Author unknown, but should be presumed to be armed (with wit) and dangerous
Several years ago the Bush Administration determined that there was a big black hole in the American economy. International Investors….like Bernie Madoff, Bernie Ebbers, Ken Lay, Jeff Skillings and literally thousands of very rich Americans had actually buried money in Credit Suisse and a variety of banks on Bahnhoff Strasse in Zurich, Switzerland. The Treasury Department went after several international banks, the country of Switzerland and then proceeded to ask for identification of all American citizens that had deposited funds of over $10,000 dollars in Swiss Banks. The Swiss fought the issue, tooth and nail and maintained that if they were to disclose these folks…..the harm to Swiss Banking would be irreparable. Finally, under tremendous pressure Switzerland relented and had to give up the account info. This haven for the rich and/or famous considered untouchable, including what some say, Nazi gold and cash left over from WWII, had to finally open the books on Americans participating in the process.
Well, as the Madoff Case grew like topsy over 17,000 American citizens were identified as prime targets of the IRS for serious tax evasion. Much as in the spirit of the Jerry Sandusky case, the Treasury Department suggested that the “humanitarian solution” would be to offer a “General Amnesty” to all those who had participated in the ” Swiss Stealth Banking Protocols” and pay their required taxes and in addition pay a moderate fine. All but 2,500 took advantage of this program and not much more has been mentioned about the relationship between the U.S. Treasury Department, the United States Government and the country of Switzerland nor any of the many other offending banks.
As the issue of Mitt Romney now raises its head about the Bain Capital “arms length” relationship from 1999 forward and the fact that Romney now refuses to offer up more than just the last two years of his tax records – the questions start to mount: When did Romney have money in banks in the Cayman Islands? Does he still have money in the Caymen Islands? What other Caribbean Islands does Mitt Romney have banking relationships with? Does Mitt Romney have funds anywhere in Southeast Asia, China or anywhere else? What about other European Countries? Does Mitt Romney have money there as well? What about Mitt’s Bermuda Holding Company?
Living in a Global Economic Society, it is easy to understand that by a mere flick of a mouse…..billions of dollars can easily change hands across multiple international borders. Bernie Madoff taught us all about that. His $17 Billion dollars …..are still missing. His brother Peter will be doing some hard time soon, but still remains out on bail. JP Morgan – Chase and CEO Jamie Dimon are busy trying to explain how a $2 billion dollar Credit Default Swap loss has turned into a $7.5 Billion loss…..which may be turning into even more. Hey, when you start talking about the 1%, their sets of rules can be a lot different from the rest of us.
Mitt Romney, should he care to be our next President, better get a grip on the fact – that we live in a “Full Disclosure World”. Romney needs to explain his last 12 years in detail, along with all his tax records and all of his “off shore” banking activities. Was Mitt Romney afforded “Amnesty” if or when he reported his deposits in his Swiss Bank Accounts? These are simple questions that need to be answered. If everything is on the up and up….no problem – Americans will know that the Republican Candidate is forthcoming and willing to share his soul with the American people. If not, the American people can start to sweat.
Bain Capital, Cayman Islands, Swiss Bank Accounts and Amnesty? Mr. Romney probably a good time to let everyone know….
Romney will likely only provide us with two years tax returns, 2010 and 2011.
Just the same as that loser John McCain who couldn’t remember how many houses he had, Romney doesn’t know where all of his investments are.
He’s not going to come clean with the American public, because he doesn’t think that it’s any of our business how he has made his money. Just like McCain didn’t think that it was any of our business that he had a big gambling problem. These are the kind of traits that aren’t very presidential.
I await with great anticipation the picking of the next failed Vice-Presidential candidate. Clowns across the country are polishing their red rubber noses, hoping to get the call.
*Romney Tax Records to be Released:
“12 MORE YEARS!”
Very good point on the foreign bank account reports (FBAR)…perhaps his original returns did not include FBAR and he participated in amnesty- just like many who had foreign accounts, most of whom had little or no income to report. The amnesty program was/is such a huge administrative burden for those taxpayers who have their family account back home or maybe even a co-account holder for someone and did not even know about it. For those large account holders, it was a good way to get them back into the system though.
This is Mitt’s “brainwashed” moment. 2009 is the return he wants to hide. This will show he took the amnesty and was hiding multiple acoounts. The years prior to it show that he plays fast and footloose with tax law. If you look at his past, he used “Son of Boss” to avoid taxes at Marriott, and declared his wifes hobby (horse dancing) a business. Besides tax evasion, he doesn’t want the average American to know that the rich play by a different rule book than you or I.
I think that the general voting public already knows that the rich use the tax code for their advantage (some disproportionately so). Evasion=bad and illegal; Avoidance=legal.
The thing that really “gets” me is that his group has determined that the bad press on not releasing tax returns (and the speculation of what is in them) is better than the bad press on what is actually in those return.
The FBAR and other foreign investment rules are so very complex that sometimes a “do-over” with amnesty is the best alternative…acceptable for a regular citizen, but certainly open game scrutiny for someone who wants to run the country.
yes truth squad and the other far left libs on here we all know about tax cheats right , TAX CHEAT TIMMY , TAX CHEAT RANGELL , maxien racist waters inside info on bank job by her husband , pelosi inside stock deals , ooopss they dont count , they are democrats . of course .
Yes, certainly seems to be a double standard. It just shows how complex the entire system is when those who make the rules cannot seem to follow them.
Actually, those who make the rules (political and corporate elites) are those MOST familiar with the rules, and thus most creative when it comes to skirting them. Plus, they’re the ones most likely to have the resources necessary to HIRE professionals to help them skirt the rules.
Can’t argue that those who make the rules are able to figure out how to bend them- hopefully legally, and not through evasion…still shows how complicated the entire system is though. Simplification is a winning proposition.
Hey Grating One, in case you hadn’t noticed, the subject of the post was Mitt Romney.
None of those people you mentioned is running to be the freakin’ President of the freakin’ United States.
And as long as you’re apparently trying (unsuccessfully) to compare apples to apples, do you think Mitt Romney should release more years of tax returns, as other recent Presidential candidates have done?
*Dan Rostonkowski stole his franking privileges money…and went to jail. There were lots of these folks….that got caught with their fingers in the cookie jar. Jim Wright was speaker of the House too. Romney is going down hard……and it won’t be pretty. The longer he refuses to show his tax records for the last 12 years….the lower his polling numbers will go. Ugly…really!