Obama administration putting billions into British distiller; Update: DNC member/lobbyist behind push?

(By Ed Morrissey, Hot Air) - It may not be Talk Like a Pirate Day, but this story is guaranteed to make you say, “Aaaaargh!” The Obama administration will pay a British distiller almost $3,000,000,000 (billion) in subsidies in order to move its operation from Puerto Rico to St. Croix in the Virgin Islands. The makers of Captain Morgan’s Spiced Rum, Diageo PLC, won’t be complaining about their booty, but the people on Puerto Rico feel pillaged — and so should American taxpayers:

Under the agreement, London-based Diageo PLC will receive tax credits and other benefits worth $2.7 billion over 30 years, including the entire $165-million cost of building a state-of-the-art distillery on the island of St. Croix in the Virgin Islands, a U.S. territory.

Virgin Islands officials say the arrangement complies with the letter and spirit of tax law and will help the islands’ sagging economy.

Captain Morgan is now produced in another U.S. territory, Puerto Rico, and critics say the Virgin Islands’ subsidy for the new distillery there, along with the other benefits, are so generous that they practically guarantees a profit on every gallon of rum produced there by Diageo, the biggest distilled spirits maker in the world.

“The U.S. taxpayer is basically being asked to line the pockets of the world’s largest liquor producer,” says Steve Ellis, the president of Taxpayers for Common Sense, a nonpartisan watchdog organization.