Almost at the Goal: Repeal FATCA Move-On Petition, for your signature. Thank you very much.
I’m posting this on behalf of bubblebustin and Just Me — and all of us who want to help repeal FATCA.
bubblebustin comment to @just me:
Rami returned my email of this morning and said that Helen Burggraf was in touch with him yesterday. Also informed me that “Moveon.org won’t do anything with the petition unless it reaches a critical mass as well.
It’s up to we small activists to make it big!
In the meantime we have had some impact with the ways and means committees, writing letters directly. It’s a multi-pronged approach that turns the tides eventually, we hope 🙂 ”
Inspiring words.
So close! We only need eighteen more signatures. ;^)
Rami told me that the goal will automatically go up once it’s reached. I don’t know what moveon.org considers critical mass, but the White House “We the People” petitions require 100K within 30 days in order for the President to respond.
Moveon.org’s website states: “Our MoveOn family is made up of a couple of different pieces. MoveOn.org Civic Action, a 501(c)(4) nonprofit organization, focuses on education and advocacy, as well as on building the progressive movement by encouraging and supporting the development of more grassroots leaders. MoveOn.org Political Action, a federal PAC, is focused on demonstrating MoveOn members’ power at the ballot box and electing candidates who reflect our members’ values.”
Regarding their online petitions:
“SignOn.org is a new online organizing platform created by MoveOn.org Civic Action that puts the power of online campaigning directly into our members’ hands. Using SignOn.org, individuals and organizations can start their own online petition on any issue – local or national – and invite their friends and supporters to sign it. We send the most popular petitions to other MoveOn members to help build support for these member-led causes.”
Then we may not “be almost there” if MoveOn will raise the goal once the present one is reached?
We’ll just have to keep on moving on.
Wow! Talk about moving the goal posts once the goal is reached, and say, ‘Nope. You have to keep trying….”
Well, you have to start somewhere 🙂
In getting people motivated to sign, there must be some value in having people believe they are close to reaching a goal.
Someone here (sorry I can’t remember who) suggested that organizations such as ACA would have a data base of emails addresses that could be used to rally support for a “We the People” petition that requires 100K signatures within 30 days. A data base such as this one at moveon.org could also be drawn upon for the same purpose, should that be permitted.
@bubblebustin
True, but moving the goalposts can also backfire if people end up thinking that the goal is unattainable.
Yes, it does make having a goal meaningless when it can never be attained. I guess the purpose is to attain the critical mass it takes in order for its administrators to send the petition to other MoveOn members to help build some momentum on the issue. Frankly, whatever the issue is, no one is going to care if it doesn’t effect them, no matter how altruistic they might think of themselves as being.
There are currently (May 24, 2013 a.m.) 2,001 signatures
NEW goal – We need 3,000 signatures
I sure hope this gets to some US officials in the Ways and Means, RBT / TaxReform.gov realm reads the many comments on the Petition! They are very revealing of the collateral damage!!
I just like having the petition on a Progressive web site, as it give lie to those that think this is only a Conservative or Libertarian issue. It is handy to use in arguments to the contrary. 🙂
@Just Me
There is already a lot of confusion out there as to what side of the fence Libertarians sit on. I have some very Democrat friends in the US who were convinced that Ron Paul is left wing. Do you think his message of “let’s abolish the income tax, let’s abolish the IRS” will resonate with a growing number of Americans on both ends of the spectrum and anywhere in between? It sure does with me after his latest podcast:
http://www.podcastone.com/program?action=viewProgram&programID=401
I also posted the moveon.org’s Repeal FATCA petition on Ron Paul’s Facebook page.
Good move to post the petition on Ron Paul’s Facebook page, bubblebustin. Brilliant. Would be good on Rand Paul’s page too. (I’m not a Facebook user.)
I’m off to open your link.
Thanks, Calgary411.
@bubblebustin
To my understanding of libertarianism, I thought it was about being progressive on social issues, and conservative on economic issues.
To my mind, given Rand Paul’s stance against abortion, for example, doesn’t strike me as a person with libertarian thinking. More like he’s a conservative trying to pass off as libertarian. I don’t know. Liberty means exactly that, and I simply find it difficult to restrict a person’s freedom, and then call myself a libertarian in the mirror without feeling like a hypocrite.
I guess that’s why I prefer to be a moderate. There are valid points to both conservative and progressive politics, but when one gets too far to one side or the other, we either end up having theocracies, or communist states.
@bubblebustin
….and absolutely, I hope this petition does reach critical mass, because then they would have to respond.
I googled “repeal FATCA” and am leaflet bombing every blog and article comment section I can with the link to the petition. I came across one that Republican’s Abroad also has going, where I signed up and left a link to the moveon.org one. They only have 1,000 signatures, perhaps they’d like to join in! Others are the Jim Jatras Repeal FATCA, ACA, Center for Freedom and Prosperity, Democrats Abroad…basically everything left, right and centre. I’m hitting Facebook too, but like Rand Paul’s and ACA’s, you can’t always make a post on their Fb page.
@Bubblebustin and @mjh49783 say that:
“There is already a lot of confusion out there as to what side of the fence Libertarians sit on.” and
“To my understanding of libertarianism, I thought it was about being progressive on social issues, and conservative on economic issues.”
Without any knowledge of or care about the meaning of “libertarianism,” I voted for Ron Paul in the last election because of his strong stands on foreign policy (US has no business in being in all of these failed wars), (failed) war on drugs, and privacy rights—are these positions “left-liberal, “right,” or “moderate” or does it really make any difference? I did believe however that some of Paul’s thoughts on social assistance were too extreme and harmful.
I don’t feel that we should necessarily strive to be “moderates” or “progressives” (whatever that means) but just support those policies (and people) that help the cause.
At present, some of the positions of the Rand/Ron Paul family are helpful to US persons abroad and I don’t believe that we will be tainted by saying so.
@IRSCompliantForever
I couldn’t agree with you and Just Me more. I just hope the the progressives at moveon.org can get past the irony of being in the same camp as Rand Paul in any effort to derail FATCA.
I agree too.
I don’t want a label slapped on or have to belong to an organization that supports what I think is wrong and what I think is right — and it will always be about that, though my beliefs may differ from the next guys of whatever description.
@IRSCompliantForever
I’m just saying that I tend to shun extremism in any form, and I’m going to simply give my blind support to someone just because they say they’re a certain way, and end up being some other way that I don’t necessarily agree with. I’ve already been burned bad enough by believing in the bullshit hope and change Obummer bandwagon that turned into hopeless and despair from the last regime of idiotic swaggering ‘You’re either for us or against us’ load of nonsense from dumbass Dubya. I’d LOVE to vote for Ron Paul, but as I said in a different thread here on IBS, if the American news media was TRULY free, then why did they all work to silence him? Why didn’t the American people get to hear what he had to say so that we could make an informed decision?
Meanwhile, Rand Paul can certainly talk the talk, and I do like what he’s got to say, but can he walk the walk, and knock some sense into Congress, so that they can deal with tax reform in a rational manner, instead of them going off in a ‘holier than thou’ attitude towards those that have done nothing wrong? They’re acting like a bunch of goddamned communists! Hell, I knew of an older woman who came from Poland from back when they were behind the Iron Curtain, and even she said that the US government today is acting more like a bunch of Soviets!
And yes, I did sign the petition to repeal FATCA, but my ultimate cause is to survive and live free, and my money is still on renouncing.
@mjh49783,
“Meanwhile, Rand Paul can certainly talk the talk, and I do like what he’s got to say, but can he walk the walk, and knock some sense into Congress…?”
Probably not, as the odds are against him— but the odds are also against the repeal FATCA petition, if ever submitted, being effective— and yet we both signed off.
@calgary411
Nobody wants to be slapped with a label for really any reason, and that goes far beyond politics. I’ll offer an example….
My wife has a disability. She has multiple sclerosis. If you ask her, she’ll tell you that she deeply resents being labelled by the ODSP program in Ontario as some sort of welfare queen looking for a handout by dishonest, crooked, and unaccountable caseworkers. And how in the hell does one fake MS, anyway?
But I digress….
We can either be bothered by the labels that other people place on us, because they’re too spiritually, and intellectually lazy to deal with other people in any meaningful way, or we can choose to simply not give a damn about what other people think.
And for those that choose to label themselves, and sell their views to the world, am I really suppose to believe them at their word and not scrutinize them? Am I suppose to believe that any one of these snake oil salesmen are there for our benefit, and not toss us under a bus for a dollar?
@IRSCompliantForever
Yes, because we have to have a little bit of hope that someone over there has a sense of reason, that can explain to those raving lunatics in Congress that we’re not the enemy, and that terrorizing us doesn’t do anyone any good simply because we’re trying to survive any way we can.
I guess only time will tell if this is just another case of false hope, but sadly, I’m confident that it likely will be.
Dear Brockers, I have been reading your posts every day for the past several months. I have finally talked my non-US Husband into letting me come to an Internet cafe to anonymously sign the petition. Thank you all so much for what you are doing. As much as I want to renounce, I have one child and grandchildren living in the US. My other children live with me in the UK and attend university so haven’t had to file taxes in the US yet. I have filed US returns for all the years I have lived in Europe, but never heard of FBAR until this year. I am a housewife so any money I have has come from my husband who has now taken me off all his bank accounts. I have so much I would like to say and add to the very intellectual discussions held here but I am almost out of time. This whole fiasco makes me feel like a criminal in hiding. The most frustrating aspect being that I do not feel I am being represented in congress and if I want to go public I may be denied entry to see my family in th US. It would be really great if there was a physical address that those of us out here not wanting to leave a digital trail could write to to give you more of our thoughts and suggestions. Again, I wish I could join in every day but thank you so much for your efforts and I will be with you every day trying to figure out how I can help.
@Heidi G
That took a lot of energy and courage for you to come and express your support. I for one really appreciate the comment, and understand your points. I know there are other lurkers out there that read but don’t comment, and always happy to have another weigh in with their perspectives, observations, questions or fears.
If you have not read this thread, you might want to read it, print it, and pass it around to other Americans abroad, or those that think they want Greencards, as it might help them see the complexity and cost they face when they become a U.S. Person…
http://isaacbrocksociety.ca/2013/05/23/irs-reminds-those-with-foreign-assets-and-accounts-of-u-s-tax-obligations-beware/
I see Jim Jatras has signed after I sent him a link to it 🙂 # 2031