American Idiots...............We Here At SOC Have Known That For Awhile

All Americans Are Idiots…Or So They Think
There's an old Russian saying that describes the master-servant relationship. It goes: "I'm the boss, you're an idiot. You're the boss, I'm an idiot."Well, an "idiot" is an utterly foolish or senseless person. Or, in psychology, it's a person who has the lowest form of mental facilities. Either way, not a very complimentary term.But some extremist members of the United State Senate (to wit, Levin, Dorgan, Coleman and Obama), are treating Americans and American businesses as if we are all idiots -- and they definitely want to be our boss. They pretend to know better what we should be doing. And they're ready to force us to follow their direction under pain of double and triple taxation and even criminal sanctions.I am referring to the unconstitutional, irrational, illogical (and, as the late Senator Strom Thurmond used to say: "What's more I don't like it!") pieces of legislation these radical worthies introduced in the Senate last year. Without a doubt, these ridiculous bills violate the Bill of Rights and numerous treaties.
What's Wrong with Them? Well, I Just Don't Like It!
This sort of inane legislation is typical, considering these self-important senators hired a bunch of sympathetic staff kooks and gave them free reign over their committees. "Stop tax havens? Sounds great, draft something!"S. 396, introduced by Sen. Byron Dorgan, (D-ND), would prevent American companies from deferring taxes on their foreign-source income if they dare to do business in selected low-tax or "tax haven" nations Dorgan doesn't like. Never mind that the law has allowed that for many years. The bill would punish offshore companies Americans own. The law instructs the U.S. Internal Revenue Code to treat controlled foreign corporations created or organized abroad as U.S. domestic corporations for tax purposes. The bill audaciously sets forth a list of presumably "bad" countries (because they are recognized tax havens), and grants the U.S. Treasury (i.e. the IRS) the plenary authority to remove or add a country from this unique blacklist.S. 681, the Stop Tax Haven Abuse Act, (introduced by Senators Levin [D-MI], Norm Coleman [R-MN] and Obama [D-IL]) would establish a legal presumption against the validity of any personal or business transactions by Americans that involve offshore jurisdictions where there are bank and financial secrecy laws. This bill also includes its own bad list of tax havens. In other words, in an unprecedented action, American law would establish an international blacklist of countries simply because they respect individuals' privacy.
They Ignore the Tax Haven Right Here in the U.S.
Meanwhile, the U.S. Government Accountability Office, at the behest of the Senate's resident busybody, Sen. Charles Grassley (R-IA), is conducting an investigation of possible offshore tax evasion by U.S. companies and individuals using the Cayman Islands.Grassley's bogeyman is the known fact that thousands of corporations are organized in the Caymans in order to take advantage of legal offshore tax breaks allowed under U.S. law. Apparently he thinks the office building is somehow sinister. Now Grassley claims he wants GAO investigators to check on a five-story Cayman Islands building listed as the address of thousands of U.S. and international companies.He might just as well send the GAO to investigate similar incorporation service buildings in corporate-friendly Wilmington, Delaware. If Grassley knew better, he'd know hundreds of thousands of Americans use Delaware as their "corporate tax haven" for tax purposes. So what, Senator? Do you take Americans for idiots?
Read This: Bush Should Veto This Monstrosity
Taking all this Capitol Hill idiocy seriously, the Channel Island of Guernsey, Luxembourg and the Isle of Man have all petitioned the U.S. Treasury to be removed from the list of "offshore secrecy jurisdictions" in S. 681. That's a bit premature. The Treasury won't have any power over the list unless Congress adopts such garbage as law, and the President signs it. Assuming he is still sane, George Bush should veto this mess.
What Does all this Hullabaloo Mean for You
Over the years, senators and governors alike have made perfectly legal offshore havens their whipping boys. And so far, it hasn't done anything but stir up the press. Politicians like to appear they're "battling offshore havens." It makes the wealthy politicians "one of the people" if they find ways to crack down on the rich. But so far, they haven't succeeded. And it's doubtful they will this time. As always, if you're using offshore corporations, investments and vehicles for legal uses (and paying your taxes), then you have nothing to fear, even when the politicians try to pick a fight once again. Remember, they want you to be ignorant - that way you'll have no choice but to keep investing, banking and doing business here in the U.S. - where you have zero asset protection and zero privacy, you're forced to pay the highest taxes, and you're missing out on 60% of the investment opportunities (all located abroad).