Citizenship in the Global Era
October 3-5, 2013 ● Atlanta, GAJoin us for webcast sessions:
Live from the Carter Center!
Global Citizens in Action
Thursday, October 3, 6:45-7:45 p.m. EDT
John Stremlau, Director of Peace Programs, The Carter Center
Citizenship in the Global Era
Friday, October 4, 8:30-9:50 a.m. EDT
Rogers Smith, University of Pennsylvania; Stephen Knadler, Spelman College; Peter Spiro,
Temple University College of Law; Elizabeth Cohen, Syracuse University
Immigration: Dreams, Conflicts, and Realities
Saturday, October 5, 10:20 a.m.-12:15 p.m. EDT
Deborah Richardson, National Center for Civil and Human Rights; Natsu Taylor Saito,
Georgia State University College of Law; Azedah Shahshahani, American Civil Liberties
Union of Georgia; Chris Taylor, Taylor, Lee & Associates; Paul Bridges, City of Uvalda, Georgia
Stay tuned for the 2013 Starr Award for Excellence in Law-Related
Education presentation following the Immigration webcast.
Hey Canadian Americans, Are You Attempting to Hide in a Crowd?
Hiding in a crowd? With FATCA, we know that our U.S. Masters are designing the tools so they can say, “No more ” in relation to our financial accounts.
As an example of how evolving technology is making it difficult to remain hidden or unobserved, I recently saw this picture of a crowd in the Vancouver Canucks Fan Zone along Georgia St. for Game 7 of the 2011 Stanley Cup Final . It was taken with a camera of 70,000 by 30,000 pixels, or 2100 MegaPixels. It can identify a face in a multitude. This camera is not yet sold to the public, but it might be coming to an IPhone in the future? With our technological trends, all things are possible.
Click on this link…
Place your cursor in the multitude of people and left double click a couple times. It will continue to show the people much closer and closer and closer and CLOSER. Are you there?
Is this a corollary on how FATCA is evolving on the way to a global GATCA? No place to hide? You be the judge.
A few years ago, a 3 megapixel camera was a wonder. That is all they have on the Curiosity Rover on Mars, but you may have 15 megapixels on your phone now as technology races past NASA. One thing I can guarantee you, all government agencies will want a lot of these cameras! Easier to find you!
Here is an explanation on how these types of cameras are created for Argus. Assume it is something similar or simpler for this combined mega mega picture.
Has the NDP Brass sold out to the Obamacrats?
Has the NDP Brass sold out to the Obamacrats?
On October 14, 2011, the BC Caucus of the NDP sent a letter to Finance Minister Jim Flaherty and Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird about FATCA. The letter states five objectives which the caucus said should guide Canada’s negotiations with the US on FATCA. (See BC Caucus Letter to Flaherty and Baird re-IRS, please read the objectives on page two). I and, I think, any reasonable Canadian could accept an IGA if it incorporates and respects ALL of these five objectives. I cannot support an IGA that fails any of these five, nor can I support a political party that would sell out any of these five objectives. It sure looks to me like a clear and excellent policy statement.
Tom Mulcair said in Toronto Thursday (see the other threads) that the NDP doesn’t have a position on FATCA and won’t until he consults his caucus. Sorry, Tom, but twelve BC members of your caucus actually listened two years ago to their US-born constituents and formulated a position before you were chosen leader. What’s wrong with that position? Why haven’t you endorsed it, and why have you waited this long even to answer questions about FATCA, refusing to date even to acknowledge receipt of emails sent to you from around Canada concerning FATCA?
The answer, my friends, may be blowing in the following quotation from a fund-raising appeal sent by NDP National Director Nathan Rotman about a week ago to all NDP party members.
“We’ve got some of the best talent in the world working with us here at New Democrat headquarters. For example, Jeremy Bird, an Obama campaign strategist and architect of the most impressive field campaign in electoral history.”
From US Treasury: Myth vs FATCA
http://www.treasury.gov/connect/blog/Pages/Myth-vs-FATCA.aspx
Myth vs. FATCA: The Truth About Treasury’s Effort To Combat Offshore Tax Evasion
By: Robert Stack
9/20/2013
The Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) is rapidly becoming the global standard in the effort to curtail offshore tax evasion. This month’s G-20 communique marked another important milestone; highlighting the importance of global tax transparency and a renewed commitment to work towards an international standard for the exchange of tax information.
For years, there has been concern about the so-called “tax gap” – the difference between the tax dollars that are owed under the law, and those that are actually collected. Offshore tax evasion is a significant contributor to the tax gap. FATCA establishes a process for foreign financial institutions (FFIs) to report information about U.S. account holders to the IRS.
From the Horse’s Mouth: The NDP has no position on FATCA.
One of us — not me — asked a great question tonight in Toronto-Danforth of Thomas Mulcair regarding FATCA. The answer: The NDP caucus has not discussed it but we will and then we will have a position. I believe he also said that any US extra-territorial law would be inappropriate or a word to that effect.
Question: Has anyone had a bad experience when entering the US?
Does anyone know of cases where “US persons” at risk from the IRS have run into trouble entering the US? Have any of you had a bad experience?
The last time I entered the US was nearly three years ago and I was seriously hassled at the border crossing (we were driving) because I did not have a US passport. I have not dared try to enter the US since then. I do know a few people who seem to have come and gone without any questions asked.
Thank you.
If clicking on a comment link in the sidebar brings you to the wrong page in the comment stream, click here to go directly to the most recent comment page.
“After Stints Abroad, Re-Entry Can Be Hard”
In 2006, Lisa Lord moved to Heidelberg, Germany, to set up a new talent-management team for software giant SAP AG.
Ms. Lord had been working in the U.S. for the German company for two years and was eager to move up the ranks. But a department reorganization split her duties, and by June 2007 she was back in the U.S. with no clear next position waiting for her at SAP.
Spending a few years overseas can vault ambitious employees into senior leadership positions. But companies aren’t always prepared when those workers return home, veteran expatriates and executive recruiters say. Often, the right domestic jobs aren’t open, or management fails to recognize and reward the skills developed during the time abroad, they say. The resulting frustrations can cause some managers to stumble, and even send some out the door.
Read more at Wall Street Journal
Thomas Mulcair in Toronto-Danforth Tonight
Democracy Day on the Danforth – featuring
special guest NDP Leader Tom Mulcair
Bring your questions and ideas for remaking our democracy.
Starts: September 19th, 2013 – 6:30pm
Ends: September 19th, 2013 – 8:30pm
Where: Auditorium, Eastminster United Church,
310 Danforth Avenue
near Chester TTC Station
Lynne Swanson’s op-ed in Financial Post today: “We are not tax cheats”
Lynne has a superb and very timely article on Financial Post website today.
Dual Canadian-American citizens: We are not tax cheats
Check it out, and please contribute to the comments. You may recognize the sources of a couple of them.
Dual Canadian-American citizens: We are not tax cheats via @LynneBlaze
She has done it again!
Lynne Swanson, Special to Financial Post
Truly a great article that Canada’s Finance Minister Jim Flaherty can’t ignore…
Dual Canadian-American citizens: We are not tax cheats
We need Canada’s Finance Minister Jim Flaherty to insist that Canadian banks follow Canadian laws. We need Minister Flaherty to reassure Canadian citizens and residents that Canadian laws will not be changed for a foreign nation.
Most importantly, we need our elected officials to tell the United States that Canadian laws are made in Ottawa, not in Washington. We must not allow the United States to FATCA Canada.