THE SOVEREIGN SOCIETY OFFSHORE A-LETTER
Your Link to Freedom, Privacy & Prosperity in the Offshore World
Tuesday, December 21, 2004 - Vol. 6 No. 245
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In This Issue:
* COMMENT: On Stupidity, Terrorism and Taxes.
* OFFSHORE: Gibraltar Visitors. Dirty Money Madness. Panama Tolls.
Get Your Offshore Auto License Plates!
* WEALTH: Corporate Cash Coming Home. Trojan U.S. Dollar.
* PRIVACY & RIGHTS: When the Knock Comes on Your Door.
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COMMENT: On Stupidity, Terrorism and Taxes.
Dear A-Letter Reader:
The late Steve Allen, when he pioneered as creator and host of NBC's "Tonight Show" back in the 1950s, had a random segment which I enjoyed - the irate "letters-to-the editor".
Steve, in shirtsleeves and vest, would turn his fedora backward, stick a "Press" sign in his hat band, stare right into the TV camera and start reading letters in an enraged, angry, "how dare you" voice. The studio audience would respond with shouts of "Yeah! Right on! Amen!"
Well, like the dreaded dentist rotary drill of my youth, I must have struck a raw nerve again last week with my repeated kvetching about how Pres. Bush and the US Congress keeps on trampling on civil liberties. And now come the irate e-mails!
D.R., from the USA, sent in a sizzler in response to my Comment "The Real Threat," in which I gave that label to, not terrorism, but the laws that kill our freedoms in the name of 'fighting' terrorism. Says D.R.: "...draconian measures are needed and justified. As for the 'rights' of the ordinary US citizen, I have yet to hear of ANY suffering by them. Get the bloody word! We are facing an enemy who has no compunction about hanging people alive on hooks, beheading them, blowing them up en masse, or anything else. One day, maybe very soon, they may well achieve their hearts desire, which is to detonate a nuclear bomb in either NYC or Washington DC or both. At which time life in this country will quickly become nasty, brutish and short. My first thought is that if this disaster happens, and we retain the ability to do it, we should turn Syria, Iran and the Sudan into radioactive parking lots, just for starters, If this gives you heartburn, that's just too bad. You are stupid!!!!!!!" --
(Thanks, D.R.!!!!!!)
O.H., from Denmark, took an opposite view; "Thanks for your article 'the real threat'. I agree with you in the way you defend freedom and in asking aren't we becoming prisoners of sorts ourselves. Yet I need to control myself when I read that you are receiving e-mails saying: 'But we are at war, and we are fighting for our survival.' I regard honest journalism as a high value. Keep up your voice for a free society!" -- (And thank you, O.H.!)
R.S., from the USA, agreed, saying "Thanks for another great essay about the erosion of our civil rights." (Flattery will get you every where with me!)
But a gentleman from the western US put the global struggle in perspective with this trenchant question: "Please, Sir, tell me, do you ever file Income Tax in the USA? Are you aware that the 16th Amendment to the US Constitution has never - in 91 years - been ratified and is therefore VOID and the income tax is illegal?" (Now THAT is news!)
As Steve Allen used to say: "We get letters!" And we get e-mails Keep 'em coming. Enjoy your holidays, but remember, the price of freedom is eternal vigilance.
That the way that it looks from here.
BOB BAUMAN, Editor
PS: For more of my outrageous views, check out my new book "Where To Stash Your Cash Legally" Click here
LINK: http://www.agora-inc.com/reports/190STHOW/W190EC01/
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COMMENT LINKS:
* The Steve Allen web site. LINK: http://www.steveallenonline.com/
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* FROM THE EDITOR'S DESK:
OFFSHORE:
* JUNKETING U.S. CONGRESSMEN VISIT THE ROCK
GIBRALTAR: The Speaker of the US House of Representatives, Hon. Dennis Hastert, and a delegation US congresspersons visited The Rock last week. The snotty Spanish government protested, as if American officials have no right to travel where they wish (except Cuba). This unreasonable official protest shows that Spain's obstructionist attitude towards Gibraltar has changed very little, in spite of their sweet talk.
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* ANTI-MONEY LAUNDERING MADNESS ROLLS ON
ST. HELIER, Jersey: It is now dawning on offshore tax havens just how onerous, if not down right stupid, are the FATF rules pretending to control dirty cash. The latest edition makes corporate directors personally liable for some violations, and it's stirring up offshore businessmen that take the time to read the fine print.
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* HIGHER PANAMA CANAL TOLLS AT ISSUE
PANAMA CITY: How much will the market bear when it comes to Panama Canal tolls? That's the question being asked as another toll boost is imposed. So far, past increases have not hurt, but with billions in potential costs slated for an expansion of the Canal, the government has to be careful to protect its major national asset. And few want to impose taxes in a tax haven.
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* THE PERFECT AUTOMOTIVE GIFT
VANUATU, an ex-tax haven wannbe, is a tropical nation with a Melanesian population of 200,000, spread through the volcanic chain of islands fringed by coral reefs and rich blue ocean. And now that it's no longer a tax haven, how about buying a set of international auto license plates from them? Just right for the global driver that has everything.
============================================WEALTH:
* AMERICAN CORPORATE CASH HEADS HOME - FOR WHAT?
For a one-time tax break, US companies may repatriate $300 billion next year. But what will they do with it? As US multinationals extended across the globe, they've built up a mountain of earned foreign profits, perhaps $750 billion. That's more than the annual GDP of Hong Kong, Ireland, and Switzerland combined. Up until now, they've kept all that cash overseas, much of it in tax havens such as The Bahamas, Ireland and Singapore, to avoid the stiff US 35% tax on repatriating the funds back into the US. Congress just repealed that tax.
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* IS THE FALLING DOLLAR A TROJAN HORSE?
Daniel Mitchell of the Heritage Foundation points out that Alan Reynolds claims there is no link between budget deficits, trade deficits, and the falling dollar. The first is a fiscal policy issue, and results from excessive government spending. The second is a reflection of the fact that Americans are richer than the rest of the world and can buy more from others than they buy from the US. Last but not least, monetary policy may be heading in the wrong direction and hurting the value of the dollar, but this can only be fixed by shifting to a better monetary policy, not be raising taxes.
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PRIVACY & RIGHTS:
* WHEN THE KNOCK COMES ON YOUR DOOR
A new survey, although small in number, finds that 1 in every 2 persons asked favors restricting civil liberties for Muslim-Americans. Researchers queried 715 people in a random national telephone poll between Oct. 25 and Nov. 23. "Our nation and its values are diminished whenever any faith or ethnic group is viewed with such suspicion and hostility," said one American Muslim leader. Meanwhile South Trust bank has canceled bank accounts of several Americans with Middle Eastern names without giving any reason for this unusual action.
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LINK: http://www.agora-inc.com/reports/190STHOW/W190EC01/
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OFFSHORE LINKS:
* Spanish protest to US after congressmen visit the Rock.
LINK: http://www.panorama.gi/updates.htm#Spanish
* Warning over new Jersey guidelines on money-laundering.
LINK: http://www.thisisjersey.com/business/business6.html
* Panama Canal tolls going up for container ships. LINK:
http://www.thepanamanews.com/pn/v_10/issue_24/business_01.html
* Vanuatu: Offshore Car Registration.
LINK: http://www.mondaq.com/i_article.asp?articleid=30093
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WEALTH LINKS:
* US Corporate Cash Heads Home. LINK:
http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/04_52/b3914027_mz011.htm
* Dollars and deficits, by Alan Reynolds.
http://www.washingtontimes.com/commentary/20041218-100134-1250r.htm
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PRIVACY & RIGHTS LINKS:
* Survey supports restricting Muslim-Americans' freedoms. LINK:
http://www.newsday.com/news/local/state/ny-bc-ny--fearfactor1217dec17,0,4929167.story?coll=ny-region-apnewyork
* Bank account closings of Middle Eastern Americans. LINK:
http://www.clarionledger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20041219/BIZ/412190338/1005
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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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