I created this video based on what I have learned from the Society. It highlights issues related to legality and the sheer number of “US Persons” in Canada. It doesn’t demonize the present government in Ottawa as to date they have been helpful.
I created this video based on what I have learned from the Society. It highlights issues related to legality and the sheer number of “US Persons” in Canada. It doesn’t demonize the present government in Ottawa as to date they have been helpful.
*Joe Smith and 30 year vet
I guess where I come down is I don’t think the entire US government is acting purely out of malice so in that sense the video is way over the top. I don’t think the primary purpose of FATCA is to go after US citizens living in Canada however, the politics of it and the way it was designed make it very difficult to make changes to do otherwise(Just Me had a good link this morning that argued essentially the target of FATCA are banks not bank customers). I think there needs to be way to explain the issue in an easy to understand way. I am just not sure this is the way to do it. In a sense this is a very complex issue politically and legally which means it needs to be explained in a user friendly manner but on the otherhand should not be trivalized.
The video below is perhaps a more relevant description of the intersection of Canadian soveriegnty, American soveriegnty, and FATCA
One aspect of the video which is extremely accurate is the manner that Hitler goes completely apeshit when he finds out that Steiner did not obey his order to attack. It reminds me so very clearly of how the Senators and the US media reacted at the renunciations of Eduardo Saverin and Denise Rich. They went ballistic and they are just a bunch of raving lunatics. Especially “Despicable” Schumer.
Then when the girl is crying and she is comforted with the words, Don’t worry. They are only rounding up US persons into the camps. That’s so perfect.
When I first became aware of all this around 2004-2005 from the website escapeartist.com, I did some reading of the Congressional Record of the debates around the Foreign Tax Exclusion, and expatriates in general. What was different then was that the most rabid statements were coming from Southern Republicans. What has changed is that they have been joined by so-called ‘liberal democrats.’ Listen to what they say. Listen to what they imply. It is indeed frightening. And it is getting worse.
Not everything is reason. Not even when it is full of numbers, like IRS Form 1234. To mangle a surrealist byword: L’horreur sera convulsive ou ne sera pas. As a person who has suffered in multiple ways from the irrationalities of the United States, and lost considerable time and money to meaningless “compliance,” I find emotional resonance in the Hitler captions.
Sorry, Steve, that’s how you and your country have made me feel. What can we do about feelings? Look at something that gives us a black cackle of recognition. Catharsis.
The truly disgusting thing is a country gone wrong that treats 6-7 million extraterritorials like nothing but profitable collateral damage. And strives to make them second-class persons even in the countries where they actually do live. That is artless reality – forcing US persons accursed with their “abroadness’ to live with gnawing uncertainties for months and years.
I called Metro Morning today in Toronto and made the links between their Eritrea Consulate story and the US Persons situation. We’ll see if they play it Tuesday morning.
@usxcanada.
Thank you. Our feelings do need to be taken into account. Our feelings are being ignored. Our feelings are exacerbating or caused illness, stress, marital strife. Nina Olson, on our behalf, has been ignored. We are painted traitors and tax evaders, all with the same brush of those who actually are — and are generally discovered residing within the U.S. We wait and wait with no significant further word from the U.S. I don’t hold out much hope that the promised September information from the IRS will be of much use to me or for most of us here. The long, drawn-out wait, uncertainty and stress for us is disgusting.
The other great thing is that the historical context this scene is that Hitler was days from suicide–isn’t that all too similar to the United States? They are committing economic suicide on so many levels.
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