Posted on 04/16/2012 12:31:59 PM PDT by Third Person
"I think there’s something to be said about people who park their money offshore and we don’t know exactly what is in those accounts. You know, when we look at despots from foreign countries putting their money in Swiss bank accounts -- we always have frowned upon that," Rep. James Clyburn (D-SC) said on MSNBC this morning. "And I don't see us saying that people of wealth, especially people wanting to be President of the United States, are parking money in a Swiss bank account, that is something else," Clyburn said to MSNBC's Chuck Todd.
(Excerpt) Read more at realclearpolitics.com ...
Every American should read ‘Throw Them All Out’ by Schweitzer. Everyone in congress would be running to hide after being exposed.
Spoken like a true, godless, communist pig. Hey Piggy! Why is it YOUR business how much money somebody has? How about YOU telling US where all of your money is and how much you have!
It’s kinda hilarious that Democrat launch this “ROMNEY IS HIDING SOMETHING!” Propaganda campaign on the same day Obama’s GSA head takes the 5th in front of Congress, isn’t it??
Talk about the ‘Gang That Couldn’t Shoot Straight’.
I had a UK account until the costs of complying with the new US law FACTA caused the brokerage firm to eject every single account of all US Persons. Happily, I was able to find another firm, SwissQuote, that would accept my account.
Having an account in Switzerland was not really my choice. I had a far higher level of dividend income from the UK account.
In my investing research, I have run across various experts who raise the issue of what they call “political risk”. That is the remote possibility that the jurisdiction in which you keep your investments will have a government that goes bonkers in a “black swan” event. In light of the policies of the current administration, I can say that it looks close to one described in that warning.
It is therefore just prudent to keep a portion of your investments in some other jurisdiction. In the case of having a Swiss account, all dividends and interest payments are subject to a 35% Swiss withholding tax. However there is a tax treaty with the US and I get credit on my US tax return for any amounts withheld.
However, in the event that the US government moved to seize my assets, they would have additional legal barriers to surmount in order to seize the amounts outside of their jurisdiction. Sometimes that is easy, sometimes that is difficult. I think the command-and-control crowd really chafe at a citizen removing anything out from under their control.
Tyrants will always be able to hide assets, but there are sound investment principles that suggest diversification of investment jurisdictions is just prudent. Instead of decrying where Romney keeps his money, it would be far more productive for the country to work to having a government that was so stable and respectful of the rule of law, and of its enumerated powers that people wouldn’t hesitate to keep all of their money in the US. But sadly the opposite is increasingly the case.
In the eyes of the Clyburn types you’re a foreign despot! (Thanks for posting the tip on foreign accounts.)
Clyburn: A half-wit jackass who can’t string two coherent sentences together.
Of course he’s a foreign despot to an anti-American Communist like Clyburn.
I don’t need to know how much money someone has but if a POTUS has money hidden away from the IRS then there’s some ‘splaining to do.
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