Media and Blog Articles – Part 1 of 11 (to 26 May 2015)

3,971 thoughts on “Media and Blog Articles – Part 1 of 11 (to 26 May 2015)”

1. VIDEO: Check out starting at 7.20

2. Earlier this evening hubby called me in to the kitchen to watch, after the ads, the next section of Amanda Lang’s program on CBC. I was amazed – – with the topic of ‘more US citizens renouncing’, hubby thought they were going to discuss FATCA. Rather, they talked about the larger number of renunciates now posted. I do not recall the name of the male guest who helped to flip the topic and set an unsympathetic tone, but I thought Ms. Lang was the one to rant to about this superficial and insulting coverage. Here is what I sent via the CBC’s feedback page. Maybe others could write her too and try to straighten out her thinking and approach:

   This message is for Amanda Lang, a broadcaster who I watch regularly and generally have great respect for. But tonight’s segment on US renunciations was, to say the least, horrifying.

   First off, the topic was to be about US Persons renouncing their citizenship, but it quickly deteriorated into a discussion of how Canada taxes citizens who have gone to live elsewhere (and how terrible this is to not have citizen-based taxes). There was no mention of the exit tax that Canadians who leave to live elsewhere have to pay before they leave (which, basically, clears the books as far as taxation goes before they head to another country, so why should they have to pay back-taxes on their return?)

   Secondly, neither the interviewer (Ms Lang) nor the interviewee had any backgound about the problems with citizen-based taxes that US persons are now facing.

   There was no discussion about FATCA and how this is closing ANY opportunity for banking services for US Persons in a number of European, Asian and south American countries.

   There was no discussion about “Accidental Americans” who are being claimed as citizens even though they have not lived in the US since infancy or early childhood and do not see themselves as “US Persons”.

   There was no discussion about how FATCA is digging (dragnet and NSA style) into not only US Persons’ private information (in this, a foreign country which had the audacity to be more concerned about the banking system than their own citizens, falling to the punative threat of economic sanctions from the bully to the south) but also into the financial records of anyone who has a joint account with this US person (or any organization, or business, for which this person may have signing authority – – think the Girl Scouts and local Cancer Society).

   There was no interview with anyone who had any real knowledge of this situation. No one commented on the studies that have been done outlining the very serious problems that US Persons living abroad are now having (banned from banking in places they have lived and worked for years, losing jobs that they have held for years)

   No, Amanda and her guest thought it was silly to renounce this “wonderful” citizenship – – based on THEIR experience (of living in a country, like 99% of the world, that has residency-based taxation), which is NOT that of a US Person residing in Canada (maybe for decades – – or their whole life) reconsidering their situation.

   Do you think it is appropriate to have millions of people worry about a potential $10,000 (or multiple times that much) penalty if they forget to send in a single tax form (that may be difficult to understand and about which it is impossible to call anyone in the IRS to get clarification) and having an annual “tax” of reporting (that is, using Canadian cross-border accountants could cost $1,000-2.000 a year) while you may owe no taxes to the US in the end?

   And there was a comment, maybe twice, that such US Persons living in Canada would not have to pay any taxes because of the tax-treaty. Wrong, Wrong, WRONG. There will be no duplication of tax on EARNED income, but there is on investments (you should read about PFICs) and on pensions you have earned in Canada and on registered plans like the RESPs and RDSPs and TFSAs (do you approve of monies that Canadians donated to families with mentally retarded children being taxed and taken into the US?)

   This is not informed journalism, this is speculation and commentary and I am horrified at the glib attitude presented. People listen too you, Amanda Lang. You should make sure your dialogue is based on fact, not wishful imagining. You should be well enough informed to keep your guest on point and focusing on facts (and on topic). If you want, I can introduce you to a wide range of individuals who could educate you about the reasons so many US Persons are renouncing so that you can educate others.

   And one last point, the 1300 and some renunciations which are listed on the “Name and Shame” list is incorrect – – a limited number and incomplete. Both my husband and I have renounced US citizenship – – he in 2012 and I in 2014 and neither of our names have appeared on this list (this is the experience of MANY who have taken this painful step – – it has consistently been an under-reporting).

3. About three months ago I sent Amanda Lang one of my most persuasive letters, outlining how severely I personally was impacted by FATCA and CBT, and how after 45 years of living in Canada I could neither comply nor renounce; both routes would be financially ruinous. I used myself as a real case scenario with real numbers. I heard nothing back. Neither she nor Rudyard know much about taxation, and, to be fair, the focus of the show is business and finance, not US taxation of expatriots. However, she is constantly being referred to as “the CBC’s senior business correspondent” and she has her own friggin programme, so it would seem to me that she has a journalistic duty to make sure that what is presented on her programme is, at the bare minimum, factually correct. Part of the problem lies with the format of the programme. It is geared toward a roundup of the business events of the day. Our issue needs in depth coverage, and there’s not much of that on her show. Having said that, she has started to do longer interviews with various business types, more often than not bank economists. Maybe we could think about having someone like Blaze or JC or Anne Frank (where are you?) or Canadian Cop do a “talk back” to the various inaccuracies thrown around. It could even be pitched as anonymous, face concealed type stuff, which might actually make her bleeping show INTERESTING!

4. No name: Definitely we need to get a representative of our cause on the Exchange. There was someone on back in 2012, I believe, but they obviously need to revisit our issue again. I wonder if ADCS could send a letter and arrange for a spokesperson to appear on her show. We need some serious coverage of this issue, not flippant, ignorant pap.

5. Bankers are often guests on the show? Splains a lot…

6. I gave up tweeting/emailing her (Amanda Lang) a long time ago…………horrified to hear of such a terrible program maybe they will replay later this evening……………

7. Thanks for weighing in, Tricia. Does anyone have any contact with her at all? Perhaps the best we can do is convey our concerns to CBC of the irresponsibility of that segment. I did this morning. I don’t expect to hear anything back as would be the same in previous times I’ve contacted CBC.

8. Amanda Lang has done paid speaking engagements for RBC. She is ‘in a relationship’ with a RBC board member.

9. @LM et al
   I totally agree with your well stated comments to Amanda Lang. She is bright and generally good at what she does, but woefully behind on FATCA issues. Far better was Anna Maria Tremonti several years ago (my OMG moment…my blood pressure was off for days!) I wonder if she would do a follow-up with the August date as a pretext for such an interview…several articulate Brockers come to mind as possible interviewees. But how does one get the attention of such media people? Kathy Tomlinson also comes to mind.She has a CTV segment purporting to “fight for the little guy”…endlessly self-promoted by CTV.

10. @calgary thanks for posting the video-yes, unfortunately Griffiths ruins it

    You can tweet Rudyard Griffiths here:
    @rudyardg

    ADCSovereignty @ADCSovereignty · 20m
    @rudyardg RE:Citizenship-based taxation on The Exchange-not how it seems
    http://bit.ly/1GX618g USC no longer “most valued in world”

    ADCSovereignty @ADCSovereignty · 2m 2 minutes ago
    @AmandaLang_CBC thnx 4 trying 2 tell story of US Expat-Aug summary trial against #FATCA in B.C. http://www.adcs-adsc.ca CDNs DO pay US Tax

11. I’m thinking that CBT would be a perfect topic for the Munk debates. Maybe Rudyard would learn a thing or two. Maybe Amanda would learn that she has tax issues. Who knows. But it’s actually a pretty good topic for a debate.

12. How interesting that I just checked that recent CNN article after a couple days to search the responses to my first, very carefully written comment, in which I completely held my temper, and find that entire sub-thread removed. There had been a few responses to it, some of them also thoughtful and respectful. All gone. The only comments of mine they preserved are in response to brain dead sneers about “pay yer fare share”. As though the CNN online editors curate the comments and keep only the most sensational, shrill discourse alive. Kind of like their news coverage.

    Not to disparage other Brockers whose comments are still there; yours are intelligent and calmly spoken, the difference being that many are in response to illiterate idiots, and in turn received illiterate idiot responses, which seems to be what the CNN moderators are going for.

13. JC Double Taxed ‏@JCDoubleTaxed 22s22 seconds ago
    @AmandaLang_CBC Correction: Canada-US Tax Treaty does not work. Prof. Allison Christians: Guarantees Double Taxation http://isaacbrocksociety.ca/2015/05/03/99929-needed-in-94-more-days-to-make-the-100000-august-4-2015-payment-for-canadian-fatca-iga-lawsuit-il-nous-reste-99929-a-ramasser-pour-notre-poursuite-judiciaire/comment-page-10/#comment-6075202 …

14. Some media coverage pursuant to @Duke of Devon’s comment “…Amanda Lang has done paid speaking engagements for RBC. She is ‘in a relationship’ with a RBC board member.”;

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amanda_Lang
    http://canadalandshow.com/article/update-amanda-lang-%E2%80%9Cserious-relationship%E2%80%9D-rbc-board-member-while-reporting-rbc
    http://news.nationalpost.com/news/canada/amanda-lang-cleared-conflict-of-interest-review

    and, excerpt;
    “… Canadaland highlighted that Lang was romantically involved at the time with RBC board member Geoffrey Beattie — Lang confirmed to the Star they are still in a relationship — and that she had given paid speeches at events sponsored by RBC…”……”

    Lang did previously reveal to viewers her relationship to Barrick Gold executive Vince Borg when the two were married. She said that was a different situation because they were husband and wife.

    “My husband’s livelihood was from that company and therefore you could infer that, I suppose, I have a financial relationship with that company,” she said. “I have no financial relationship with RBC, and there is no conflict that arises because I am in a relationship with somebody at RBC.”

    When asked if Lang will be permitted to continue reporting on RBC, CBC spokesman Chuck Thompson said: “Decisions will be made depending on the nature of the story.”

    Lang remains defiant.

    “I’m the senior business correspondent at the national broadcaster. I will continue to report on the serious business stories, and that includes Canada’s biggest bank,” she said.”
    http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2015/01/12/cbcs_amanda_lang_denies_she_tried_to_kill_royal_bank_story.html

    http://www.canadianbusiness.com/business-strategy/amanda-lang-making-it-her-business/
    re US

    https://nowtoronto.com/news/amanda-lang-and-barrick-gold/

15. Forced expatriation due to unbearable FATCA limitations can now be called “FATCA-Patriation”. Have not heard of FATCA-Patriation. Yet misses that CBT is a major part of it.

    Wealthy Americans are rushing to dump what was, not so long ago, one of their most treasured possessions – their U.S. passport.
    http://therichdontpaytax.com/blog/?p=902

16. http://therichdontpaytax.com/blog/?p=902

    Sad that this guy’s essay calls for the elimination of FATCA, but his argument relies on deliberately branding all renouncers as “wealthy”–not to denounce them, but to underscore his general thesis that “the wealthy” are unfairly oppressed and hence ditching their US passports. Seems like people on both sides find reason to brand all of us US persons abroad as fat cats.

17. @Barbara and @JC, I relinquished Pre-Fatca and left the USA in peace.

    My own Government does not consider me wealthy, hence the support my family receives to top up our income Are we living in abject poverty, no.

    FATCA has complicated my life and taken away many life credit units. I left in peace and FATCA is drawing me back with way too many complications and cost.

    My relinquishment is documented with the USG but I do not have a CLN. But my kids who meet the definition of accidental american are going to be screwed.

    I can not afford to “take the chance” of documenting and getting a CLN with the possibility it is rejected!!! If it was rejected because it is a chutes and ladders game, I do not have the money to pay for a CLN!!!

    A CLN would take away and cost one third of the benefits income I receive from my Government!!

    My mistake was not getting documented with a CLN at the bargain rate of $450 which would have been tough but was affordable.

    Sooooooo…………I support ADCS and fade into the tapistry of my country with no visible US Indica……

    I do not think I am alone anymore.

18. @Lake Superior Guy
    Hoards of us should go to the CBC site, in furry over Amanda Langs’ miseducation of CBC viewers across the country, and go to the Ombudsman contact-us page (http://www.ombudsman.cbc.radio-canada.ca/en/contact-us/) to complain.

19. She is right “less with less”.

    http://www.hbo.com/last-week-tonight-with-john-oliver/episodes/2/33-april-12-2015/video/ep-33-clip-irs.html#/

    Lucy Laederich said…
    Thank you so much for pointing me to this, Victoria- a little ray of (slightly vulgar) sunlight!
    As you say, though, they didn’t get all the way, to an IRS that has to do more with less, or more frighteningly – as Commissioner Koskinen himself has said – “less with less”….
    Vulgarity aside, however, I loved the song… and the deadly earnestness with which it is delivered!
    May 3, 2015 at 10:28 AM

20. @LM and Lake Superior Guy

    I have sent multiple tweets to both Amanda Lang & Rudyard Griffiths – they will probably never reply or even read them but we should keep sending them messages.

21. @Mr. A.
    Rather than continuing to tweet Amanda Lang and Rudyard Griffiths, who ignore the tweets, perhaps we should be writing to the CBC Ombudsman. Just like when Stephen Kish wrote to the (Financial Post?) Editor pointing out the misinformation that was being presented as expert commentary at the newspaper, perhaps focusing on the spread of misinformation on the CBC’s show by these commentators, and how Ms. Lang speculates rather than investigating the real reasons why Americans are renouncing by interviewing some Americans who have actually renoucned (and getting her facts wrong) and how this is a misservice, an insult to the millions of individuals in Canada who are struggling with the effects of this legislation being enforced by economic sanctions from a foreign country.

22. @LM

    Good idea:

    http://www.ombudsman.cbc.radio-canada.ca/en/contact-us/

    I will be sending in a comment. Rudyard Griffiths & Amanda Lang clearly had no grasp of the depth and injustice of the issue. Mr. Griffiths was fixated on Canadian offshore tax evaders and Ms. Lang perpetuated a few common misconceptions, stating that no US Person would actually owe any tax and repeating the “Americans in Canada” description, even calling us “foreign nationals”!

23. Americans abroad renouncing US citizenship hits record – again
    http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2015/05/americans_abroad_renouncing_us_citizenship_hits_record__again_comments.html

    The ‘horse has already bolted on that one.’ I don’t see it posted on here. Yet I see comments from @WhiteKat and @Charl. They could have tipped us off here. Yet I think they may delight in taking on the message boards themselves.

    With IBS we may have 24 hour monitoring and commenting as we are around the globe.

24. @JC
    Yes you are correct, I should have posted that one here also, I am sorry. (At the time it seemed a minor publication, one of the gazillion that were posted on AE, many of which were from major outlets and seemed more important). The end of last week was FRANTIC with so many articles written about the renunciation numbers it was hard to keep up. I almost destroyed my keyboard trying to battle it out on CNN, (along with my few remaining brain cells).

    Commenting is always best when we all contribute, adding strength in numbers. There is no delight in being out there alone believe me.

25. @JC re: “The ‘horse has already bolted on that one.’ I don’t see it posted on here. Yet I see comments from @WhiteKat and @Charl. They could have tipped us off here. Yet I think they may delight in taking on the message boards themselves. ”

    Snooze, you lose.

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