Hint
Jim Beam makes Old Crow
https://www.opensecrets.org/donor-lookup/results?name=&cycle=&state=KY&zip=&employ=beam&cand=
The history of Old Crow
https://bourbonveach.com/2019/06/10/brand-history-old-crow/
Who is 'American Brands'?
Mitch McConnell fueled by Tobacco and Whiskey
June 8, 2010
Tobacco and whiskey have helped build Mitch McConnell’s political career. Tobacco giants Altria Group Inc. and Reynolds American Inc. are two of Mitch McConnell’s top five career campaign PAC contributors. And three of the Senate Republican leader’s top five individual donors have ties to the Kentucky-based maker of Jack Daniel’s whiskey.
Those are among the results of the Center for Public Integrity’s review of CQ MoneyLine information on McConnell’s contribution history for both campaign accounts and leadership PACs, dating back to before his first Senate campaign in 1984. The Center’s probe of McConnell’s finances marks the second in a series of pieces on top donors to Congressional leaders.
Addison Mitchell “Mitch” McConnell, 68, a former Congressional aide and Department of Justice staffer, was elected Jefferson County, Kentucky judge-executive in 1977 and again in 1981. In 1984, McConnell narrowly defeated Democratic incumbent Walter Huddleston to win a U.S. Senate seat by just a few thousand votes. McConnell won in 1990, 1996, and 2008 by narrow margins, garnering at most 55 percent of the vote; his 2002 victory was far more comfortable. Those close races required a lot of money, and McConnell has risen to the challenge, amassing more than $47 million for his campaign committees over his career. In 1989 he established the Bluegrass Committee, a leadership PAC through which he began distributing contributions to fellow Senate Republicans and potential candidates. The PAC has distributed money to 36 of McConnell’s 40 current GOP colleagues. It’s paid off — in 2003, McConnell became the Senate Republican Whip and in 2007, his party made him Senate Minority Leader.
McConnell has strong ties to the tobacco industry and has received more money from tobacco interests than any member of Congress, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. That’s hardly a surprise, though, as Kentucky is the nation’s second-largest tobacco producer, and is tops in the production of burley tobacco, an air-dried variety used to make cigarettes.
He is also known for his opposition to campaign finance restrictions, such as the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002. After the legislation was enacted over his filibuster attempts, McConnell sued to overturn the law, but the U.S. Supreme Court eventually upheld most of the bill’s provisions. His wife, Elaine Chao, served as secretary of labor for eight years under President George W. Bush.
Of the more than $47.5 million McConnell has raised, nearly $27.5 million comes from individuals. At least $251,700 or about one percent of his grand total comes from his five top donors. The top ten PACs combined to give McConnell at least $1,049,341, more than eight percent of his overall total.
https://publicintegrity.org/politics/mitch-mcconnell-fueled-by-tobacco-and-whiskey/
2010 top donors for Mitch McConnell
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AT&T Inc. — $155,200
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Altria Group — $153,500 big tobacco
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JPMorgan Chase & Co. — $108,249
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Reynolds American Inc. — $101,000 big tobacco
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American Bankers Association — $93,000 TARP bailout
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Bank of America — $91,385
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United Parcel Service Inc. — $89,500
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Union Pacific Corp. — $87,949 Economic Stimulus recipient
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Ashland Inc. — $85,858 Oil
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National Association of Realtors — $83,700 laundered from Freddy Mac / Fannie Mae
https://publicintegrity.org/politics/mitch-mcconnell-fueled-by-tobacco-and-whiskey/
Mitch McConnell and Rand Paul are owned by the distilleries.
https://www.fredminnick.com/2014/10/31/bourbon-interests-support-mcconnell/
McConnell traded the Trump Presidency for lower tariffs for the bourbon industry because the Old Crow is owned by them.
https://nypost.com/2021/03/28/us-whiskey-makers-about-to-get-soaked-by-higher-tariffs/
Fueled by their donations, Mitch McConnell pushes special tax break for bourbon industry
The Senate Republican majority leader and Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) announced the bill on Wednesday.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and fellow Republican Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul announced a bill on Wednesday to provide special corporate tax advantages for liquor distillers.
A look at McConnell’s campaign finance history may offer a big clue as to why: hundreds of thousands of dollars in contributions from the alcoholic beverages sector.
The Advancing Growth in the Economy through Distilled Spirits Act would renew an expiring provision from President Donald Trump’s 2017 tax cut bill that allows for the deduction of interest expenses related to bourbon inventory when the expenses are paid, rather then when the bourbon is bottled and sold. In a joint press release, Paul said the bill would “preserve Kentucky’s signature Bourbon industry by boosting job creation and maintaining a level playing field between Bourbon and whiskey producers at home and their competitors abroad.”
But back in 2010, an examination by the non-partisan Center for Public Integrity calculated the largest individual donors to McConnell over his decades-long tenure in Congress. Of the top five largest career donors, three had ties to the Kentucky-based Brown-Forman Corporation. Brown-Forman’s products include Jack Daniel’s whiskey and Old Forester bourbon.
According to the Center for Responsive Politics, in 2014 — the last time McConnell was up for re-election — he also received more in donations from the beer, wine, and liquor sector than any other senator. The total for that campaign alone: $144,950.
So far this year, McConnell has received $5,000 from Brown-Forman’s corporate PAC and $10,000 from the Wine & Spirits Wholesalers of America.
As majority leader, McConnell has spent most of the 116th Congress ensuring no lawmaking happens. He has boasted of being the “grim reaper” who blocks legislation from even coming to the floor and has so stanched the flow of bills that even his Republican colleagues have publicly complained. He has introduced little legislation, aside from housekeeping resolutions required to organize the Senate. So when the Kentucky Republican announces he will push for a bill, it is unusual.
While Paul is in just his second term in the Senate, he too has received tens of thousands in contributions from the alcohol industry.
https://archive.thinkprogress.org/fueled-by-their-donations-mitch-mcconnell-pushes-special-tax-break-for-bourbon-industry-c8e29a2717b7/
Bourbon, America’s native spirit, is caught in the cross hairs of Trump’s trade war
Old Crow, what have you done???
America’s beloved liquid spirit is caught in the cross hairs of Washington and Beijing’s trade battle.
This week, China threatened to slap a 25 percent levy on 106 U.S. products, including types of whiskey such as bourbon.
“Bourbon is truly Americana,” began whiskey collector Bill Thomas, proprietor of Washington D.C.’s Jack Rose Saloon, which is popular for its extensive bourbon selection.
“When you talk about tariffs on steel or aluminum or anything else, bourbon just can’t be produced anywhere else than the United States,” he said. “So in many ways, this is a symbolic target on American culture because bourbon is so intertwined with who we are.”
China’s list of tariff targets came less than 24 hours after President Donald Trump unveiled a list of proposed tariffs on Chinese imports involving the robotics, information technology and aerospace industry.
Trump suggested another counterpunch late Thursday to the tune of an additional $100 billion in tariffs against China. In response, a Chinese Ministry of Commerce representative said Friday, that the U.S. “is very arrogant” and that “China is prepared and will not hesitate” to react.
https://www.cnbc.com/2018/04/06/bourbon-americas-native-spirit-is-caught-in-the-cross-hairs-of-trumps-trade-war.html
Was McConnell given an offer he couldn't refuse to turn on Trump? Does the Bourbon industry own Mitch?
US Whiskey Exports To EU Sink 27%, As Imports Of Irish Whiskey Climb
Feb 29, 2020
Farmers aren't the only people suffering under President Trump's trade war, American whiskey producers are experiencing a big plunge in exports as well. However, Irish whiskey makers are unintended beneficiaries of the tariffs.
The European Union's (EU) 25% retaliatory tariff on American Whiskey caused exports to the EU to sink 27% year over year in 2019, the U.S. International Trade Commission said mid-February. The EU is the U.S. spirits industry’s largest export market.
American whiskey makes up 65% of total U.S. spirits exports, according to the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States (DISCUS), the largest trade group for the spirits industry. American whiskey exports total $996 million, with 52%, or $514 million, going to the EU. Exports to the EU fell from $700 million in 2018.
“The data is clear. These tariffs are chipping away at American Whiskey’s brand equity in our top export markets. These great American Whiskey products that have been the toast of the global cocktail scene are struggling under the weight of the EU tariffs,” said Chris Swonger, president and chief executive of Discus, in a written statement.
Meanwhile, imports of Irish Whiskey jumped 14.3% to $794 million, lifting revenues for the entire category 5.6% to $1.1 billion.
The whiskey tariffs came about as retaliation to the Trump administration's 2018 tariffs on steel and aluminum from most countries, including the EU. On June 22, 2018, the EU instituted its own tariffs on 180 types of U.S. products, worth more than $3 billion.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/lcarrel/2020/02/29/american-whiskey-exports-to-eu-sink-27-after-tariffs-while-irish-whiskey-imports-to-us-jump-14/?sh=48b024ce3182
It appears McConnell sold out Trump at the behest of the Liquor industry because of the Chinese and EU Trade War. McConnell didn't fight for America. He fought for his wallet.
Is McConnell helping Biden force through the 'Build Back Better' Bill spending trillions of $$$ to turn America into a Socialist Pit of Darkness just to make more money for the Whiskey Industry?
Biden can’t shake Trump era 50% whiskey tariff
After a decadelong dream by Amir Peay to revive and relaunch historic James E. Pepper Distilling Co. in Lexington, Kentucky, the brand dating back to the American Revolution had exploded not just in U.S. markets when former President Donald Trump took office but also overseas.
“We were growing really fast,” said Peay. By 2018, European sales accounted for 10% of his bottom line, and he set a goal of 20%. “We invested a lot of time and money and effort to grow in 2018, and we had no reason to think we wouldn't. I mean, American whiskey was growing,” he said.
About 400 miles north in Chicago, Sonat Birnecker Hart, the president of Koval Distillery, was making similar plans to boost European sales past 30% with sales trips and promotion.
“We loved going abroad and talking about using Lake Michigan water and talking about Chicago and talking about the farmers in the Midwest and our products,” she said. “That's a form of diplomacy."
Outside Washington, in Purcellville, Virginia, Catoctin Creek Distillery was thinking the same thing. “We were seeing a lot more U.S. side competition and thought that, you know, exporting might be an interesting way to expand,” said Scott Harris, who started the distillery with his wife Becky in 2009. International sales hit 11% overall, and they set a goal of 25%.
Then Trump and the European Union opened a trade war over steel, aluminum, and Boeing-Airbus subsidies. In a bid to get Trump to back down, the EU announced a retaliatory 25% tariff on American whiskey, and hopeful Trump allies and Kentucky Sens. Mitch McConnell and Rand Paul would get involved.
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/washington-secrets/biden-cant-shake-trump-era-50-whiskey-tariff