Hightower Lowdown

U.S. toolmaker Stanley Works has grown rich and prosperous thanks to the pride and sweat of generations of workers at its factory and headquarters in New Britain, Connecticut. But in recent years, the Stanley Works name has come to refer to working the system.

Stanley’s honcho, John Trani, is a former Wall Street analyst and GE exec who doesn’t give a damn about pride, hard work, New Britain, or America. He says, “I’m paid to make money for shareholders.” Period.

This corporate ethic has already led the once-proud company to abandon thousands of workers in New Britain, moving their middle-class jobs off to sweatshops countries, where Stanley can pay poverty wages of under a dollar an hour.

Now, Trani has a scheme to divest himself of any responsibility to America itself. He intends to re-incorporate Stanley Works as a Bermuda corporation and establish its legal residence in Barbados—a shell game deliberately designed to dodge Stanley’s U.S. tax bill.

Stanley Works, which would evade paying about $30 million a year in taxes, would continue to enjoy the benefits of everything from U.S. highways to our national-security protections—it just wouldn’t help pay for them. Trani’s scam will also produce a spike in Stanley’s share price—a result that’ll fatten his own paycheck.

To help stop this raw selfishness, call Sen. Charles Grassley: 202-224-3744.