Bailing out British Booze: Charlie Rangel, Max Baucus, and Diageo
by Soren Dayton
The recent ruling of the House Ethics committee against Charlie Rangel has attracted a tremendous amount of attention and has put substantial pressure on House Democrats, especially Nancy Pelosi. The Atlantic’s Marc Ambinder even reported one Democratic strategist claiming that it “loses us the House.” The basics of the story are that Rangel and his staff failed to disclose a series of facts about corporate sponsored trips about Caribbean policy.
However, there’s another Caribbean scandal that could burn Democrats. In February, Pro Publica’s Marcus Stern reported that Congress and the Virgin Islands will give British alcohol conglomerate Diageo a $3b subsidy if they shift production from Puerto Rico to the US Virgin Islands. Previously, I had written about this issue, including Rangel’s threats against the Puerto Rican health system.
But now an ad, pictured here, is running in Montana asking Senate Finance Committee Chair Max Baucus why he is putting up with this. That’s turning up the heat a little.
Another rum producer told the Billings Gazette that the subsidy “is so large it’s twice the cost of production.” That is, if Diageo spends $100 making rum in the Virgin Islands, they get $200 from the federal government. Then Diageo gets to sell the rum too! Diageo’s 2008 operating profit was £2.2 billion and 2009 sales were $20 billion.
Now, I understand — disagree but understand — US taxpayers giving struggling American farmers a subsidy to make ethanol. (rum is also ethanol) I don’t understand why US taxpayers are giving billions to an already highly profitable, publicly traded British booze company.
You would think at a time with record deficits, historic unemployment, etc. Congress could find better things to do with $3b than boost profits of a foreign company. Or they could even end the excise tax on rum that funds this boondoggle. But I guess not. As the ad says, the Congressional Democrat are letting the “pirate lobbyists” win.
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62 Comments
Follow the money and it will lead to the "Most honest and ethical" congress the universe has ever seen.
They are barely even trying to hide this anymore, disgusting.
Congress gave the state of Florida $3billion to build a tunnel under a road so that the turtles would not get run over…???!!! Nothing they do any more surprises me…ANGERS me, yes, but we may as well learn to accept that this administration cares NOTHING about the American people!!!
Follow the money and it will lead to the "Most honest and ethical" congress the universe has ever seen.
They are barely even trying to hide this anymore, disgusting
There is so much of it, they can't.
You would think at a time with record deficits, historic unemployment, etc. Congress could find better things to do with $3b than boost profits of a foreign company.
You would think with record deficits, historic unemployment, etc…. we would stop giving at least that much (actually much more) EVERY YEAR to that foreign, borderless band of terrorists (who have attacked us on more than one occasion) called Israel.
D…..
If you are going to pile on Israel then you have to pile on Egypt. How much money have we pissed away on Haiti?
Sympathy is one thing. Complete stoooopidity is another.
Tim Geithner = smoke. Ben S. Bernanke= mirrors. Pelosi and Reid= bankruptcy.
November = AUDIT.
I'll drink to that
He cant help it
Last night his wifey was telling me he vocalizes to cover his lack of male prowess
Any one who votes to this is guilty of a high crime. This an absolute outrage. People need to put behind bars for life. Any congressman who votes for this needs to go to jail. We need to demand accountability. JAIL TIME!
Must read interview by Kathryn Welling with James Rickards, former General Counsel of Long-Term Capital Management.
Since fourth grade hyperbolic rants are still not sinking in with everyone let's go parabolic into econophysics. The economic theory that the Banksters and to a greater extent Congress (because they are the ultimate gatekeepers after We The People) have leveraged their criminal behavior on can be explained in this interview.
The bell curve theory and the power curve theory will give those of you who justifiably require more than just blind faith on who and how this malfeasance of biblical proportions came to be.
YOU want someone you can trust to make America fly straight again? I give you Mister James Rickards. And I'll keep posting his work until it makes waves in the New Media.
http://www.zerohedge.com/article/ltcm-general-cou...
TIme to break out the tea party ninjas…
I have never in my life seen such corruption. Nixon and Clinton look like pikers compared to these guys. Will Durant was sooooo right and that was 80 years ago!
“It is almost impossible to distinguish a politician from a gangster.” (Will Durant, Golden Book Magazine, 1931)
Oh goodie the Jew hater is back!
We are so glad that you come here for a daily smack down and to have all of your posts removed by the admins for your hate rants.
We know what you are and you should know by now that your never ending rants filled with ANP talking points don't fly here.
Run along back to your 'Bund" meeting now…
Where do you think Congress will get its rum supply?They need a controllable source, thus the bid to get the production of rum to US Virgin Islands….Maybe Britain is looking to start giving out rum to its sailors again and these crooks see money to be made…who knows what insanity is behind this?
Kid Zero is still zero and it is getting worse for this Marxist administration.
http://therealrevo.com/blog/?p=21964
Go ahead and post the money we spend on Israel (include loans and loan guarantees and military equipment – not just the CASH which alone is more than given to any other country) and compare it to what we give Haiti.
Rather than giving grandma a pain pill, instead of a pace-maker, there will be rum ammuk .
Rather than a full belly to keep us home & happy we'll have our ration of rum. Barry gets
first dibs.
Bailouts for Booze? WTF?!? I think our tax dollars would be better spent building a Federal prison exclusively for these scum-bucket politicians (and Ex's like AlGore).
Still at it, Dhissyfit, you Muslim nut job ?
These two pikers are just taking over the franchise from dead teddy. As I understand it the mortuary did not need to embalm him. I pray that MaryJo can now rest in peace.
You crack me up Missy!!! daily smack down I love it!!! I needed the laugh!!!
Haven't seen the jew haters on for awhile.
I second that motion!!!
This is more like a freaky movie; johnny depp can play obamasoros, pee-wee herman can play joe blinder and oprah can play the beaver. "What a revolten development this is"
Evening all. Um, aren't Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands both sort of protectorates of the US? What are the advantages for the government to seriously piss off Puerto Rico by offering a big pile of cash for a foreign company to move to another bit of the US? Feel free to correct my ignorance here but I can't see how changing the status quo is such a good idea for the Dems.
Are we talking about Pelosi's bar bill here? That's a hell of a subsidy itself.
How about your boy Okeefe now?? FRAUD
Thinking man is right, follow the money and see who benefits from it the most. Are there tax advantages in the Virgin Isles compared to Puerto Rico? Is something else besides rum being run from the Isles?? And why "are" the Democrats involved in this deal when so many Americans are suffering from lack of jobs??? It seems the money could be spent much more efficiently on our own people than greasing some British politicians agenda.
Follow the money congress and tidy up after your own or else you will all be looking for jobs….
Angry Veteran
I've sat next to Bacus on a plane. He is a real <sarc> Montana "jewl"! This guy has just enough brains to keep his lungs inflated and his blood pumping. He gets re-elected using every dirty trick and money from outside Montana. We have had bumperstickers here that read "Axe Max" for about 20 years now. He is a complete koolaid drinking spend and tax progressive with the DNC's hand up his back side runing his every movement. By no means does he represent or even live in Montana. The people here are hard working, self-reliant, tough souls. They don't want a hand out, they just want to be left alone (meaning less taxes and laws from WDC).
When I moved here you could legally drive as fast as you wanted (within reason), with an open container, at age 15, with a loaded gun in the cab. Now that the WDC crowd threatened to take away highway dollars (that we paid for), all those freedoms are gone!
Last year Obama supported "attacks" (or was it "a tax"?) on pirates. Now we offer subsidies? Nah, just payback for campaign contributions past, present and future. A limited government restricted to enforcing objective laws would have absolutely no dog in this hunt. You get what you pay for, and you pay for what you accept. Vote 'em out, and keep doing it until we have a limited, objective government.
A slightly more enlightened thought than your post:
You suck. Bite me dumb-ass Pavlovian Jew hater. Try thinking for yourself sometime, the pain fades after awhile, and starts to feel good the better you get at it. Too bad you will never know, dumb-ass (in case you missed it the first time).
Let me guess. Teddy Kennedy introduced this one.
We could all make jokes on this topic but revolutions have started over abuses like this one.
It''s abundantly clear that the present administration is: 1. Completely out of control without a clue as to what they are doing, or: 2. (most likely) Dedicated to destroying the U.S. economy and collapsing the dollar. We can then have Social Justice in the form of everyone leading equally miserable socalist lives.
In addition to the 14 trillion debt being amassed by the Progressives we have more trillions needed to cover the shortfall of SS plus the billions in government employee retirement and benefits.
Good bye America. I have long known and loved you. I weep at your death.
He gets first dibs on the Newports, too.
[...] » Bailing out British Booze: Charlie Rangel, Max Baucus, and … [...]
As I revealed in another thread Dhassholhoff is actually a mosaad psy-ops agent sent here to bad mouth jews in the sense that his lunatic rants will engender sympathy for the jews. They are such a clever race.
According to a Diageo website press release in 2007, http://www.diageo.com/NewsMedia/pages/resource.as... , the company invested over $30M in a plant in Plainsville, IL that included a 36 acre plot. The state of Illinois has a stake in this and maybe some investors in the WH.
Interesting. Diageo ran the Diageo/Hotline from 2005 through the end of the election to monitor Obama’s politics, even enhancing his polls during the election. Diageo also came out with an “Obama Beer”. The hotline was in partnership with a FD International (Fundamental Dynamics, who changed their name to FD in 2007, the same time Diageo came to Illinois).
They are going to bankrupt us before we can get rid of them……they have figured that much out….
This is another scam and more corruption from the Chicago thugs in the White House. Diageo sponsored the Diageo/Hotline when Obama was Senator to follow his polital campaign to the election. They even enhanced the campaign polls in their stories to make it look better for Obama. They also produced an "Obama Beer" that was really popular in Kenya.
"The people here are hard working, self-reliant, tough souls."
Well, SOMEONE must have voted for Baucus.
"But now an ad, pictured here, is running in Montana asking Senate Finance Committee Chair Max Baucus why he is putting up with this. That’s turning up the heat a little." Very little, I'm sure! Charlie Rangel has something in common with the president, it's called blackmail! Oh, Lucifer, you are the "Joker!"
If you really want your blood to boil just go on over to recovery.org and see who is receiving your tax dollars. Be sure to check out the businesses that have gotten the money and you will see many, many of them are headed by big Obama donors. One $6000 contribution to Obama’s campaign got $500,000 in taxpayer monies. Obama said he was going to redistribute our wealth and he wasn’t kidding.
Max Baucus is just a puppet. He has a large staff of political activist that run the show, write the bills, and write the script. He is just the shell that 95% out of state campaign money buys from the state once every 6 years. His staff spoon feeds him gruel and wipes the drool from his chin. Montana – The Last Best Place to buy a congressman – cheap. Any serious look at this tool's career financially, professionally or personally would reveal a politician as corrupt as any. But no one seems to care. He can bankrupt Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, and write (his staff) a healthcare bill – but all he has to do to get re-elected is build a $300,00 firehouse in Po Dunk MT.
naw…just place them in Git-Mo. They can hang with the "Sandy Boys"and can pay "Jizya" to stay alive to really serve "The People".
Much like you, since when did Congress have a brain. Why, they may even send all that money to California so that they may continue the "Ultimate Nanny State"… that is where you reside, no?
Me too! Given the shape Baucus was in on the senate floor recently, he probably would too! I always thought being drunk on the job was grounds for dismissal, but not if you are a senator!
They do not care what we think and they do not fear us. People should think long and hard before giving one party the WH, the senate, and the house again.
We are coming. Watch for us!
"Where do you think Congress will get it's supply of Rum?" Look on our Plane that Pelosi has comandeered! She has not only taken us to the cleaners for plane rides to cart her butt and those of her family around, but she has run up a tab in drinks to the tune of over $100,000 on us. Thatcher said that socialists will spend until they run out of other people's money, and ours is about gone thanks to their selfishness. Pelosi is one of the most selfish. She thinks her sh#& doesn't stink.
Good idea!
They wouldn't recognize a good idea if it hit them in the mouth! November come quickly.
Their whole agenda is to oversee the decline of our country and so far that's the only job they are doing well. Obama could care less whether there are jobs created in this country. He wants to do what Cloward/Pevin taught. Make everyone dependent on government and then they own you. Why do you think he's pushing so hard for healthcare when he knows most of the country is repulsed by the idea? Why do you think he was so proud of the job news this week, when we still lost over 130,000? More are dependent!
Yeah, the uninformed with their hands out!
Nancy drained the swamp alright….and replaced it with Rum.
Seems to me her swamp has turned into an overflowing septic tank, and it smells to high heaven. INVESTIGATE HER SOMEONE!
Is that ALL you've got? LMAO
[...] » Bailing out British Booze: Charlie Rangel, Max Baucus, and …The recent ruling of the House Ethics committee against Charlie Rangel has attracted a tremendous amount of attention and has put substantial pressure on House Democrats, especially Nancy Pelosi. The Atlantic’s Marc Ambinder even … Read more [...]
Max baucus is a Socialist in step with Barack Obama and the other socialists who have lied to the American people to take office but now go against the will of the people.
Here in Montana, Baucus trys to act like he is a true Montanan. Yet a true Montanan would never vote to ruin the inherent freedom of the individual. By not standing up to Obama and the Marxist agenda, Max Baucus is killing small business and the future of our children.
How is he killing our future?
THE MAX BAUCUS HEALTHCARE PORTA-POTTY BILL, festering away with disease and stink and bile, Baucus’ virulent tax bacteria waiting to crawl out of his healthcare Porta-Potty sewer hole, up into our most vulnerable parts.
MAX BAUCUS and fellow Montana Socialist JON TESTER are screwing the voters over with their healthcare fiasco, and now the voters are supposed to forget all about their healthcare vote against Montana kids and focus on other business, like we are too stupid to see Baucus’ real agenda, like we will divert our attention from the real problem—Max Baucus—and this will save his sold-out soul from defeat in the next election.
Yeah, MAX, you sold out our kids, and Montanans are so stupid they will now divert their senses from the stinking healthcare Porta-Potty you are tipping over in the laps of our children’s future.
Metaphorically, it is as though you are sticking a hunting knife in our backs and telling us to ignore it and go back to work, like we won’t feel anything is wrong as you drain our blood away.
You think you can get reelected in the next election?
Like we are supposed to forget about the fatal stab you are giving our children’s future?
MAX SOCIALIST BAUCUS, WE ARE GOING TO VOTE YOU OUT OF OFFICE.
We are going to put YOU and the idiots who work for you out of work and send you straight to the unemployment lines where you are sending our children. We are going to take YOUR PAYCHECKS away because we don’t want to give you our tax money to stab us in the back and dump your bait and switch bile on our kids anymore.
Yeah, Jon, we’ll look the other way and forget about the Porta-Potty mess you are dumping all over us, the knife you are sticking in our backs. You bet.
Max the Socialist, you are taking our money NOW to pay a debt for things you stole long ago. You want my kids’ money to fund a system that does not work. This is the old way of business in Washington, but when it comes to transforming our country into your socialist utopia, this old way does not work.
You are reforming nothing with your “healthcare reform.” You are stealing our money to pay for your crap legislation. You aren’t from Montana. You sold us out. You are big sky garbage.
We are on to you and we will not forget.
[...] » Bailing out British Booze: Charlie Rangel, Max Baucus, and … [...]
this particular game is going to be great
man i just can’t wait for this gamewow i cant wait for this game
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