In the past, one used to seek to win friends and influence people. Such was even updated for the digital age. Yet, now times are changing, as explained in this excellently written article:
How to Lose Friends, Citizens and Influence
The U.S. Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act seeks to co-opt foreign banks as long-arm enforcement agencies of the IRS.
@Victoria, these are a few that came up in search results:
http://www.catholic.org/national/national_story.php?id=51770
http://bbs.clutchfans.net/showthread.php?t=241950
http://www.texasguntalk.com/forums/politics/49045-if-you-know-any-ex-pats.html
http://www.sportballa.com/2013/07/boris-johnson/graffy-colleen-citizens-friends-lose-how-influence-and
Very disparate sites with very specific main themes/interests. Some are only available if you join as a member, and some may not be receptive to comments. Some may be unlikely allies, or are appreciative of the article for reasons which don’t intersect much with IBS.
Might be interesting though to see how fast the Graffy article spreads to other places.
I found this older article,
‘Flaherty’s tax crackdown letter reported widely in Canada, ignored in U.S.’
by Erik Rolfsen on September 26, 2011 http://www.erikrolfsen.com/2011/09/26/flahertys-tax-crackdown-letter-reported-widely-in-canada-ignored-in-u-s/
I hadn’t seen it before, commenting on Flaherty’s letter to the US re FATCA and the aggressive extraterritorial tax and FBAR threats to Canadian citizens and residents. The author notes that it was a story that needed to be followed up by the Canadian media. And, he found it noteworthy and newsworthy that it received not much or any attention in the US media.
http://www.erikrolfsen.com/2011/09/26/flahertys-tax-crackdown-letter-reported-widely-in-canada-ignored-in-u-s/
The author-journalist http://www.erikrolfsen.com/about/ thought it was noteworthy that “…Nobody south of the border seems to care what the Canadian finance minister has to say about the issue.
That’s actually kind of newsworthy when you think about it…”
He went on to say “…Newspapers try to print news that matters to their readers, and why would Americans care about this? Money from us means more money for them. It may be home-page news here, but it’s crumpled up in some editor’s wastebasket there.
Hopefully Flaherty has more in his arsenal to fight this issue than what amounts to a press release to Canadian media. And hopefully all this Canadian coverage isn’t giving affected Canadians the false impression that Flaherty has put the issue on the public agenda down south….”
That was back in 2011. We still aren’t getting the Canadian or US coverage that this issue deserves.
Wonder if he is still interested in the issue? A search of his site http://www.erikrolfsen.com/about/ doesn’t turn up anything else about FATCA or US incursions into Canada.
He’s also on social media like Twitter https://twitter.com/erikrolfsen and Linked In http://ca.linkedin.com/pub/erik-rolfsen/11/6b7/58 for those using those methods.
@badger, Thanks for the list. I’m off to see what I can contribute. Will definitely start with Catholic on-line – after all I’m a member of the club, right?
And just for a change of pace will post garden pictures up on the Flophouse today. 🙂
Good luck Victoria. It may be that the article will continue to be passed on via some of these forums, we’ll see. Not certain whether an outsider popping up and trying to comment would be welcomed on the more specialized sites.
Look forward to reading about the garden.
In the neighbourhood is a dense canopy of very tall old trees which remind me of the vaulted ceiling and struts of a cathedral. So many living beings there going about their business just as they were designed to do. Admiring them gives a brief respite from this sickening situation.
Thanks, badger. I just left one on Catholic on-line. Some of the others require registration. I also sent a note to the Seattle Times and told them about the WSJ article and left my name and number. I’m in Seattle next week and perhaps I can get some local coverage going – try to link the national story to something close to home.
I love old trees and I know exactly what you mean about the canopy. It’s so peaceful.
@Badger
Thanks for posting those links. The Catholic Online’s tag line is a bit misleading isn’t it? “Want to irritate people to the point where they want to leave the United States and live abroad? Voila! The Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act, or FATCA is forcing millions of Americans living abroad to reconsider their U.S. citizenship.” Gives the impression that FATCA if forcing people to flee the US. I’m beginning to think that the folks in charge of writing these things just skim the article. Thanks for the links. FATCA’s not warmly received, but then there’s a huge (and growing) segment of American society where Obama can do no right anyway. If Shadow Raider can influence the Tax Justice Institute to oppose FATCA for the effect it is having on US citizens, that too will effect Obama’s base.
@Victoria
Have as pleasant a trip as you can have flying from from Paris to Seattle. I think you’ll find the weather over here to your liking!
There is website, PJMedia commenting on the WSJ Op Ed, and I put up a quick comment this morning
Weaponizing the Acronyms that Rule Us
We don’t really need a new acronym for the IRS. It is already becoming known as the “International” Revenue Service.
FATCA has been the worst law most Americans have never hear about, and I appreciate you focusing on this WSJ article by Ms Graffy.
What you may not know, is that FATCA is coming home to U.S. Shores, and the unintended consequences of this will be the imposition of the same rules on U.S. Financial Institutions (USFIs) as is being thrust onto the hundreds of thousands of Foreign Financial Institutions. (FFIs) You can call this DATCA for domestic!
The mechanism for this, is via what are called FATCA IGAs or intergovernmental agreements, where Treasury is promising reciprocity to all the governments in the world as a carrot to over come the unilateral coercive actions of FATCA.
Will Congress stand up and say no to this? Well, FATCA, like ObamaCare regs has just been delayed again, so there is still time for them to wake up to what they have done.
Please read and support the recent letter Representative Bill Posey sent to Secretary Jack Lew calling for a FATCA moratorium and ending FATCA IGAs. There is a real education in the letter for those of you that know nothing about FATCA.
Here is a link to the recent story at Accounting Today. Too Bad the WSJ didn’t headline it.
http://bit.ly/10EX8tu
There was a translated interview in French from James Jatras on http://www.agefi.com
http://www.agefi.com/une/detail/archive/2013/july/artikel/fatca-entretien-avec-james-george-jatras-lun-des-principaux-opposants-a-la-loi-recueillir-des-informations-est-une-fin-en-soi-selon-lui.html
Interesting article, entitled: the true objective is not fiscal.
Here is the google translate link.
http://translate.google.com/translate?sl=auto&tl=en&js=n&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.agefi.com%2Fune%2Fdetail%2Farchive%2F2013%2Fjuly%2Fartikel%2Ffatca-entretien-avec-james-george-jatras-lun-des-principaux-opposants-a-la-loi-recueillir-des-informations-est-une-fin-en-soi-selon-lui.html
The last paragraph is especially interesting.
“I am in contact with two dozen Swiss parliamentarians, but I will say no more. In the UK, there are voices to reject ratification of the agreement. If London refuses, the effect will be devastating.”.
I wonder when the interview took place. It looks like several weeks ago at least.
@Just Me
Fantastic article “Weaponizing the Acronyms that Rule Us”. Author thinks FATCA is un-American, but me thinks America in the process of redefining itself.
The US may soon have one less excuse for citizenship-based taxation:
http://personalliberty.com/2013/07/19/house-bill-would-slash-foreign-aid/
@SwissPinoy
I’m afraid we’ll all have to move into US embassies in order for our safety and security to be covered by the US budget. Still, the greatest threat to US persons abroad would be the USG itself!
Thanks Chris…
Unfortunately FATCA as of July 17th, is now the law of the UK..
@Chris
Re “The last paragraph is especially interesting.
“I am in contact with two dozen Swiss parliamentarians, but I will say no more. In the UK, there are voices to reject ratification of the agreement. If London refuses, the effect will be devastating.”.
I wonder when the interview took place. It looks like several weeks ago at least.”
No, it took place earlier this week. Unfortunately, the UK parliamentary action to approve the IGA took place between the interview and publication, and evidently the interviewer didn’t hear of it in time. Unfortunate.
So the UK has fallen off the mountain but some Swiss parliamentarians are attempting to stop the fateful fall into FATCAhell by driving some pitons into the rock face. Meanwhile the IGA rope-a-dope continues to ensnare more countries, despite the farce of promised US reciprocity. Well, here’s hoping for some strong Swiss hands on those pitons. Saving Switzerland could be the first step in saving the others.
@Em
“Saving Switzerland could be the first step in saving the others”. Can you see the irony?
@bubblebustin,
Yes, wouldn’t it be.
In the meantime, what’s up with Canada? They are obviously ready to throw us under the bus, but taking their sweet time. Just get it over already!
@JustMe or someone else with a WallStreet account, could you please set Estelle straight. She just wrote: “For the people who were born in this country to foreign nationals and who returned to the country of their parents and have dual citizenship or who have dual citizenship by virtue of having an American parent: they have the option of claiming their American citizenship if they want, but have no obligation to pay US taxes unless or until they return to the US with the intention of working. The essay above about Obama being forced to pay Kenyan or Indonesian taxes is a straw man argument, as is the comment that Winston Churchill would be obligated to pay US taxes. ”
http://online.wsj.com/article_email/SB10001424127887323993804578611711520269422-lMyQjAxMTAzMDEwODExNDgyWj.html#articleTabs%3Dcomments
@WhiteKat
Yes, Estelle is a real piece of work, says “And the expat population is wealthier than the average American resident citizen.”
@bubblebustin,
And so is PiedPiper2 over at http://pjmedia.com/rogerkimball/2013/07/17/weaponizing-the-acronyms-that-rule-us/
He and I are engaged in a battle right now. He says I should save my ‘contemptuous and arrogant demeanor for use with your spouse at home’. 🙂
@WhiteKat
I can add masogynist to the list of other opinions I have if him. What a condescending so-and-so he is.
@bubblebustin,
You know PiedPiper2 might be on to something. What I like about discoursing with him is that I get to let my inner bitch out on someone other than my spouse. I mean my husband was never very sympathetic to begin with (thought I was exaggerating the threat), although he is coming around as he starts to understand more from getting occasional updates from me. I am slowly indoctrinating him. 🙂
If it wasn’t for people like PP, who else could I bitch at without having to pay for it the next day?
@bubblebustin,
I am referring to FATCA of course, as I have nothing else to bitch about.
@WhiteKat
I can’t find the conversation you’re having with Paid Piper2 (my name for him). I’m feeling kind of bitchy too tonight (only about FATCA of course ;-))
I’m glad I’m not the only one! 🙂
Our conversation thus far should be at the top of the comments section (sort by new): http://pjmedia.com/rogerkimball/2013/07/17/weaponizing-the-acronyms-that-rule-us/
‘Paid Piper’, he could be, but more likely just another know-it-all.