UPDATE: The initial story by Ralph Z. Hallow, chief political writer at The Washington Times, has been revised and greatly expanded at the same previous link:
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2015/jun/24/sen-rand-paul-sue-irs-us-treasury/
This is stop-the-presses news: Rand Paul has joined forces with Jim Bopp, Solomon Yue and Republicans Overseas and will be one of seven plaintiffs in the upcoming lawsuit against the IRS and the US Treasury Department. The suit will be filed by a new composite organization called Republicans Overseas Action.
Some crucial highlights:
Sen. Rand Paul to sue IRS, U.S. Treasury
Rand Paul is poised to become the first major presidential candidate in memory to sue the government he seeks to lead as president.
The Kentucky senator will take legal action against the U.S. Treasury and the Internal Revenue Service for what he says is the denial of his constitutional right to vote on more than 100 tax-information treaties that the Obama administration unilaterally negotiated with foreign governments, The Washington Times has learned.
In what the suit says is a violation of Article II, Section 2 of the Constitution, President Obama has not consulted the U.S. Senate about the treaties nor given the Senate an opportunity to approve or disapprove of the treaties. The administration calls them “intergovernmental agreements.” They require foreign banks to gather and share private financial information about millions of Americans living and working outside the U.S. — information they would not have to disclose to the U.S. government if they lived and worked in the U.S.
The treaties or agreements are the enforcement mechanisms of the Obama administration’s Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA), enacted by a Democratic-controlled Congress in 2010.
The act is despised by many of the estimated 8.7 million Americans living overseas, a record number of whom have — with great anger and reluctance, according to those who have spoken to the foreign and U.S. press — renounced their U.S. citizenship rather than attempt to comply with FATCA.
Mr. Paul, a Republican who announced his presidential bid in early April, will join six other plaintiffs in the suit that a new organization called “Republicans Overseas Action” expects to file in a southern Ohio federal district court the week of June 29. The court’s Republican makeup is considered at least open to the constitutional arguments that the plaintiffs lay out.
The other plaintiffs in the suit Mr. Paul has joined say they have been denied banking and financial services in the foreign countries where they live and work. The foreign banks don’t want to be burdened with the expense and paperwork to comply with FATCA and therefore simply refuse to accept Americans as clients.
The Republican National Committee and the recently formed Republican Overseas Action aim to get as many of those Americans living or working outside their country to register in one or another of the swing states that decide the presidency in close elections. Republicans Overseas Action is paying for the lawsuit Mr. Paul has joined as plaintiff.
The driving force behind the suit is a longtime conservative activist on the Republican National Committee, Solomon Yue of Oregon.
“The best way to defend 8.7 million overseas Americans’ right to privacy and constitutional protections is to cripple the IRS, FATCA and enforcement tools through legal action on constitutional grounds all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court,” said Mr. Yue, founder and vice chairman of Republicans Overseas Action Inc
For reference, here was our initial coverage today:
A very significant announcement from Rand Paul today, as reported by The Washington Times:
Sen. Rand Paul to sue IRS, U.S. Treasury
Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul will sue the U.S. Treasury and the Internal Revenue Service for denying his constitutional right to vote on treaties that the Obama administration unilaterally negotiated with dozens of foreign governments, The Washington Times has learned.
The treaties, which the administration calls “intergovernmental agreements,” require foreign banks to gather and share private financial information about millions of Americans living and working outside the U.S. – information they would not have to disclose to the U.S. government if they lived and worked in the U.S.
Photo credit: Associated Press
@Polly
And? They will throw their own people under the bus to save themselves.
This is why in Canada, we have the ADCS lawsuit. People here have resorted to suing their own government, in order to fight for their rights under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
MuzzledNoMore quoted Phil Hodgen quoting Phil Hodgen’s friend:
‘“I have a friend — a Canadian lawyer. He semi-jokingly said to me one day, “Your national anthem says you are the ‘Land of the Free’. Tell me one facet of your life that is not regulated by your government.”’
The Canadian lawyer misunderstood the US national anthem. George Orwell explained it. “Free” is a word with meanings such as “The dog is free from fleas” and “The court is free from facts.”
Even though George Orwell was writing about England and English, the same freedoms exist in the US, Canada, Japan, and other places. Though most countries don’t enforce these freedoms extraterritorially.
@ Deckard
Took a while to dig this up, but this is one of the first stories I stumbled across on FATCA.
This terrifies me as we are needing to do the ten year maintenance on our home required to extend the warranty on it. It is not cheap and will require a trip to the bank for a loan. I have instructed my wife to not let the bank know she is married to a USC. As her surname is not Japanese, I am fearful.
From Genevalunch.com
Ellen’s Swiss News World
Swiss banks step up efforts to identify, quarantine or avoid US citizens
June 21, 2012 by Ellen Wallace
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – Americans living in Switzerland have been abuzz for months with stories about fellow citizens who were starting to have trouble with their Swiss banks closing accounts. Some of the first stories were shared at a Town Hall meeting at Webster University in 2011, organized by American Citizens Abroad. Rumours and innuendo have given way to several concrete stories in the past month, of Americans who have lived in Switzerland for a number of years and who are now seeing their financial accounts closed.
Amy Webster, a communications specialist who lives in Morges, shares her story. Ironically, her mother was one of a group of US citizens who fought hard in the 1970s to be able to pass on their US citizenship to their children born abroad, who were not at the time recognized as Americans.
By Amy Webster
I have been living in Switzerland since 1984 and am married to a Swiss national. We own a house together in Morges and are currently building a chalet in the Valais. For this new construction we obtained a loan from the Zurich-based zweiplus bank, where my husband had invested some funds. The construction is underway and we recently asked the bank for additional funds. Although we are good clients and the loan itself would not raise a problem, the harsh news came that under no circumstance could we obtain a greater loan; in fact the entire mortgage is questioned, for the sole reason that I am a dual Swiss-US national.
We also learned that this bank considers my husband a dual national as well, which is understandably infuriating. Although they have known since the beginning that I am a US national, some recent political decision (internal or external to the bank) is making them revisit every banking relationship they have with US citizens — with immediate effect. I now understand this is a result of banks preparing for the FATCA law.
We have been asked to remove all our assets from the bank (and forced to sell all our stock at great financial loss given the current economy, because we cannot obtain additional funds) and to find another bank to refinance our mortgage, under the grounds that zweiplus is no longer allowed to deal with US citizens (or better said, no longer wishes to); they will in fact cease any business relations with any US citizen or anyone with close family ties to one (so my own children might run into similar problems in the future).
They referred us to banks who still deal with US citizens (there appears to be a short list), among them the leading Swiss bank UBS where my husband is, luckily, also an established client.
My husband was in touch with UBS today to negotiate refinancing our mortgage and possibly reinvesting our assets. He was told he has been considered a US citizen for many years and is handled by their special department in charge of such customers (increasingly considered persona non grata). They are willing to refinance our mortgage (at a great financial cost for us, as the breach of the mortgage contract has financial repercussions for both parties involved) and accept our investments (they make it sound like they are doing us a favor) but have told my husband that US citizens may no longer be allowed to even own property in Switzerland! I could not believe my ears when I heard this.
We already own a house in Morges and I have in fact been a house owner in Switzerland since 1992! My current mortgage for our Morges house is with the BCV (Banque Cantonale Vaudoise) and they have not informed me of any such change. To this the UBS man replied: “Don’t worry, this will be coming soon” — meaning that all banks will soon be coming down on all their US customers (and relatives, I may add).
The backdrop of all these interactions with Swiss bankers has always been: “We are very sorry, this is not our own doing, but a direct result of the US FATCA regulations imposed on Swiss banks. We are very sorry to lose you as customers but have no choice but to follow the rules”.
I would like to add that the reason UBS is actually willing to help us – to a certain extent at least – is probably due to the fact that they handle my husband’s business and his family’s estate. I cannot imagine how they would treat me if it were not for my husband, and I hate to observe the stress and anxiety this is creating for him.
The UBS banker even told him that it was thanks to his sister being co–owner of the building their father recently donated to them, that they are maintaining the mortgage on that estate. Had he been sole owner they would breach the contract because he is considered a dual national (which he is not!) because of his marriage to me. He was even told the only solution would be to divorce!
Needless to say this is not only infuriating but downright humiliating. My husband is putting pressure on me as the source of our problems, and I am therefore experiencing first hand how these unfair regulations imposed on Swiss banks by the US government are having adverse effects on the lives and wellbeing of US citizens living in this country, to the point of putting pressure on dual marriages.
I am seriously considering giving up my US citizenship which I had always been so proud of and which I so carefully looked after. I have duly filed a US income tax return every year, as my father rightly taught me, and to this day had never felt shame at being a US citizen. I am not so sure anymore and fear what is ahead for us honest citizens who are now being treated as second-class ones.
I understand the political motivation of the current administration to chase tax evaders and punish banks that contributed to such transactions, but I cry out in outrage at the fact that regulations intended to resolve such situations have in fact impacted simple and honest, hard working citizens like my husband and myself, and in a very negative fashion. I wish to use every means in my power to protest against such rules.
@ Polly
GUYS- I AM NOT EVEN TALKING ABOUT US- I MEAN THAT AMERICA WANTS EVERYBODY- FOREIGN NATIONS- TO BEND TO THEIR WILL.
Yes, but if homelanders support the USG going after us and the nations we are now either citizens of or permanent residents in will not stand up for us, then there truely is no stopping the US from dictating to the world what the world should do. So, we must force our local governments to act on our behalf, which is why the lawsuit is so important.
@JapanT
I think homelanders know full well that if the expats don`t pay for new roads, they will have to. Its a no-brainer what they will chose.
@nervousinvestor
Thx for the info. I was just wondering if everybody who is black was/is voting for Bama/Dems. Looks like there are those who will not?
@Polly
My experience to date is that the VAST majority of Black US Citizens (including duals) ARE likely to vote Dem. Emotions (misguided in my reckoning) seem to rule that vote still. In my experience most of this demographic have no clue what FATCA and CBT mean and what the effect might be on their families in their home countries. There seems to be similar ignorance in those to whom I have spoken in Latino and “White” demographics as well.
My purely unscientific experience is that the vast majority of US citizens abroad of all ethnicities (most of whom I would not consider ‘Homelanders Abroad’) are liberal social democrat-leaning, which isn’t surprising for those who live in the EU or Canada and daily experience the benefits of taxpayer-funded medicine and social services. But even those I’ve known in low-tax business-oriented Singapore and Hong Kong tend to be not only Democrats, but willing to give Obama and Hillary Clinton a wide benefit of the doubt.
Even right now, after all that’s been said and done about FATCA, FBARs and CBT, I find US long-term expats I know posting on social media congratulating Obama for all his great successes, and at the same time going goo-goo eyed over Bernie Sanders. When I comment about how FATCA and Obama’s jihad against US persons abroad and every financial institution on earth is going to eventually destroy them, they most often reply that such things also make them furious, yet “we have to balance that against Obama’s undeniable positive achievements and/or the backward, racist, selfish, billionaire-fellating policies of the Republicans.”
No, these are not Homelanders Abroad. They have no intention of returning to the USA. Many have married local, speak the language, and suffer and moan about CBT and FATCA. But they still cling to what they call the “bigger picture” of what they consider ‘best for America’ and the rest of the world, even if it means their own self-immolation. When I compare it to someone about to be beheaded by an ISIS lunatic apologizing on behalf of their murders by saying, “After all, they’re fighting western colonialist racist hegemony; it’s for the best,” they think I’m just being shrill.
I have to say that if the tax and compliance issues didn’t exist, I’d be on their side politically. But the challenge remains to turn such do-gooders into single-issue voters like I’ve become, simply out of self-defense.
@Barbara,
Me too. If I look at the platforms, I’m firmly in the Democratic camp on just about all issues EXCEPT for the CBT issue. However, that one single issue is such a big one that I vowed never to vote for anyone who is not in favor of changing to RBT.
I just can’t bring myself to vote for anyone who is in favor of hurting my family.
At least suggest to your friends that they have that much self-respect.
We can all go back to supporting Homelander issues AFTER the sword has been removed from over our heads.
It really is a shame that there is no candidate who is neither dem nor rep and addresses a mishmash of issues that matter. It is the reason I like Rand Paul the best- but then I hear he is against abortion and pro guns. Sigh. Still- if I could vote- I would vote for him. I also like his daring 14.5% tax idea. That really could work. AT least it would be the initiative to tear down the tax code and start over. 77000 pages. Too many loopholes to imagine. Nutz.
I’ve been gung ho for Rand Paul, all because of his stance, and more importantly his genuine actions, regarding FATCA and FBARs. I also think his Flat Tax idea has merit (as long as CBT isn’t part of it), as well as his libertarian stances on gay and other social issues. As for guns: I hate them, but now we’re getting into issues where I really have to say, since I no longer live in America and never will, then I have to stop caring. But Rand Paul has recently come dangerously close to crossing the line with me, by advocating selling off all public lands (national forests and grasslands, national parks, etc.) to private interests. The US National Park System is about the only thing left that I actually love about America.
Still watching and waiting how events unfold, but hubster and I are soon likely to change our party affiliations to Republican in the state where we’re registered so we can give Rand two votes in the primary election. But I’m not sure our votes in California will make any difference. One thing I’m waiting for is the promised RO plan to register expats in swing states. Not sure how that will work.
I renounced so I`ll just watch from afar.
I renounced so I`ll just watch from afar.
Barbara: “…they still cling to what they call the “bigger picture” of what they consider ‘best for America’…”
I wish that the people you described in your comment could realize that there is more than one “bigger picture”. The “bigger picture” for me is a vision of a world in which each and every nation taxes it’s own residents and that’s *it* …. period. The world cannot be successfully globalized while the enslavement of the citizens of *one nation* under CBT continues. It is a very “big picture” indeed to be part of a movement to bring about such change.
@Muzzled
Methinks they are having trouble with all the internet companies and online sales. Very mobile.
@All …. the “bigger picture” … look where that has taken Greece …. and right behind so many other countries …. with the US tailing on behind. Don’t fool yourself. Even if every cent were forcibly taken from all the Billionaires in the US and their holdings liquidated, the aggregate would not make a dent in the US National Debt (even before counting the unfunded commitments for pensions and Medicare and so on) … it might barely deal with the Annual Deficit for a year or so. Dreams are nice. Being caring and good hearted is good. Being realistic and honest is best. Peace.
@ Polly
@JapanT
I think homelanders know full well that if the expats don`t pay for new roads, they will have to. Its a no-brainer what they will chose.
Sadly, they have already paid 18 billion dollars for those “shovel ready job” early on the the Obama admin. Where DID that money go?
Otherwise, I agree with this point.
Nervousinvestor is correct. The US is so far in debt that outright confiscation of all assets of the 1% wouldn’t even be a blip on the screen. The IRS took in record amount of revenue for the 2014 tax year and yet the US is still 18 trillion dollars in debt.
Revenue is not the problem, spending is. Yet, we will still get the blame. Politicians and bureaucrats aren’t going to take the blame.
ISIS hostages and homelander’s abroad suffer from:
“Stockholm syndrome, or capture-bonding, is a psychological phenomenon in which hostages express empathy and sympathy and have positive feelings toward their captors, sometimes to the point of defending and identifying with the captors. These feelings are generally considered irrational in light of the danger or risk endured by the victims, who essentially mistake a lack of abuse from their captors for an act of kindness.”
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stockholm_syndrome
@Bubblebustin
Maybe many of them genuinely love America. ( I know I once did because I felt it had some honour – it has changed.) Maybe they think they want to help. But those pennies are not going to change anything. It is true- they have to cut spending. Nothing else will help. I think maybe Ossama won. He has cost the nation too much money for protective measures.
@ Polly
Under Kennedy the defense budget was around half the entire budget. It now around 20% of the entire budget. We have spent around 17 trillion dollars on the war on pverty which started in the the sixties, yet the poverty rate is the same, 14%. We could cut the defence budget to zero and we are still broke.
@JapanT, “The US is so far in debt that outright confiscation of all assets of the 1% wouldn’t even be a blip on the screen.”
Not that long ago, some would think the following thought was tin foil hat.
Today I honestly believe that FBAR……FATCA is the foundation work for an expat asset tax that they will entitle the Patriotism Affirmation Act (PAA).
A “one off levy” will be passed on assets overseas that the supreme court will determine constitutional on a 5-4 vote.
The IGAs will be amended to require witholding from all US Persons and those that have CLNs.
@Barbara
Let me give you one additional data point. I live in Singapore, and I look forward to the day Obama is convicted of war crimes. Obama is nothing more than Bush, marketed better.
Both the war on terror and the FATCA-jihad are symptoms of the same disease – America is the global dictatorship, and has the unquestioned right to invade and occupy any country it likes, and to murder anyone it feels like. It has pioneered the doctrine of one-way-warfare, in which its soldiers are free to bomb or shoot anything that moves, but if you fight back, you’re a terrorist. (I think in Canada you have someone who was convicted of murder for fighting back in Afghanistan against American troops who had just bombed the house he was in.)
It’s hardly surprising that a country that claims supreme military jurisdiction over the entire world, with absolute power of life and death over every single person, wherever they may be found, would also claim the right to regulate the financial system in every country in the world for its own benefit.
@George
I don’t know whether there will be an asset tax, but I do suspect the global dictatorship will not be satisfied with measures like monitoring all communications and regulating the banking system in every country in the world. Perhaps the day is coming when every employer in the world has to report information about all their “US person” employees, and every landlord has to report on their “US person” tenants. Perhaps one day it will be necessary to prove to the metro system that you are not a US person, so you can get one of the transit cards whose usage won’t be reported to Washington.
KV,
Welcome to Brock. Thanks for your comments. May your CLN arrive soon!
From Canadian media, less mainstream, here’s one story: http://ottawacitizen.com/news/national/lawyer-with-tory-ties-helped-in-lawsuit-against-khadr;
a CBC documentary: http://www.cbc.ca/documentaries/omar-khadr-out-of-the-shadows;
and my (I think, related) take on relationship of Canadian Bill C-31, C-51, C-24: http://isaacbrocksociety.ca/2015/06/24/help-me-keep-my-april-5-promise-revisited-we-will-never-forget-the-iga-betrayal-by-the-cons/comment-page-1/#comment-6237604 (not accepted by the Calgary Herald as either a Letter to the Editor or as an OpEd).
Very, very troubling — at least to me.