With a weak economy, massive debt and high unemployment, are accusations against a small minority of being financially greedy the best means of improving the economy or even increasing political power? The latest propaganda from the US government seems to lean in that direction:
“I’m a Romney girl, in a Romney world. Life is taxless. It’s fantastic,” sings the fictitious Miss Swiss
The Globe and Mail
Such talk may very well appeal to masses of poor people who are struggling to meet their daily needs in a weak economy. They certainly have much more serious things to worry about than to question the propaganda being fed to them by their government. Thus, they may not realize that “Miss Swiss” isn’t even Swiss, or that the video clip “I’m a Romney Girl” is not real.
Do they know that the dirndl is probably from Bayern? They might not even know that Romney doesn’t even have a Swiss bank account. Hopefully they know that Switzerland is not Sweden! Yet, even if they knew that he once had a Swiss bank account, would they know that no wrong-doing was every linked to that account? The Swiss are greedy, they are told and thus the Swiss must blamed for their hardships. Yet, how accurate is this perspective?
The reality is that, in the minds of the people, it is easiest to link Switzerland with banking secrets, tax evasion, and the rich who seek to hide their money.
SwissInfo
The Swiss are greedy and evil, the US government wants you to believe, and yet all Swiss in Switzerland pay taxes. Nation Master lists the Swiss corporate income tax as being 33% higher than that of the US, the goods and services tax is listed as being 28% higher than that of the US and the personal income tax is shown as being almost be the same as that in the US. In fact, the total taxation as a percentage of GDP is 21% higher than that of the US. Are the Swiss thus really as greedy and evil as US propaganda insists for poor Americans to believe? The facts seem to suggest otherwise.
Yet, the poor who are struggling in America are unlikely to be concerned about innocent people who are threatened with arrest, denied banking services or even the ability to refinance their mortgage due to US policy. With US propaganda, all Swiss are tax evaders who may be punished, forced to suffer, or even worse, as one American expressed:
We’ve got thousands of nukes… would anybody really miss one or two of them?
Huffington Post
What exactly does the US government seek to achieve with its propaganda? I strongly recommend that the US government focuses on the real issues instead of blaming scapegoats.
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Disclaimer: This article is not recommending for one to vote for any political party and it is not making any comparisons with any past events, but rather discussing political propaganda in relation to known facts.
Blaming minorities leads to economic growth?
No, but it might lead to re-election. For both parties, retaining or gaining power is more important than economic growth. That’s the trouble with career politicians. Self first, party second, country a distant third.
Well that is one pathetic video, as pathetic as the party it is trying to smear. But the party that made that video is IMO evil. Just look at the class, race and sexual divisiveness they are so desperately trying to provoke, their divide and conquer strategy knows no limit.
But speaking of people not knowing anything about Switzerland, your statement is very misleading and I think it also muddles Switzerland in the minds of the US:
“Nation Master lists the Swiss corporate income tax as being 33% higher than that of the US, the goods and services tax is listed as being 28% higher than that of the US and the personal income tax is shown as being almost be the same as that in the US. “
As you must be aware of, the difference between Cantons makes a major difference in tax burden. Although there are differences between taxes in US states they pale in comparison to Cantonal differences. Schwyz and Zug would have corporate and personal income tax rates as low as the lowest countries in Europe while Jura and Geneva would have tax rates as high as the highest in Europe. If boobus Americanus would take the time to study some of these tax competition cases and how they effect employment and growth (plus read the last couple of articles by Petros) then they might begin to understand some of the issues.
ConfederateH, you are very right and I totally agree. The more that Americans study the Swiss tax system, the more they will learn to love it. I was just focusing on the stereotypes of Swiss not paying taxes or being a tax haven. Personally, I noticed the huge difference when I moved away from Basel. I love Basel, but… Here is a nice chart which graphs the differences:
http://www.svetag.ch/Steuervergleich/steuervergleich.html
@Confed – I agree and it’s disturbing and depressing…
On the other side, a Democrat friend sent me this link today:
He rejoiced in the discontinuity that Ryan’s comments create between himself and the Democrats’ positioning of Romney. Either way, we USPA’s lose. I know little of Paul Ryan, but this argument sounds vaguely Levinesque. Once again, “tax the feller behind the tree”…
@swisspinoy: That bar chart doesn’t show the large effect of community taxes, but it would be hard to break down. I worked at Roche for a year and loved Basel, I still have an Irish friend there.
@zdm: Ryan is an Ayn Rand devotee, maybe there is hope. When he says that SS and Medicare can be rescued without any boomers taking a hit he proves he is a liar.
This is unrelated but quite interesting:
A word about banks and the laundering of drug money
Why isn’t the IRS making a stink about this? Maybe the guys who own Schumer and Levin and Obama don’t want anybody screwing up their racket.
At least it’s sort of entertaining, unless they can use it to sucker punch the opposing candidate it’s not on any politician’s mind right now. Rarely being cosmopolitan and worldly are praised by Americans but during a Presidential election those qualities are definitely unfavorable. I’d rather see some catchy parody of an Aqua song than the endless repeat of Romney-Obama-Romney-Obama-SuperPAC-Romney- etc. etc. etc.political ads that are polluting all television and radio broadcasts.
I love the Buckeye state, but these are the times when I wish I lived in a solid red or blue state where they spend no money at all, it’s quite funny when the ads butt up against each other and within 10 seconds you hear both Romney and Obama approving this message, it’s sort of like watching an argument, lol.
I finally watched the video; I still don’t know why I never pressed play! As “whoa” said, The video IS entertaining. These politicians stoop to a low level, don’t they? I’ve never voted a single time in my life. Do I regret it, no way!
*Yes, it’s a big hit in the US with many Americans cracking their heads off with laughter while the Swiss are concerned with how damaging such may be. From what I’ve read, stateside Americans are smart enough to dismiss it as being the typical political nonsense they are bombarded with continuously.
Beautiful lady plays the part of a Swiss woman with a Swedish accent wearing a Bavarian costume that falls in love with Romney. Nice video. Sort of makes me wish I were Romney actually. I wonder if this could back fire on the makers. I suppose it depends on the degree to which the Democrats succeed in producing class warfare against the rich.
Obama has called for Romney to reveal more of his tax returns. I don’t care about Romney’s tax returns. I want to see Obama’s college and university transcripts and records.
I suppose that the song has been used before to lampoon plenty of other things (in much the same way that the rant scenes in the movie “Untergang” have been used). But what strikes me is that the song is from Aqua, appearantly a Danish-Norwegian group. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barbie_Girl Maybe they were confused with the Swedish group “Ace of Base” and hence with Switzerland. Plenty of people do not know the difference between Sweden and Switzerland.
@swisspinoy Does your comparison of tax rates include the Geneva “Rabais d’Impôt” which has been in effect for many years now and provides significant relief to people even in the CHF100’000 range to counter the high cost of living in Geneva?
Another example of how measures enacted in a country of residence to help ensure that the country runs properly (and that people are able to function in their lives) are countermanded if extraterritorial taxation is allowed.
Geneva rabais d’impôt (tax rebate) set aside, there are many deductions that are allowed by Geneva that are not allowed by the US, thus making any FTC relief over the FEIE (if you actually have earned income to qualify and not pension or disability income) ineffectual in abating US tax liability. And then there is the AMT to worry about as well.
AS YOU CAN SEE HERE, NOT ALL SWISS WOMEN ARE BLONDE BARBIES:
*Jeff, Barbie girl was a hit in 1997 and only made it to the 7th place in the US. Romney Girl was published to YouTube on the 6th of August and I added Barbie Girl to my favorites maybe around the 2nd of August. I don’t know how long it took to produce the clip, but could it be wrong to suspect that the Agenda Project may have frequented IBS for ideas?
I must have watched this video 10 times already! It is good, yet I don’t agree with the message – they are just trying to scare people and make it sound like Mitt Romney lives completely tax free, which I know isn’t true.
Interestingly, there are many many Senators and Congressmen that have net worths around that of Romney. I guess it’s just political mudslinging.
DISCLAIMER: This post is not at all intellectual, just a little musical rant, despite the fact that I chuckle at the “C’mon Romney, Let’s Go Party” video posted in this thread. But we’ve got to discern between apples and pears.
Original (?) Barbie Girl Video (Aqua, a nordic pop group):
Happy Nation (Ace of Base-Sweden, song was a hit way long before Aqua–early 90s):
Now here is DJ Bobo (Swiss, was a hit a way bit later):
Why do I post this stuff? To remind our friends at IBS that there are original composers of pop music. Lampoons are great, but please do not confuse nordic countries with Switzerland (see other more traditional Swiss videos above). We have plenty in common, but we are not the same.
Sw[ee]den ~= Switzerland (Sweden does not equal Switzerland).
ALL COPYRIGHTS BELONG TO THE POP GROUPS WHOSE SONGS ARE LINKED ABOVE.
Now, listen to the lyrics. Bobo and Aqua are just about fun times, but the Ace of Base lyrics, if you listen closely, offer a little bit of food for thought. No disrespect to the others though.
THIS POST WAS JUST FOR FUN.
Cartoon Heroes is a much better Aqua song in my opinion, haha.
Now for something more solemn:
Switzerland is an independant, democratic nation.
Humm with the music, sing in French, German, Italian, Reto-Rumantsch, but we are all SWISS and tied together at the end of the day: leave us be. This is our land. We are UNITED. We will not let the US or other countries destroy our sovereignty.
We, here in Switzerland, are not on some fiscal island:
. We are a nation of villages that bound themselves together to resist the morass of European history. We shall remain as so.
Today, we are a complete nation, with industries and institutions.
@jefferson
Oh so that’s why Ikea doesn’t have a ‘Matterhorn’ furniture line 😉
Switzerland is oftentimes thought of as being a land dominated by the banking industry, which contributes 6.5% to GDP. The country, however, remains an industrial powerhouse with 20% of its value-add coming directly from manufacturing and 27% coming from the broader “secondary sector”. It has the highest industrial value-add in the world at US$12.4k per capita; number 2 Japan is at US$8.6k per capita. Attached are two article links published by Avenir Suisse that compare Switzerland’s industry statistics to other countries (in D/F/I languages):
http://www.avenir-suisse.ch/18772/das-am-starksten-industrialisierte-land-der-welt/
http://www.avenir-suisse.ch/20104/industriemacht-schweiz/
Just for fun, here is a lampoon skit from RTS Couleur 3 radio making fun of the Tea Party and Mit Romney: http://www.rts.ch/video/#/video/couleur3/120-secondes/4233771-mitt-romney-est-le-candidat-officiel-des-republicains.html