Liberty and justice for all United States persons abroad

The Isaac Brock Society

Author Archives: Tim

An interesting story of the penalties for National Origin Discrimination in America

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http://massrealestatelawblog.com/2014/01/26/asking-where-are-you-from-results-in-60000-discrimination-penalty/

Asking “Where Are You From?” Results In $60,000 Rental Discrimination Penalty

Innocent Small Talk Apparently Illegal, According to Boston Fair Housing Commission

The seemingly innocent question posed by a Boston rental agent to Gladys Linder when they were searching for an apartment was “Where are you from?”

“Venezuela,” she answered.

Gladys and her husband went on to find an apartment a month later without further incident. But she found the question about her national origin insulting and upsetting.

This is Massachusetts, and you know what came next.

Stokel filed a complaint with the Boston Fair Housing Commission, claiming that rental agent’s question was discriminatory and caused her to suffer fear, anxiety and sleeplessness over a three-year period.

Seriously?

Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 151B and the Boston Fair Housing Commission Regulations make it illegal for any licensed real estate broker “to cause to be made any written or oral inquiry or record concerning . . . national origin.”

Backbench Conservative MP’s attack Jim Flaherty, Kevin Shoom, and Brian J Ernewein(kind of)

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On something with nothing to do with FATCA but o’h so sweet.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/conservative-party-rethinking-income-splitting-tax-break-after-finance-minister-flaherty-airs-doubts/article16883716/

The problem for Mr. Harper, say MPs and Tory insiders, is the 2011 promise is “overwhelmingly popular” among both Conservative members of Parliament and party rank and file who see it as correcting an “anti-family” bias in the tax system that penalizes single-income families.

At least three cabinet ministers, including Employment Minister Jason Kenney and Treasury Board President Tony Clement, have said they believe the government is obliged to deliver on its campaign promise as written.

Tory MPs opposed to abandoning the pledge say it would be a blow to rank-and-file supporters should the government shelve the idea. “Most MPs will tell you it’s one of the most popular things they’ve ever campaigned on,” one Conservative MP said. “Finance bureaucrats don’t like it? Too bad. We keep our platform commitments and this is both good policy and politics.”

Said a second Tory MP: “This is not dead. Far far from it.”

We need to keep up the pressure and our education efforts on backbench Tory MP’s. Try to split them away from Jim Flaherty and “Finance bureaucrats” over FATCA. Then remember what that “second Tory MP” said.

 

 

Republicans Overseas and RNC make note of Canada’s so called “Conservatives”

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They re-iterate their fight continues to be with the Obama Administration though:

https://www.facebook.com/republicansoverseas

Jim’s comment on big disappointment yesterday is very interesting. But what Canada’s supposedly “Conservative” government did will not be Republicans Overseas’ focus since our job is to hold the Obama government’s feet to the fire and put pressure on Congress to repeal FATCA. However, as constitutional conservatives, we do believe FATCA has trampled on 7.6 million overseas’ American citizens’ right to privacy, to make a living, to private property, and to due process since neither the Obama government nor Canadian government could claim all 7.6 million Americans, including close to 2 million of them residing in Canada are tax-cheats. What we have witnessed is that both governments take away everyone’s constitutional protection in order to catch a few tax-cheats. This dragnet approach could only happen in authoritarian societies, not in free societies like Canada and America. In a free society, voters do hold parties and politicians accountable. Would this Canadian government regret that it could be blamed for helping the IRS to collect personal financial data on its own citizens due to FACTA’s reciprocity feature on the next election day? it depends on you, the Canadian voters.
Remember this came from Republicans Overseas and RNC.

AFL-CIO front group Citizens for Tax Justice attacks expats

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http://www.ctj.org/taxjusticedigest/archive/2014/01/republican_platform_expected_t.php#.UuIfC_2Cokg

More uninformed nonsense from the useful idiot wing of the FATCA camp:

Those who are directly affected by FATCA are likely to be few in number and they certainly have the means to fill out the disclosure form required with their federal income tax return under its provisions. The $50,000 threshold excludes housing and other non-financial assets. That means that even a relatively well-off American who works for a few years abroad and even someone who owns a house abroad will not be affected unless they hold over $50,000 in cash or financial assets in the other country.

Whatever inconvenience is caused by these requirements is far outweighed by the benefits to the U.S. and its law abiding taxpayers. According to the Congressional Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT), FATCA’s anti-tax evasion measures are estimated to raise $8.7 billion (PDF) over their first decade of implementation. (JCT does have a history of underestimating tax enforcement measures.) Considering that the U.S. loses an estimated $100 billion (PDF) annually due to offshore tax abuses, this seems like a modest reform.

Other opponents of FATCA, like the Wall Street Journal, have claimed that it is causing Americans living abroad to renounce their U.S. citizenship, but as we have pointed out, those renouncing citizenship make up a tiny fraction of one percent of the six million Americans living abroad.