Orwell was wise in 1948. Here is some wisdom from another Orwell in 2015 – How to Educate Congress" http://t.co/Npl1Qno26K #yeswecan
— U.S. Citizen Abroad (@USCitizenAbroad) July 20, 2015
I am making this comment by Orwell into a separate post so that it doesn’t get lost. I think it’s important that Americans abroad do everything they can to make their voices/concerns heard.
This is on and off topic. The DemsAbroad recently posted on FB that they condemn the RO and Rand Paul law suit as irresponsible and driven by greed. They proposed their counter approach which is to tweak the FATCA so as to harm less – I suppose in much the same way that FEIE squelches the voices of dissent with targeted complacency. People responded that the real problem is CBT and DA further stated that this is not the issue at hand, but for the record they have been opposed to CBT since 1992. After 23 years of opposition with less than nothing to show for it (the Dems are the greater evil of the two parties against US Persons Abroad), the DA have just proved that they are irrelevant in their own party.
Their only purpose is to get-out-the-vote. The party will patronize them at its pleasure.
Meanwhile, the RO have seized an historic moment with the lawsuit by taking an unorthodox and bold approach to reach out to US Persons abroad to say to them “we support you”. This is not “we hear you”. It is much stronger. But even “we hear you” would be a first for us. Which brings me to my appeal:
There is a web site that tracks public opinion about pending legislation in the US called popvox. I was told that it gets the attention of members congress, especially when there is a large volume of activity around a piece of legislation.
There is a bill H.R. 3078 proposed by Caroline Maloney (D-NY) and Mike Honda (D-CA) for congress to study the impact of legislation on Americans Living Outside of the US. This was recommended to a friend on Facebook and when I went to the site, it had only 4 votes; 2 for and 2 against. I asked my friend to post an appeal on FB to get people to go to the site and vote for it. It is now 35 for and 3 against.
One of the myriad excuses that Congress, their controlled press and the US Govt use against US Persons Abroad is that the problem is isolated and small: e.g. 3,000 people renouncing each year out of 7.6 million is nothing; and 376 stories of pain and tragedy over “is no crisis”.
As we all know, we are not part of the US community and makes us fair game (“if you are not at the table, you are lunch” — Billy Tauzin). Even when we make our voices known, the very same people who admonish that the US is a democracy and its people have the right to change the laws, minimize and crush our voices.
If this simple legislation is approved, it will force the USG to do an evaluation of the pain inflicted on families all over the world with data that they, themselves commissioned and vetted. It would take away the convenient excuse to look the other way while continuing the infliction. Unless, of course, the legislation is used to prove that the disenfranchisement is indeed insignificant. But if the legislation is never passed, the American people can return to the hollow comforts of their willful ignorance.
A total of 38 voices seems nothing and can easily be swept aside by Congress and their allies in the US press. I note that at this point, the H.R: 3078 has the highest level of the participation and our appeal on FB is not even 24 hours old. On top of that, it has not yet seen the familiar faces of the IBS.
My dream is that the site will see 7.6 million votes (up or down – it does not matter). It will be the loudest voice that web site has ever seen. The message is clear – “we are here”.
Here is the link:
https://www.popvox.com/bills/us/114/hr3078
Unfortunately, you have use a US address to register – irony indeed… If you don’t have one, then use the address of your representative’s office and say that you’ve done this and why, so that they will not see it as a prank.Please, do your best – use e-mail, friends, social media, to appeal to the few in the homeland know that we exist, who care about us and know our suffering. After you make your appeal to your friends, thank them when the numbers go up and then give them periodic updates to let them know how we’re doing.
I know – this vote does not mean anything either. It will be so easily dismissed because there is no validation of identity or authenticity. However, just the fact that we blew the roof off the site will get attention.
Here is the email from DA:
Rand Paul sues to strike down FATCA law;
Democrats Abroad responds
On Tuesday July 14, plaintiffs led by Sen. Rand Paul filed suit against the Obama administration, claiming the FATCA law to be unconstitutional. Democrats Abroad, who have been pushing hard in Washington to fix the law, immediately responded with a press release to explain why this repeal attempt is misguided.
Opinion on FATCA Lawsuit
Dear Democrats in Switzerland,
There was a lot of attention in the media last week given to a legal challenge to FATCA and also to Democrats Abroad’s official response. We thought it would be helpful to articulate the key takeaways from these events.
GOP presidential hopeful Rand Paul is one of six plaintiffs to file suit against the Obama administration (see above) challenging the constitutionality of FATCA (the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act). Lead attorney for the plaintiffs James Bopp Jr., a longtime conservative activist whose clients have included the Republican National Committee, was the chief architect of the democracy-crushing Citizen’s United challenge.
Democrats Abroad issued a strongly worded statement condemning the efforts by Paul and Bopp. At first glance, a condemnation by Democrats Abroad may seem unnecessary, even counter-productive in terms of the best interests of those we represent, i.e. American citizens living abroad. After all, it is expats like us who are most affected by the reporting burden of FATCA. Why not repeal it?
However, it is important to see this lawsuit for what it is, and how it can actually hurt efforts to find a solution to the unintended negative effects of FATCA. Rand Paul has always been an outspoken opponent of the IRS and fighting against FATCA fits well within his libertarian agenda. In this instance, he has chosen a target that he knows to be unachievable. Worse still, he suggests that he is fighting this good fight on behalf of all Americans abroad. If anyone may have been remotely convinced of his motivations, engaging Bopp as counsel must certainly indicate the motivations here are not simply to free middle class expats from the unfair reporting burden brought on by FATCA.
Democrats Abroad objects to the lawsuit as a distraction perpetrated in our name that panders to overseas voters, when our time and efforts need to be focused on an achievable solution such as a modification to the ruling text to include the Same Country Safe Harbor provision, providing significant and fast relief for the vast majority of Americans Abroad.
The Safe Harbor initiative is not only attainable, efficient, bipartisan, and supported by three non-partisan organizations representing Americans abroad, but it is gathering momentum in Washington D.C., and it would be terribly unfortunate if this lawsuit were to divide attention or even derail the progress we’ve made.
At present a very important bi-partisan “sign-on letter” is circulating on Capitol Hill, attracting signatures from members on both sides in both houses. Additional news this week is that a bill to establish a commission on Americans living abroad was introduced last Wednesday (see below).
These are the efforts that we need to know about and be focused on, that should receive the press coverage wasted on diversions brought to us by the likes of the Rand Pauls in government.
Eileen Weinberg, DA Switzerland Member-at-Large for Social Media
New Bill to establish Commission on Americans Living Abroad
Dems Abroad learned last week that a bill to establish a Commission on Americans Living Abroad (known as HR597 in the 113th Congress) would be reintroduced shortly. This article announces the introduction of HR3078 on Wednesday 15 July by Representatives Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) and Mike Honda (D-CA) The House of Representatives Bill is described as follows:
The Commission on Americans Living Abroad, which would be established by H.R. 3078, would look into:•Federal financial reporting requirements for a US citizen living in a foreign country
•Federal policies and requirements that affect an overseas citizen’s access to foreign and domestic financial institutions
•Federal requirements for a spouse, child or another family member of a US citizen living abroad to become a US citizen
•The ability of a US citizen living overseas to vote in Federal, State and local elections in the US, and the process by which they do so
•The process by which a US citizen living abroad interacts with Federal programs like Social Security and Medicare
•Methods to improve collaborations between US citizens abroad and Federal Agencies that oversee programs that serve them
The legislation creates a 10-member bipartisan Executive Commission to study the impact of U.S. laws and Executive actions on the overseas Americans community. The study would then be used to make recommendations for actions Congress and the Executive Branch could take to improve collaboration and communication of policies impacting this community. The intent of the review is to enhance awareness, coordination, and integration of the activities of the federal government relating to Americans abroad.
Democrats Abroad has given a lot of thought the last couple of years to how we might actively advocate in support of the Commission, and is setting up a task force. If you or any DA member you know might form a good candidate to serve on DA’s HR3078 Task Force, working actively with a team committed to promoting HR3078, please write to Chair Anne-Shelton Aaron expressing your interest.
Meanwhile, the Swiss government statistics office is reporting that the number of Americans citizens permanently resident in Switzerland dropped by 467 from 18’206 (Jun 30, 2014) to 17’739 (Jun 30, 2015). This decrease is due primarily to net emigration of Americans from the country and naturalization as Swiss, partially offset by Americans births exceeding deaths.
Detail statistics are at spreadsheet 4-30, Last 12 months, table CH-Nati:
https://www.bfm.admin.ch/bfm/de/home/publiservice/statistik/auslaenderstatistik/archiv/2015/06.html
Dear DA,
Please provide me with a list of foreign financial institutions that will take Americans again with SCE.
@Orwell IMO HR3078 was written for Homlanders Abroad. It is the same wording for HR 597 two years ago (that did not go anywhere). I like the first point that it would look into access of financial institutions in the US if you live overseas. Yet on the whole it is written as if there is no Crisis. I prefer that the terms of reference also allow an open endedness to study why USP are renouncing in increasing numbers and how US government policies is influencing this.
In regards to the Rand Paul suit, the letter ignores the Unconstitutional aspects and the other 6 plaintiffs. DA ignores the complaint that FBAR fines are excessive and unconstitutional for US persons overseas. As I see some good in HR 3078 DA should see some good in the Bopp suit, else they, IMO, should remove “Abroad” from Democrats Abroad as they don’t really seem to represent persons overseas.
More partisan excuses.
Doesn’t the US government consider all of us (even our children born in other countries and never lived a day in the USA) *Homelanders Aroad*, tourists away from the homeland for work; adventure; love and marriage and raising families, having chosen to become citizens of other countries and making our lives resident in other lands, UNTIL we come to our senses and return to the homeland?
I doubt Honda will have any political energy left to push this Americans Abroad commission bill forwards any more: they’re turning up the heat on that ethics probe against him for using Congressional staff to do campaign work
http://blogs.rollcall.com/hill-blotter/house-ethics-committee-extends-review-of-mike-honda/
(Seeing as Honda is also a supporter of passport confiscation & FEIE repeal, I’m not greatly mourning this latest development. Maybe Ro Khanna will be better, though I doubt it … never did hear from his campaign staff about the article on Indian Americans & FBAR that I sent to them.)