This seems to be a class action suit, based in Delaware, against FATCA.
http://armstrongeconomics.com/2014/12/16/class-action-lawsuit-forming-against-fatca/
Martin Armstrong may be brilliant. He also spent seven years in prison for contempt of court relating to security fraud charges, only released in 2011. Delaware of course is a notorious tax haven. Do we want to approach him, be associated with him? Maybe, maybe not. Such an association could confirm our enemies in their opinion that we are tax evaders.
OR…is he just forwarding contacts to the lawsuit already underway in DC?
@Stephen. Your logic is spot on.
@Foo
I posted your point on the RO FB site.
Charl,
Thank you for posting @Foo’s point!
I don’t do Facebook. But it would be nice if foo’s second part can be posted there as well. It really drives the point home.
“Even if he [Mr. Obama] does veto it [Bill for RBT], it will provide a litmus test for Congressional representatives, so that overseas voters can know whom to vote for and against in 2016.”
Here was the response to Foo’s comment:
Republicans Overseas “We love to play hardball politics. If that is what you want to do, we need to back it up with data. In 2012, only 7% of 7.6 million overseas voters voted. But these 523,000 votes were not concentrated in one congressional district. Instead the votes were spread across all 435 districts. So your litmus test idea is not a creditable threat to any lawmaker.”
@Foo @Stephen
Tell me how to respond. You’ve got me fighting above my weight class here.
@Charl
How about something like this:
Dear RO,
If you want to take expat votes away from the Democrats and turn non-voter expats into voters you have to take REAL ACTION by putting RBT front and centre.
It is no accident that so many expats have not been voting much in congressional elections. They have zero senators or congressmen dedicated to representing the “interests of expats.” This is exactly why CBT still exists to this day.
However, expats do vote in the presidential elections. If you want to expat votes in the 2016 presidential election, do something real for them now by putting RBT front and centre, not just some side show for the American banks’ effort to block FATCA reciprocity.
Expats have been estranged from the US government for a long time. The trust level for many of them is barely above zero at best, hence so many renouncing and the pipeline for renunciation appointments growing.
The time for action is now, not 2017.
@Charl,
It is up to you to tell the Republicans what you want — and your message was pretty clear.
It should not come as a surprise that a political party wants voters. I also appreciate that it will be very difficult for the Republicans to introduce any RBT legislation during the next two years. However, there are too many innocents who are horribly suffering now from these immoral CBT laws, they don’t want to wait any longer, and I too want legislation introduced by 2016. I have already expressed my thoughts to Republican Overseas.
If other people care about this issue they should keep plugging away with their position on the RO FB site again and again.
This is “Beau’s” comment, on the RO FB site, to the RO response to your point”
Republicans Overseas responds to Beau:
https://www.facebook.com/republicansoverseas/posts/330267830490352
@Charl,
Thank you very much for posting my point on RO’s FB page! (I don’t do Facebook.)
As for their response… I agree with something along the lines that John Smith posted above. Basically, I intend to sit out any further elections unless I see some concrete actions before then.
RO says:
Then one might ask, why are you interested in overseas votes at all?
Ok, this has been answered by RO themselves: they hope to to pick up some extra votes in close-margin states. And realistically, that is all courting the overseas vote could ever accomplish, for any party. Democrats Abroad has done a better job of this in the past, and Republicans Overseas hopes to catch up or even pry away some Democrat-leaning voters.
So the purpose of a litmus test is not to “threaten” lawmakers. It is to entice potential voters, especially in states with close races.
Look at it from the overseas (potential) voter’s point of view. Right now, we have both Democrats Abroad and Republicans Overseas claiming that they are, in principle, in favor of Residence Based Taxation for individuals. Democrats Abroad has declared, however, that they do not intend to actively pursue this issue at the moment, because it would be too hard right now. Republicans Overseas, on the other hand, is saying… basically the same thing!
Sorry, but that is not enough to motivate me.
To be honest, outside of the RBT/CBT issue, my leanings on social issues are typically Democrat anyway. So absent the RBT/CBT issue, if I were to vote, it would be Democrat. Of course, I am naturally much more concerned with social issues where I live than in the US, so those issues alone will not motivate me to vote in the US, either. But to get me over the hump to actually vote Republican in 2016 will take something more than vague promises to think about things in the future. If that is all I want, I can get that from Democrats Abroad. What are you offering that is different?
By the way, as far as voting based on a promise, I feel I already did that in 2014. I voted Republican for the first time in my life, based solely on the RBT issue which Republicans Overseas seemed to have been actively pursuing, even getting an RNC resolution to that effect passed. And Republicans took both houses of Congress! So surely action will be forthcoming, right? No? You’re going to try to string us along instead?
No, I’ve been played that way far too many times in the past, on a variety of issues, and this is the last time.
I did my part. Your turn now.
Sitting tight and hoping for the Republicans to do something doesn’t look very promising.
Renouncing seems like the only way to go.
I see Charl has gone back into the fray on the RO page. Thanks Charl.
Meanwhile:
Can the Secretary of State actually tell how someone voted? I know absentee ballots are not guaranteed to be private, but would they actually go and look up how a particular person voted upon request from a political party? That seems a bit creepy.
Or, does Michael DeSombre just want to know who actually registered to vote in 2014? (And is that information also public?) In any case, he can have my name for verification if he wants, and is even free to ask how I voted, if the state will give out that information, to show that I’m serious about what I say.
But I should warn him, he needn’t bother forwarding my views to my Congressional representatives — they already know full well how I feel about the issues. (They’re probably sick of hearing about it!)
@foo
I am thinking… pandering…. they were all about traveling the world to generate press about our issues… then a web site goes up… asking for donations… after that… we have not heard anything at all… has any funds been raised since we have not seen any activity on the site… when will the suit be filed… 2017? Will nothing be done to stop this monster for us in its track… I understand CBT is the issue… but stop the Fatca in its track… then work on that issue… Problem… neither side will make an effort… they don’t want to look like they are helping tax evaders… Prove to us that u are willing to help now… not in a few yrs when our lives will be harmed beyond repair…
@John Smith,
Most US people abroad who want the Republicans to pass RBT legislation, and have not completely given up on the U.S. political process, ARE just sitting back and “hoping for the Republicans to do something” — but a few are actually trying to influence the Republicans. .
What three of them (Foo via Charl, “Beau”, and “Kevin”) are doing on the Republicans Overseas (RO) FB site is to let RO know exactly what they want (RBT legislation introduced during next two years).
RO and the above people have a difference of opinion not on whether RBT legislation should be introduced, but on the when (RO wants to wait until 2017). If anyone else wants to try to influence the Republicans to introduce RBT legislation sooner than later, post a comment on their FB site or ask a FB-inclined person (like Charl) to post for you. Limiting your complaints to this Brock website will NOT get the message across to RO. Tell RO directly.
I am still convinced that the Republicans will initiate a U.S. FATCA lawsuit and, for RBT, are the only political party in the U.S. that takes our position (would the Dems ever introduce RBT legislation??), and should be supported — but at the end of the day we can count on only ourselves. A “CBT” lawsuit does make sense if it could be financially supported.
By the way, like Foo’s reps, my Congressional reps (all Dems) already know what I what them to do.
This is what Charl posted for Foo on the RO FB (and hoping that more will post):
“If you want to take expat votes away from the Democrats and turn non-voter expats into voters you have to take REAL ACTION by putting RBT front and centre. The purpose of a litmus test is not to “threaten” lawmakers but to entice potential voters. It is no accident that so many expats have not been voting in congressional elections. They have no legislators dedicated to representing the “interests of expats.” This is exactly why CBT still exists to this day. However, expats do vote in the presidential elections.
If you want [the] expat votes in the 2016 presidential election, do something real for them now by putting RBT front and centre, not just some side show for the American banks’ effort to block FATCA reciprocity. The time for action is now, not 2017.”
https://www.facebook.com/republicansoverseas/posts/330267830490352
https://www.facebook.com/republicansoverseas
@Stephen Kish,
Of course, the main fear is that waiting until 2017 really means waiting much, much longer than that.
Either because the Republicans do not take the Presidency and both houses of Congress in 2016 (let’s face it, the odds of such a sweep are low for any party), or because even if they do win it all, they still keep stringing us along to try to milk our anger for long-term support. Either way, the best chance to get something done would seem to be now, before 2016. After that, it becomes a chronic issue that probably never gets resolved.
And life is short. Faced with the prospect of endless delays waiting for Congress to finally show some decency towards its overseas constituents, and fearful of the next shoe to drop, many Americans overseas will simply take matters into their own hands and free themselves, if they can.
So I recommend politicians, if they have any intention of ever doing the right thing, to do it now rather than later. For many Americans abroad, there will be no later.
@Foo, we agree on the timing. I would only add to your comment (I keep hammering away on this) that more people (more than the present three) should go to the RO FB site and tell the Republicans when they want RBT legislation introduced.
https://www.facebook.com/republicansoverseas
RO: appears MISSING: not only expat vote, but stateside family and friends asked to vote Republican by angry expats.