printSwiss bankers can no longer perform a function which in Switzerland is legal and commendable: helping private property owners shield their assets against legalized theft. The Swiss are not allowed to uphold victimless laws that contradict their ultimate sovereign: Uncle Sam.
YourMoneyInfo.com: “The Swiss laws do not consider tax evasion as a criminal offense. [They recognize that a man’s property is his and his alone?! Is this possible?!] The Swiss banks do not release the identity of the account unless the foreign government proves that the account holder has committed a crime. [Or unless pressured by big bully US, the protector of freedom the world over.]
The US has managed to dispense with the venerated traditions in the financial sector of an ostensibly sovereign state. I repeat myself, but next time you hear Messrs Hannity, Steyn and others of their ilk wax about the US being the last bastion of freedom, fire off a corrective email. Point out that our government lawyers have been prosecuting UBS AG, a Zurich and Basel-based financial establishment, and its American clients, for tax evasion. (You’ll probably be told that we should have declared war, or bombed Basel…)
When they are not bailing out failed financial institutions, our statists are bankrupting viable ones.
Recommended reading: “The War on Tax Havens”
And “Hotel California“:
Last thing I remember, I was
Running for the door
I had to find the passage back
To the place I was before
‘Relax,’ said the night man,
‘We are programmed to receive.
You can check-out any time you like,
But you can never leave!’
Update I: A “Robin Hood tax” they are calling it, and, no doubt, BHO will be on board: Under the guise of “sparing the taxpayers another massive public bailout of the financial sector,” the International Monetary Fund has “called for a financial stability contribution (FSC), which should be paid by all financial institutions, not just banks, and used to bail out weak and failing firms.”
Now note how these statists who are corralling us all into a big pen cleverly build their new scheme on a faulty premise: the idea that bailouts are a financial fait accompli. Since when? And who dictatorially decides to commandeer taxpayers monies to bail out financial institutions that ought to be allowed to fail? They do!
Update II (April 22): A correction to our reader hereunder: Neal Boortz is a “liberventionists”; “a statist, not a libertarian.” Anything he supports is usually an indication to the contrary
Do you think they might be deliberately bankrupting your economy?
Ilana,
The cog in society’s wheel is the power to control acquired by those who can tax us. Taxes are the means to control individuals and the most insidious tax is the one on income – business and personal.
I am in favor of the FAIR TAX. Now, for those who are mathematically challenged, please research its calculation. In favor, yes, but only if all other taxes and fees, including income, capital gains, inheritance, etc. are permanently removed.
By the way, if I want to help failing entities, I’ll buy stock…my choice, not government’s choice. The same goes for taking my money for some other country’s needs…there are charities for that purpose and donations are voluntary on the part of the donor.
Well, here is Time Magazine yesterday on more and more Americans giving up their citizenship:
http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1983238,00.html
Re: “FAIR” Tax – a zillion things wrong with it – like the federal government monitoring EVERY PURCHASE Americans make, setting up preferential items to tax like the European VAT does, “rebates” to illegal aliens, and other problems. A typical Republican-style solution which will open the door to even more governmental abuse.
Ilana, Just an FYI re my political & economic thoughts…I have been a libertarian and a Libertarian for 30+ years. I am a reader of Ayn Rand and Objectivism. Neil Boortz is libertarian [see corrective comment in post update] and he is a very vocal supporter of the Fair Tax. In the real world, taxes exist. I would rather pay taxes via a Fair Tax than an Income Tax. My reading of the proposed FAIR TAX did not note any major concerns on my part. Please ask Myron if he 1) read the book 2) notes anything about the FT that is a “stepped application” like European VATS 3) how can the FT be anymore intrusive than the current system?
To All…please read Vox Day’s THE RETURN OF THE GREAT DEPRESSION and THE END OF MONEY by Richard Rahn…then decide…sorry Myron.
OK – EITHER (1) I pay the merchant $ 1.15 and he reports the item as being “shoplifted” and we both come out ahead OR (2) I pay the merchant $ 1 and Uncle Sam 30 cents. Government does not like # (1) so Government abolishes cash and makes everyone pay in “E-Cash” – electronic debit cards. Now Uncle Sam, Barack Obama, Dick Cheney, and Mayor Bloomberg MONITOR EVERY PURCHASE YOU MAKE. Neil “the Libertarian” Boortz may feel good about that – but I do not!
I am not naive enough to believe that the same statist micromanagers who currently spend $ 4 Trillion and make the income tax the 3.75 million page nightmare will ever allow any freedom by managing a National Sales “Fair” Tax.
Love the Eagles Hotel California reference! I’m sitting here watching the administration obfuscate on the VAT. Gee there’s a novel idea! (Sacasm mine!)