Obama ad slams McCain for pledge to protect offshore tax havens during Bermuda 'vacation' Nick Juliano

Published: Tuesday September 23, 2008





Print This Email This In a new ad released Tuesday, Barack Obama's presidential campaign slams Republican candidate John McCain for statements he made during a trip to Bermuda last year promising to protect the tax loopholes that allow corporations to do business from there and other offshore territories.



"Bermuda. Its more than just a vacation destination for John McCain," a narrator says in the new ad.



The spot cites an August 2007 report from the island territory's local newspaper. US Republican Presidential candidate John McCain has pledged to protect Bermuda's international businesses if he is successful in his White House bid. The Arizona Senator, who spent three days on the Island this week meeting business and political leaders, said he understood the concerns of the insurance and reinsurance sectors about draft legislation proposing a clampdown on US business operations in so-called tax havens.



He told The Royal Gazette: "The industry, the re-insurance that's had such phenomenal success has been good for both nations. I would oppose any measures that would upset that." Obama's ad links that support to $50,000 in campaign contributions McCain received from "grateful insurance company executives and their lobbyists who benefit from the tax scheme."



Obama's campaign has been trying to capitalize on the recent financial meltdown that is dominating headlines and is trying to paint McCain as supporting the policies that started the crisis and offering little to help voters.



"John McCain. He took a vacation, and so much more, the latest ad says. "And we get more of the same."



The following ad was released Tuesday by Obama's campaign:







Full script:



Bermuda. Its more than just a vacation destination for John McCain. McCain went to Bermuda and while he was there pledged to protect tax breaks for American corporations that hide their profits offshore. And grateful insurance company executives and their lobbyists who benefit from the tax scheme, gave McCain $50,000. John McCain. He took a vacation, and so much more. And we get more of the same.



