A lot of Americans are
making that move … at least compared to past years.
According to an August 9 Bloomberg article, the number of
Americans giving up their nationality at U.S. embassies leaped to 1,131 in the
three months through June from 189 in the year-earlier period. For the first
half of this year the total is 1,810 compared with 235 for all of 2008.
Granted, that’s a tiny
number. But it points to how many Americans feel about the Foreign
Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA), which requires them to disclose foreign
assets in excess of $50,000 to the IRS. Financial institutions abroad must now
provide the IRS with information about accounts held by U.S. taxpayers and
foreign entities in which U.S. taxpayers hold a substantial ownership interest.
The Bloomberg
article pointed out that,
"The U.S., the only nation in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development that taxes citizens wherever they reside, is searching for tax cheats in offshore centers, including Switzerland, as the government tries to curb the budget deficit."
"The U.S., the only nation in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development that taxes citizens wherever they reside, is searching for tax cheats in offshore centers, including Switzerland, as the government tries to curb the budget deficit."
Having more than $50,000 in an offshore account
doesn’t exactly put you in the mega-rich camp. So it’s clear that our elected
officials in Congress are going after middle class Americans … you and me. Shame
on them, and shame on us for keeping them in Washington with the hope they’ll look
out for our interests.
But I think there is an additional reason Americans
are fed up and turning in their passports …
Coincidently, also last week, Gallup released a
poll that found that only 14% of Americans approve of job Congress is doing. And
81% give them a thumbs down.
The approval trend is clearly on a slippery slope as
you can see in the chart below.
So is it time to turn
in your passport and take off for Dominical, Costa Rica; Saint Helena Island;
or the slopes of Nepal? I don’t think so.
But it is time we
hold Congress accountable for burying us up to our eyeballs in debt, and now
using every trick in the book to dip in hardworking taxpayers’ wallets even
more.
You can locate your Senators
here. And for your Representative,
go here.
Best wishes,
George
P.S. Feel free to use
the following letter when contacting them, or tone it down if that’s your
style. I’ll let you know the reply I get from my Congressmen.
-----------------------------
Dear [name of the
Congressman],
I’m going to make
this real simple: You and your colleagues in Washington are doing a horrible
job. And 81% of Americans in a recent poll agree with me. Still not convinced?
Well, the number of
American giving up their passports jumped six fold from a year ago.
Spend, spend, spend on
social programs has become the mantra in Congress, with no end in sight. But amid the recovery, the U.S. has
also seen an increase in poverty levels, which the Census Bureau puts at 15.9%
of the total population, or close to 50 million citizens. In 2008, that figure
was 13.2% of the population.
And, while the
unemployment rate has fallen from 10% at its Great Recession peak in 2009 to
7.6% in May, 11.8 million Americans still remain without work; 4.4 million
comprise the long-term unemployed.
The way you are
giving out my tax dollars simply is not working.
So please let me know
what specific action you are taking to cut the outrageous spending on social
programs that do nothing other than create a society that depends on big
government for its survival.
Sincerely,
[Your name]
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