Updated with the following additional paragraph June 4/12
I have been following the comments to this thread with great interest. I believe that this Obama social media initiative is a great opportunity for us. This post needs to be linked to the “Just Me” post of April 22/12 where he talks about the stupid form letter that somebody received after writing Obama about OVDI. I reference the following helpful comment from Steven where he says:
@All.
I have a slightly different view and perhaps an idea worth pursuing.
The fact that the White House responded at all gives the IBS an opportunity to use the response as a vehicle to further publicize the issues facing expats and the inequity of citizenship based taxation in general. You now have a letter from the President dated April 18, 2012. It is in effect, and invitation to dialogue with him. What if the IBS board were to respond to the WH as follows:
“Dear Mr. President:
Thank you for your letter of April 18, and to respectfully suggest that you that your letter was not at all responsive to Mr. XXX’s letter to you of [date] in which he detailed for you, a glaring inequity affecting seven million voting Americans living abroad who find themselves potential victims of the unintended consequences of a law you approved regarding their tax obligations……[explain the problem]
[don’t make the IRS the issue]
[offer a solution]
[dont disrespect him or the Office]Perhaps a closing with the suggestion that it would be nice to hear in his acceptance speech for the nomination of his party at the DNC convention in Charlotte, N.C. in September, one sentence in which he acknowledges the problem and pledges to do something about it if he is elected again in November.
It might also be a good idea to send a copy of the letter to:
Geithner
Shulman
Ms. Olson
Cong. Carol Maloney
Democrats Abroad
Senators Levin, Baucus and a few others.
Mr. Romney and some other top Republicans
Selected Canadian officials.This the way the game is played in Washington. If he doesn’t respond in a few weeks you can write to him again and cc everyone again to let the world know that you are not going to go away and the problem is going to keep getting worse if it is not addressed.
Thoughts? Comments?
Once again, I see the americansabroadforobama.org (plus twitter and facebook add ons) as a fantastic opportunity to engage Obama and the Democrats. The very existence of americansabroadfromobama.org suggests to me that the Democrats really do NOT understand how they have destroyed the lives of U.S. citizens abroad. If they really understood the problems they have created, I don’t believe that they would have launched this site.
Because they have opened the door to a public discussion, we need to see this as an opportunity to educate them. Furthermore, I believe that we should use this as an opportunity to reach out to Romney and Ron Paul. The americansabroadforobama.org is the best chance yet to open a dialogue.
We need to work on how to do this in an intelligent way. Complaint without more will not do it. We are crediting Obama and his mindless disciples with far too much intelligence and understanding.
Your thoughts?
What follows is the original post.
_______________________________________________
Note: This post by discussing political advertising is really political advertising. As such it may be inappropriate for a “non-partisan” group like the Isaac Brock Society. Nevertheless, it does seem to me that Obama is responsible for many of our current difficulties.
Great news! President Obama has finally opened a dialogue with U.S. citizens abroad!
I recently came across the following Social Media campaign at the hub of:
AmericansAbroadForObama.org
It links to both Twitter and Facebook as follows:
twitter.com/AAForObama
facebook.com/AmericansAbroadforObama
The clear intent of this campaign is create the appearance of a strong and vibrant contingent of U.S. citizens abroad who support Barack Obama. For example the main site includes the following information:
Welcome to Americans Abroad for Obama!
Right now, Americans from across the globe are stepping up to help President Obama get re-elected. Join our team and be a part of the movement to finish what we started in 2008!
Americans Abroad is the international regional program of the Obama Victory Fund, a joint fundraising committee of Obama for America 2012 and the Democratic National Committee.
and
About Us
Americans Abroad for Obama is an international program for U.S. citizens living abroad committed to providing significant financial support for the re-election of President Obama in November.
We raise funds through events abroad, innovative initiatives and programs across the globe. We are currently working to build cohesive teams in a number of countries identified as having high numbers of influential and dedicated Americans living and working abroad. Ideally, the work will result in a highly researched and refined international network of financial supporters.
For more information on the campaign, please visit http://www.barackobama.com/
If one takes the time to read the site, one will see that:
“Americans Abroad is the international regional program of the Obama Victory Fund, a joint fundraising committee of Obama for America 2012 and the Democratic National Committee.”
The fact that the Obama campaign is behind this site is NOT clear from either the Facebook or Twitter sites. For example:
Twitter:
“International grassroots movement passionate about keeping President Obama in office. Follow us for live updates of the
#Obama2012 Find out how you can help at http://americansabroadforobama.org/
AAO is an international program for U.S. citizens living abroad committed to providing significant financial support for the re-election of President Obama in November.MissionAmericans Abroad for Obama is aiming to reach out to a new supporter base that has been historically untapped.DescriptionThis innovative effort aims to enfranchise millions of American expatriates (citizens and Green Card holders alike), whose voices are often unheard in American politics.We raise funds through events both within the U.S. and abroad, innovative initiatives and programs across the globe. We are currently working to build cohesive teams in a number of countries identified as having high numbers of influential and dedicated Americans living and working abroad. Ideally, the work will result in a highly researched and refined international network.
1. Americansabroadforobama.org was registered on April 4, 2012 by Deirdre Hannigan of plusthree.com. Plusthree.com claims to be a group that runs political advertising campaigns, that appear to specialize in social media. They claim that their clients include a “whos who” list of democrats including:
- ActionAid USA
- AIDS Taskforce of Greater Cleveland
- Arizona Democratic Party
- Authentic Israel
- Be My Voice Hawai‘i
- B’nai B’rith Youth Organization (BBYO)
- BBYO’s Passport to the World
- Bob Menendez for Senate 2006
- California Organization of Police and Sheriffs (COPS)
- California Pacific Medical Center
- California State Conference of the NAACP
- Center for Promise and Opportunity
- Charlotte In 2012 Host Committee
- The Children’s Movement of Florida
- CIVIC Concern
- Civil Justice Association of California (CJAC)
- Corporation for Enterprise Development (CFED)
- Council for a Livable World (CLW)
- Dancer Universe
- D&P Creative Strategies
- Data Warehouse
- David Sanchez Badillo Foundation
- Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC)
- Democratic National Committee (DNC)
- Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC)
- Dwight Evans for Mayor
- EMILY’s List
- Environmental Justice and Climate Change Initiative
- Equality NC
- Friends Committee on National Legislation (FCNL)
- Good Beginnings Alliance
- Greater Miami Jewish Federation
- Green Spaces Alliance of South Texas
- Hispanic Association on Corporate Responsibility (HACR)
- Hispanic Technology and Telecommunications Partnership (HTTP)
- i.am angel foundation
- Immigration Equality Action Fund
- Informed Families
- Israel Forever Foundation
- Israel Pathways
- Jack Davis for Congress
- Jewish Federation of Metro Detroit
- Jewish Federation of Palm Beach
- Joe Mesi for State Senate
- John Dougherty for State Senate
- John Edwards for President
- Latino Inaugural Gala 2009
- LatinoJustice PRLDEF
- Leadership for Educational Equity
- League of United Latin American Citizens
- Liberty Power
- Los Angeles Police Protective League
- Mamiverse
- Mervyn Dymally for California State Assembly 2006
- Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund
- NAACP
- National Immigration Law Center
- National Latino Coalition on Climate Change
- National Museum of the American Latino Commission
- New America Media
- New York State Democratic Senate Campaign Committee
- No Limits Foundation
- North Carolina League of Conservation Voters
- The Ohio Democratic Party
- One America Committee
- The Pap Corps
- People for the American Way
- PetPAC
- Primedia
- Raise Texas
- Bill Richardson for Governor
- Rock & Republic
- ServeNext
- SFO Media
- Sierra Club
- Sixth and I
- The FuturePAC
- Tom Suozzi for Governor
- Tuition Relief Now!
- United Federation of Teachers (UFT)
- Women Building For The Future
- Yes On Gay Marriage
- ZERO Cancer
2. Facebook – The page indicates that it was founded on April 9, 2012. Yet it boasts 1450 “likes”. This is extremely un”like”ly. Sorry way too many. Unless a U.S. citizen abroad has been living “under a rock” for the last year, they won’t be voting for Obama. I suspect that these “likes” have been purchased from a “like farm”.
3. Twitter – The first tweet was on April 10, 2012
The Road We’ve Traveled ow.ly/abLB4 #Obama2012
— AmericansAbroadObama (@AAforObama) April 10, 2012
What Is The Purpose Of This Post?
It is my considered opinion that the Obama campaign has created a social media campaign designed for the sole purpose of making it appear that Obama has strong support from Americans abroad. This is a ridiculous claim. After the damage he has inflicted on U.S. citizens abroad, I don’t believe that even a member of “Democrats Abroad” would really vote for him.
But hey, Obama has now opened a dialogue with Americans Abroad. U.S. citizens abroad should seize this opportunity to begin the dialogue and expose his lies for what they are. Obama certainly has not kept his word to U.S. citizens abroad. Remember those promises Senator Obama made on the campaign trail?
A reminder …
Here is what is said on the Facebook page:
This innovative effort aims to enfranchise millions of American expatriates (citizens and Green Card holders alike), whose voices are often unheard in American politics.
Since, Obama has opened the dialogue with U.S. citizens abroad, we cannot disappoint him!
Remember the line in the movie “Dead Poets’ Society”:
Seize the day!! That’s a great idea.
You, “Wont’ Get Fooled Again!”
@john,
Oh how I wish you were right. But the cold, hard fact is that probably more than 99% of US voters have never heard about FATCA and therefore it has no meaning to them. What so many voters are concerned about is that they have lost their jobs, that unemployment remains at Depression era levels, they have had their mortgages foreclosed and they have no money to buy gas for their cars.
You and I both know trhat FATCA and citizenship based taxation are significant contributors to why Americans don’t go abroad to sell American exports, why the US has a $747 billion trade deficit that grows b $2 billion every day, a fiscal budget that is totally out of control and many who are willing and want to work have to depend in unemployment checks and food stamps just to survive from day to day.
But this is not an excuse to not keep the pressure on in hope that our voices will be heard amid all of the noise of the present presidential campaign.
From what I have seen over the past 3 1/2 years I think there is a better chance that Romney will tackle it, if elected, given the fact that Obama promised he would but never lifted even one finger to keep that promise.
These are the issues that keep the voters here in the US from sleeping at night. And believe you me I have not been sleeping very well for several months.
I have absolutely not an inkling of hope for any sort of change by way of the Democratic party. The only thing we lack from them is a pack of dogs yapping at our rear-ends.
Our only chance, and it may be slim….is to put this bunch on a slow (and very leaky) boat to China…..but this above all: Vote them out of office!
@Roger,
If it were made clear that FATCA, FBARs, and extraterritorial citizenship-based taxation create a huge and unnecessary barrier to them benefiting from opportunities abroad, maybe those who are open-minded enough to consider work ‘abroad’ in the current and growing unemployment crunch http://www.csmonitor.com/Business/Latest-News-Wires/2012/0601/US-economy-weakens-unemployment-rate-rises-to-8.2-percent-video will ask – “why shouldn’t I have the right to go forth and prosper without these impediments?”. After all, if they see it that way, they will see that there is absolutely no reason why they would be any more likely to need FATCA imposed on them than we do. They might even resent the implication that as soon as they leave the borders of the US, that somehow they need 2 nation’s layers of oversight, rather than just one.
http://www2.macleans.ca/2012/05/22/need-job-will-travel/
U.S. workers: Need job, can’t travel to Alberta
‘Washington wants Ottawa to make it easier for U.S. workers to fill vacancies there’
by Luiza Ch. Savage on Tuesday, May 22, 2012 11:00am
….”But now the two governments are trying to find ways to make this happen. Business leaders say Canadian and U.S. officials are looking for ways to enable Canadian companies to hire U.S. workers and recognize their trade skills so they can work legally in Canada. The talks are in early stages and there have been no official announcements out of Ottawa. A spokesman for the U.S. Embassy also declined to comment “pending further talks with our Canadian partners.”…
…”All of a sudden, “the U.S. is much more interested in looking for opportunities for their workers abroad,” says Dawson.”….
Just wait until they find out about FATCA and FBARs, etc. If Washington wants Canada to help them send unemployed workers here, maybe it needs to rethink the reporting jeopardies they’ll face just having a ‘foreign’ bank account here. What hypocrisy!
@will, I’m going to get a yappy dog and call him Schumer and teach him to do his duty on the Winnipeg Free Press!
@badger, Washington may want Canada to make it easier for unemployed Americans to fill jobs in Canada? Did somebody in Washington really suggest that?
That’s not the problem. It Uncle Sam that doesn’t want them to have a job, if it is on the other side of the border. And just to make sure they will stay home FATCA makes it sure that won’t be able to open a bank account in Winnepeg or anywhere else because the IRS will punish every foreign bank that has the audacity to open an account for an American living abroad. And wait until they find out it will cost them at least $1,000 for professional assistance to prepare all the tax forms and supplemental reports with US citzens living and working abroad or be subected to massive penalties that will make them wish they never heard of Winnepeg.
Blame it all on Canada.
@Laura Secord,
Thanks for your comments and contribution. Welcome to Isaac Brock, and Hi Dad! 🙂 And you are right. That Times piece does give opportunity to exploit. I hope some more Brockers just take the time to make the obvious comments. Last I looked, there weren’t many, so it gives you a better opportunity to have your message heard by the author, and other readers.
BTW, @ all… Roger has been modest and hasn’t mentioned his latest commenting done on this recent story at Accounting Today… He has a good one there… I will let him post it here, if he wishes, but in the meantime go have a read….
IRS Mistakenly Sends Waitress a $434,712 Tax Refund
And Patric Hale came up with some good suggested awards for Shulman, the guy who claims we have a tax system that is the envy of the world. I am going to take some liberty here, and post them…
@Roger, but it is the element of surprise that our desperate neighbour depends on in the FBAR fundraiser. Let the unsuspecting job seeker take that foreign job and wham! lower the boom!
@ Roger, yes, it is hard to believe that the US wants to send workers to Canada, (and that Canada is working on assisting them – rather than offering training for unemployed Canadians to fill the posts). Shouldn’t the IRS use their ‘education’ efforts to alert those US workers about their ‘foreign’ bank account problems BEFORE any penalties get generated – or, just wait until afterwards – and reap the bounty through the ‘enforcement’ on the unwary.
@bubblebustin: yup, the good old ‘FBAR ‘n FATCA fundraiser’!
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*Will some out there tell me why, because I live outside US, am being financially persecuted. Married to British husband for 43 years. Tell me about liberty and justice!
Hello @b, and welcome. I think it is because the US has run up such a huge debt that it is avidly looking to extort revenues in the form of penalties, in lieu of the lack of US tax owed by most covered by the FEIE and foreign tax credits – (which they also continue to try and get rid of). They conveniently and disingenuously refuse to acknowledge that we pay our taxes in full where we live and earn – in countries with mutual tax treaties with the US. Many affected are duals who’ve been born outside the US, or whose parents were non-US citizens, who just happened to be in the US temporarily. Some gave up US citizenship long ago when taking on another citizenship through naturalization nullified the US one – or was a condition of citizenship elsewhere.
US legislators also know that those of us abroad don’t get heard, and many can’t vote, so they can just impose laws on us without losing votes inside the US. So, they cast us all as ‘evaders’, and our everyday (post-tax) and entirely legal banking as ‘foreign’ accounts being ‘hidden’ – so that our legitimate grievances don’t register with those still inside the US.
If you didn’t see this story, this will amuse…
George Clooney to Appear at Mega-Dollar Obama Fundraisers in Geneva
There are way too many comments and mine will get lost, but thought what the hell, might as well…
OK, maybe I’m crazy. But let me understand this: Obama will show up at a dinner for Democrats that will cost each of them $20-30,000 in Geneva, land of the supposed Fat Cats of FATCA fame? Ostensibly because O has done so much for “the poor”, and at which I’ll just assume he’ll remind the audience that “the rich” – that is, everyone at that dinner – “aren’t paying their fair share” which is why the IRS is hunting them down like dogs. I wonder if Commissioner Doug Shulman and his dobermans will be there taking down names.
In case you didn’t know it, in the past 3 years there has been an off IRS offshore jihad, conducted by Bush appointee Doug Shulman. It is causing even many middle class average Expats living overseas to now renounce their citizenship, not just the Rich who have to pay a pretty heft exit tax for the privilege of giving it up. I wonder just how open those Dem wallets will be of these super rich?
The FATCA legislation (Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act) passed in the 2010 Hire Act, is burdening all foreign Financial institutions in the world with big compliance costs,and not just in Switzerland. Starting January 1st, they will have to begin turning into International Revenue Service all the guests attending the fund raiser (plus all US persons in the whole world) that have any banking relationship with them!! I bet there will be a few unhappy Democratic campers. Living abroad is not so easy now. Maybe Obama and Clooney will just be asking them all to come home, as it is too expensive to have a US passport and live abroad any more!
Also twittered it.
https://twitter.com/FATCA_Fallout/status/219659709433655296
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