YO-HO-HO AND A
BOTTLE OF TARP

With elections looming and the nation watching, the Bush White House last year scrambled to get its Troubled Asset Relief Program passed. And while most people had no clue where the money was going, greed-blinded bankers are starting to look like the least offensive of the lot—particularly when compared to the likes of London-based Diageo Plc, which was gifted billions of dollars in tax breaks just to move its Captain Morgan’s Rum production plant from Puerto Rico to the U.S. Virgin Islands.

“What happened is we sent taxpayer money to effectively build a distillery that will benefit Diageo,” explains Steve Ellis, vice-president of Taxpayers for Common Sense. Most of those who voted to pass the TARP measures didn’t even know about Diageo’s $2.7-billion (U.S.) boon until a few months ago, when Puerto Rico complained about the money they stood to lose from the move.

Captain Morgan isn’t the only pirate to have made off with taxpayer booty. The late-hour tax breaks silently added to the TARP bill have benefitted other corporations of equally untroubled assets, including Burger King, NASCAR and movie and television producers.

by SCOTT SAXON