at 4:02 PM

    I’m surprised ubatv.com hasn’t been mentioned on this site yet. Not much of a “news/business” outlet but decent eye candy. Just turn down the volume to avoid the nj/qns/bklyn accents.

  4. Posted by HAM05 | June 26, 2009 at 4:32 PM

    the capt is lame, cruzan is where its at

  5. Posted by guest | June 26, 2009 at 4:44 PM

    BLANUS!
    Boom, done!

  6. Posted by guest | June 26, 2009 at 4:51 PM

    What!?!?

  7. Posted by guest | June 26, 2009 at 5:23 PM

    you’re a sad little man, greg…. your writing lacks wit and ingenuity.
    do us a favor and stop writing.

  8. Posted by guest | June 26, 2009 at 6:17 PM

    ugh. tedious.
    is EP back from vacation yet?
    i’m going on a hunger strike until she returns.
    The Admiral was here

Leave a comment

You can log in with your account or comment as a guest below.