THE SOVEREIGN SOCIETY OFFSHORE A-LETTER
Your Link to Freedom, Privacy & Prosperity in the Offshore World
Friday, December 9, 2004 - Vol. 6 No. 238
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In This Issue:
* COMMENT: It Only Takes One.
* OFFSHORE: Swiss Yes. Panama Best. Belize Boot. Bahamas No. Singapore vs. Mauritius for India Tax Haven.
* WEALTH: IRS Opinion Letters. EU M.P. Knocks Cash Rules.
* PRIVACY & RIGHTS: U.S. National ID Begins. "Intelligence"?
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COMMENT: It Only Takes One.
Dear A-Letter Reader:
A few months back I let you in on some not-so-secret legislative tricks I witnessed during 3 years as a member of the Maryland State Senate and 8 years in the US House of Representatives, (plus 15 years on the US House Republican Floor staff, before I was elected to office).
When I first became a House pageboy in 1953 at the age of 15, the Congress only met six months each year, then went home. 1954 was the last time that happened. I know. I was there.
For some reason, our so-called 'deliberative legislative' bodies have come to be neither. Instead of part-time citizen lawmakers, they stay in session all year round, grinding out unneeded, dangerous laws.
And even with voluminous rules dating back to Thomas Jefferson's Manual on legislative procedure, the lawmakers dawdle and delay, forcing a major log jam at the end of each session -- which is right about now for the current US Congress, sitting in lame duck session after the recent elections.
They wait for this last minute 'law jam' because they want to take advantage of confusion. It's the end of each session when the snakes appear. 'Snakes' in the sense of slimy proposals that can't stand the light of day, preferring to crawl through in maximum darkness. My example of how to be a good House member was set by the late, great, H.R. Gross (R-Iowa). He retired two years after I arrived, but I took up his battle, staying on the House Floor every minute we were in session, objecting unless things were explained to my conservative satisfaction. Many congressman came to hate me, others agreed, but all of them were forced to deal with "the Watchdog of the House."
My greatest compliment came from the late House Speaker Tip O'Neill when I forced a roll call vote on a congressional pay raise. "I personally resent the gentleman from Maryland," said the Speaker. I put that quote in my campaign literature and won by an even larger margin at the next election. (I thanked Tip for his help).
Nowadays, laws are crammed through by the Republican majority, (just as the Democrats did when I was in the minority), and most members vote on proposals without even knowing what's in them.
As witness is the $388 billion spending bill just passed, and about to be signed by Pres. Bush. This monstrosity is hundreds of pages long, full of hundreds of millions in pork barrel projects, and loaded with staff-written text no one reads until it's too late.
Such as the sneak provision that gave both the House and Senate Appropriations Committee chairmen and their staffs unrestricted access to the income tax returns of ordinary Americans (since repealed). Or the 'intelligence bill' rammed through this week, (see LINKS below). Or the horrendous PATRIOT Act.
The sad thing about all this is that, in most instances, it only takes one member to stand up and say: "Mr. Speaker, I object." Sometimes, in moments of delirium, I wish I was 30 years younger and back in Congress. The place would never be the same -- and it shouldn't be.
That's the way that it looks from here.
BOB BAUMAN, Editor
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COMMENT LINKS:
* Biographical Directory of US Congress: Robert E. Bauman
LINK: http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=B000244
* Congressmen should read bills before voting. (Duh!)
LINKS: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,140204,00.html
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A15620-2004Nov26.html
* Watch Out for the Omnibus. Cato Institute.
LINK: http://www.cato.org/dailys/12-03-04.html
* Bush signs off on $388 billion spending bill.
LINK: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6680223/
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* MONDAY A-LETTER SNEAK PREVIEW:
As Pres. Bush ups troop levels in Iraq and his advisors create new rationales for military intervention elsewhere in the volatile Mideast, military spending is going through the roof. Take a look at earnings for defense stocks; clearly, this is where the BIG money is being made now. If you haven't yet invested in defense industry stocks, think about it with an emphasis on value. In Monday's A-Letter, Renegade Investor editor Eric Roseman shows you how. See our next A-Letter for more.
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* FROM THE EDITOR'S DESK:
* OFFSHORE:
* SWISS PARLIAMENT OKs EU BILATERAL ACCORDS
BERN: Under the EU tax directive accord, Switzerland will gradually introduce a withholding tax of 35%t on the savings income of EU residents with accounts there. Swiss bank secrecy will not be waived. * FIRST HAND PROOF: PANAMA IS THE PLACE TO RETIRE BOQUETE, Panama: Sam Taliaferro, an American developer in Panama, explains why and how many US persons are flocking to much less costly retirement homes in one of this nation's outlying provinces. Special laws and discounts for foreign retirees are a major attraction.
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* BELIZE EXTRADITES ALLEGED FRAUDSTER TO U.S.
BELIZE CITY: US marshals returned a former insurance executive from Belize to face charges in what prosecutors call a $3 million fraud scheme in 7 US states. Belize charged him with obtaining a false passport.
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* BAHAMAS SAYS 'NO NEW TAXES'
NASSAU: Hopefully good news for offshore financial services, as Finance Minister pledges no new taxes for the islands. But he says tax reform is very much needed to increase revenues.
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SINGAPORE MAY BECOME TAX HAVEN FOR INDIA
NEW DELHI: New Singapore/India double taxation avoidance treaty may lessen appeal of MAURITIUS as Indian tax haven of choice. India has tax treaties with 67 countries including US and UK.
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* WEALTH:
* MORE ABOUT NEW I.R.S. OPINION LETTERS
We covered this yesterday, but check below for more LINKS that explain the new US IRS rules now pending on tax shelter opinion letters and their use by tax advisors.
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* PARLIAMENTARIAN HITS ANTI-MONEY LAUNDERING RULES
BRUSSELS: A UK member of the EU parliament says EU anti-money laundering measures cause hardship for the law abiding but fail to catch terrorists. And instead of help, all the EU gives is -- still more
rules.
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* PRIVACY & RIGHTS:
* INTELLIGENCE LAW BEGINS NATIONAL I.D. PLAN
WASHINGTON: Tucked away in the hundreds of pages of the so-called 'intelligence' bill just passed is power for the federal government to set the standards for all state drivers licenses. Magnetic strips on each license will be used by police and security for ID checks on you and me. So get ready to hear, thanks to the Republicans, that scary phrase from those old Hollywood World War II anti-Nazi movies: "Your papers, please!" And since the US Supreme Court has ruled it can be a crime to refuse to identify yourself to police, better hang on for dear life to your drivers license.
* ACLU Disappointed with 'Intelligence Reform' bill; contains unneeded attacks on privacy and freedoms, surveillance and PATRIOT II texts.
* How 9-11 tragedy was exploited to push intelligence bill in Congress. (See LINK below).
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* OFFSHORE LINKS:
* Swiss parliament accepts EU package deal. LINK:
http://www.swissinfo.org/sen/swissinfo.html?siteSect=111&sid=5393990
* Big potential for foreign retirees in Panama. LINK:
http://www.thepanamanews.com/pn/v_10/issue_23/business_02.html
* The Panama Owner's Manual. LINK:
http://www.agora-inc.com/reports/120SPTOM/W120ECS1/?o=82277&u=2309209&l=662038
* Insurance exec who fled to Belize returned to US. LINK:
http://www.casperstartribune.net/apdata/wire_detail.php?wire_num=94459
* Bahamas Finance Minister Rules Out New Taxes.
LINK: http://www.tax-news.com/asp/story/story_open.asp?storyname=18207
* Singapore could follow Mauritius as tax haven for India. LINK:
http://www.financialexpress.com/fe_full_story.php?content_id=76376
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* WEALTH LINKS:
* US Treasury, IRS to release new opinion letter standards.
LINKS: http://accounting.smartpros.com/x46158.xml
http://www.tax-news.com/asp/story/story_open.asp?storyname=18203
http://www.cfo.com/article.cfm/3471556/c_3471624?f=home_todayinfinance
* Parliamentarian hits anti-money laundering rules. LINK:
& nbsp; http://news.ft.com/cms/s/b6a954f2-4989-11d9-8ce9-00000e2511c8.html
* $2 billion money chase mystery in Australia. LINK:
http://www.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,4057,11597122%5E2862,00.html
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* PRIVACY & RIGHTS LINKS:
* US to Specify Documents Needed for Driver's Licenses.
LINK: http://www.nytimes.com/2004/12/09/politics/09license.html
* ACLU Disappointed With 'Intelligence Reform' Bill Passage. LINK:
http://www.aclu.org/SafeandFree/SafeandFree.cfm?ID=17168&c=206
* 9-11 tragedy exploited to push intelligence bill in Congress.
LINK: http://www.spectator.org/dsp_article.asp?art_id=7486
* Summary of intelligence bill provisions.
LINK: http://www.cdt.org/publications/pp_10.22.shtml
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LINK: http://www.agora-inc.com/reports/SVS/WSVSECFF/
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THE SOVEREIGN SOCIETY OFFSHORE A-LETTER.
* Bob Bauman, Editor * Daniel Aponte, Jr. Editorial Asst.
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