The EPA is KILLING this country

The unelected, overpaid, self-proclaimed, law enforcing treehugger crew, the EPA [Employment Prevention Administration] and their red-tape, over-regulating, business strangling ways are killing this country and any hope of a recovery anytime soon! Read this from fellow Blogger, Alan Caruba:

We are witnessing the destruction of the nation by the environmental movement and the EPA has just provided you with the most dramatic example of that plan

The EPA Wrecking Ball

The Environmental Protection Agency is using its power to advance the objective of the environmental movement to deny Americans access to the energy that sustains the nation’s economy and is using the greatest hoax ever perpetrated, global warming—now called “climate change”—to achieve that goal.

“This standard isn’t the once-and-for-all solution to our environmental challenge,” said Lisa Jackson, the EPA administrator, “but it is an important commonsense step toward tackling the ongoing and very real threat of climate change and protecting the future for generations to come. It will enhance the lives of our children and our children’s children.”

This is a boldfaced lie. Its newest rule is based on the debasement of science that is characterized and embodied in the global warming hoax. It will deprive America of the energy it requires to function.
Since the 1980s the Greens have been telling everyone that carbon dioxide was causing global warming—now called climate change—and warning that CO2 emissions were going to kill everyone in the world if they weren’t dramatically reduced. The ball was put in motion with the United Nations 1997 Kyoto Protocols when many nations agreed to this absurd idea and carried forward by the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change ever since.
The Environmental Protection Agency was created to clean the nation’s air and water where it was deemed that a hazard existed. Like most noble ideas and most Congressional mandates, the initial language was vague enough to be interpreted to mean anything those in charge wanted it to mean. Add in the global warming hoax and you have the means to destroy the nation.
Now it means that the source of fifty percent of all the electricity generated in the United States is being systematically put out of business and please do not act surprised; that’s exactly what Barack Obama said he intended to do if elected President.
This is evil writ large.
Shutting down utilities that use coal, an energy source the U.S. has in such abundance that it could provide electricity for the next hundreds of years, and ensuring that no new ones are built fits in perfectly with all the Green pipedreams about “renewable” energy. Solar and wind presently provide about two percent of the nation’s electricity and, without government subsidies and mandates requiring their use, they would not exist at all.

• How stupid is it to not build more nuclear power plants when this form of power doesn’t emit anything but energy?
• How stupid is it not to use coal when the U.S. is the Saudi Arabia of coal?
• How stupid is it to begin to find reasons to regulate and thwart fracking, the technology to access trillions of cubic feet of natural gas that has been in use for decades?
• How stupid is it to cover miles of land, far from any urban center, with hundreds of solar panels or huge, ugly wind turbines that kill thousands of birds every year?

The sun does not shine all the time, nor does the wind blow all the time. In the event of overcast skies or a day without wind, traditional plants—those using coal, gas, nuclear or generating hydroelectric power—have to be maintained as a backup. Take away the coal-fired plants and there were be huge gap in the national grid.
Darkness will descend and Americans will begin to live with blackouts and brownouts that will undermine every aspect of our lives. It’s bad enough when a town or even a city briefly loses power because of a storm, but imagine that occurring on a regular basis because there just aren’t enough utilities generating power!
What kind of people stand by idly while its own government conspires to take away the primary source of energy that everything else depends upon? The answer? You. The answer is the many elected politicians that have done little to rein in a rogue government agency intent on undermining the nation by denying it the ability to generate power with the least expensive source of electricity, coal.
The EPA, an unelected bureaucracy, has just ensured that all Americans, industries, small businesses, and individuals will begin pay far more for electrical power.
Richard J. Trzupek, the author of “Regulators Run Wild” and an environment policy advisor for The Heartland Institute, said of the new rule, “With around 50,000 megawatts of coal-fired power set to be forcibly retired in the next few years—thanks to the draconian policies of Obama’s EPA—this rule ensures that no new modern, efficient coal fired power plants will be built to fill the gap.”
In a triumph of crony capitalism, Trzupek notes that “The big winner will be Obama’s good friend, GE Chairman Jeff Immelt. Since solar and wind cannot fill a 50,000 megawatt baseload gap, the only way to ensure continued reliability of the grid is to build a lot of natural gas-fired plants quickly. And who is the biggest supplier of natural gas-fired combustion engines? GE of course.”
If you think that environmental organizations like the Sierra Club and Friends of the Earth, among many others, are seeking to “protect” the Earth, you are seriously mistaken. They have been among the leading opponents of coal and they have had allies in Congress such as the Majority Leader of the Senate, Harry Reid, (D-NV) who has said “Coal makes us sick. Oil makes us sick.”
NO! Coal provides the engine of our nation’s electrical power and oil provides the energy that fuels our transportation and is the basis for countless products that enhance and improve our lives every day.
We are witnessing the destruction of the nation by the environmental movement and the EPA has just provided you with the most dramatic example of that plan

Is the Government Going to Crash the Stock Market?

Trying to figure out where this president, a communist posing as a socialist is taking this country is becoming more clear after every campaign speech! He is following the direction of a scumbag called Saul Alinsky, page by page! 

• First- command the mainstream media, CBS, ABC, NBC, MSNBC, CNN, PBS and Bloomberg are already his left wing campaign broadcasters!
• Second- cause civil unrest across the country, obama, reid and princess pelosi have made it very clear they are behind the "occupy Wall St." anarchists!
• Third- make people dependent on government, we now have almost 50% of the population on some form of government subsidy in which they feel entitled. Try taking that away! 
• Fourth- crash the economy, well actions speak louder than words in this very ANTI-business, high taxing, regulation strangling administration!

We are now in the fourth and final part of this 100 year progressive campaign. It all started with the creation of the Fed, something our founders fought long and hard, tooth and nail to NOT allow to happen! Read this so you will know what is happening before most others:

Is the Government Going to Crash the Stock Market?

OK all you conspiracy theorists… dust off your aluminum foil hats and get out your J.D. Salinger novels. The government is going to push stock prices lower. The U.S. Treasury is going to be auctioning off another series of 30-year bonds on February 9. If this auction goes off like the last three have, stock prices are in for a rough time. Stocks sold off ahead of each of the three previous 30-year U.S. Treasury bond auctions. Now normally, I'm not a big believer in the government manipulation of stock prices. It probably does happen – just not to the extent that most of the folks in the "ham-radio" community think it does. But let's face it… The government needs investors to buy its bonds to help keep interest rates low. And what better way to encourage demand in bonds than to orchestrate a stock market selloff just ahead of a bond auction? Think about this… The government auctioned off $13 billion in 30-year bonds on November 10. The S&P 500 peaked above 1,280 just 10 days prior… and then bottomed at 1,230 the day before the auction. In December, the S&P 500 hit 1,260 early in the month. Then it declined 4% in five trading days… bottoming at 1,210 on December 14 – the day the U.S. Treasury auctioned $16 billion in 30-year bonds. January's action was less obvious. As all conspiracy advocates know, it's just like the government to try to be less obvious. Stocks didn't decline much ahead of the January 12 auction of $13 billion in 30-year bonds. But the market did fall hard the morning of the auction. So there you have it… Three auctions… three stock market drops. Interest rates have been rising recently as folks have taken money out of Treasurys in favor of better returns in the stock market. But the Treasury needs to somehow motivate investors to bid for at least $13 billion in 30-year bonds on February 9. I can't think of a better way to coax investors back into the Treasury market than to have stocks fall hard in the early days of February. Normally, it would seem absurd to think the government is actively manipulating stock prices. But given all the shenanigans the Fed has pulled over the past three years – and given the stock market action just before the past three bond auctions – it's almost absurd not to consider the possibility. The market is already poised for at least a short-term pullback. Investor sentiment (a contrary indicator) is overwhelmingly bullish. Stocks are extended to the upside after rallying 5% already this month. And the Volatility Index (or "VIX") is on the verge of reversing higher. The upcoming Treasury bond auction is just one more reason – albeit a bit of a conspiracy theory – to be a little cautious with stocks here. Of course, once we get the February 9 auction out of the way, the stock market rally can continue. And we can get back to more important things… like looking for President Kennedy's real assassin.

Beware the IRS Amnesty

Beware the IRS Amnesty

By Bob Bauman JD, Chairman, Freedom Alliance

Imagine this very real and somewhat disturbing scenario…

You open your front door to an official looking gentleman, briefcase in hand, who says: “I’m from the IRS and I’m here to help you.”

Well, your natural reaction may be fear, then perhaps concern, then disbelief – the last because you know your visitor’s statement ranks with other classic assurances such as, “The check is in the mail,” and the dentist’s “This won’t hurt.”

Well, it’s back…

To the surprise of some tax experts with whom I talked, U.S. Internal Revenue Service Commissioner Douglas Shulman a few days ago “reopened the Offshore Voluntary Disclosure Program (OVDP) to help people hiding offshore accounts get current with their taxes,” as he so artfully phrased it.

The real reason behind reopening the OVDP may be Shulman’s questionable claim that the IRS has collected more than $4.4 billion so far from the two previous tax amnesty programs in 2009 and 2011.

Now they want more.

Of course, the dutiful American “news” media swallows all this IRS numbers baloney without question. For them, it’s a lot easier than thinking and checking accuracy.

Nothing but a Numbers Game

But that’s a little beside the point. Even if the IRS really did collect $4.4 billion owed in its two most recent amnesty programs, let’s compare that amount to the total tax collected by the IRS in 2009, the latest year for which the always-behind-the-times IRS has numbers.

The total tax collected in 2009 was around $2.7 trillion. So the $4.4 billion collected in late offshore taxes figures out to be 0.16% of the total.

Gasp! Wow! And how many millions did the IRS spend collecting this magnificent sum that might finance the running of the U.S. government for a few hours at best?

Anyway, few tax experts believe that Shulman’s numbers are reliable. (If you want a refresher course on that last 2011 IRS tax “amnesty,” which was more tax than amnesty, check out the expert opinion of my colleague, Mark Nestmann.

The total number of 2011 amnesty filers was “more than I expected,” said Mark Matthews, a Washington, DC-based tax attorney and a former IRS deputy commissioner. But those who came forward, Matthews said, are “still only a fraction of the people who have these (offshore) accounts.”

A Regime of Perpetual Punishment

And so now a new continuous and possibly unending IRS collection program of offshore back taxes takes its place alongside other IRS collection programs, only the penalties are far worse.

The new program, according to the IRS press release, has “…no set deadline for people to apply. However, the terms of the program could change at any time going forward” and “the IRS may increase penalties in the program for all or some taxpayers or defined classes of taxpayers – or decide to end the program entirely at any point.” (A calculated scary threat!)

I believe this latest IRS tax “open door for sinners” is based on a manufactured myth.

The IRS and a flock of big spending leftist U.S. politicians, Obama included, has perpetrated the myth that almost all American's engaged in offshore banking or other financial activity are probably tax evaders.
That big lie fits nicely with Obama’s 2012 re-election class warfare campaign to convince the 50% of Americans who pay no taxes that he won’t let them bear the burden of the other half who he claims aren’t paying their fair share.

When the HIRE Act legislation created the inane Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act in 2010, the congressional Joint Committee on Taxation estimated that the new law would raise only $8.7 billion over 10 years, not the $100 billion that Obama claimed could be collected every single year!

Be Very Careful

As with past IRS amnesties, this latest program will require delinquent taxpayers to give full details of past arrangements, identify banks and promoters and pay all back taxes plus interest. Any binding IRS guarantee that criminal charges won’t be filed is unlikely.

Evaluations will be on a case-by-case basis, depending on whether the taxpayer fully cooperates in the investigation.

The publicity generated by the successful efforts of the IRS to pry information out of Swiss banking giant UBS and pending investigations of a number of other offshore banks has led to many “quiet disclosures” by U.S. taxpayers.

This occurs when a taxpayer simply files amended returns and forms, and pays all back taxes and interest, plus penalties. That route may be available to some under the new program.

The question is: Should you participate? 

The answer is “maybe,” but only after you consult with a qualified tax attorney (not an accountant). This arrangement provides attorney-client privilege for your discussions. The attorney can retain an accountant to prepare the necessary returns if you decide you should participate in the program. Never contact the IRS on your own!

obama and the price YOU pay for gas

If you can remember when Senator obama was running for President, one of his major campaign promises was on the price at the pumps! He said that gasoline at $3+ a gallon was seriously hurting American business and how he would change that. The fact that this, along with almost every other promise he made is and was a LIE, should come as NO surprise after seeing how low he has brought this country in 3 very long, financially draining years. 

Under Bush the average price of a barrel of oil was $35 a barrel and gas averaged $2.10  a gallon, under obama it is $96 a barrel and $3.52 a gallon! Now I know that the POTUS has minimal power over the price of oil [this didn't stop the dems calling for the head of Bush on a platter when it briefly went to $144 a barrel, nor did they give him credit when he brought back down to $33 a barrel BEFORE he left office] but he has gone out of his way to keep gas ABOVE $3 a gallon. 

His EPA and tree-hugger supporters have gone out of their way to shut down every refinery expansion, nuclear expansion, pipeline expansion and are now moving against natural gas, fracking, and shale gas/oil development. He and his cronies have lost hundreds of billions of YOUR tax dollars on subsidies for windmills and solar panels and bio fuels. If you took away the bio-fuel subsidies alone the price of corn [which is in 1/2 the food products in this country] would fall by half and the money he is taking from big oil to help pay for this would take a $1.50 of the price of a gallon of regular gas alone.

Not only did he say we have to stop relying on hostile foreign countries for our energy needs [another lie] by turning down CANADA, our biggest trading partner proves this, he is keeping the price of fossil fuels deliberately high by making our new #1 export, .....you guessed it [or maybe not] FUEL! Here is the latest from Yahoo News:

In a first, gas and other fuels are top US export

For the first time, the top export of the United States, the world's biggest gas guzzler, is — wait for it — fuel.

Measured in dollars, the nation is on pace this year to ship more gasoline, diesel, and jet fuel than any other single export, according to U.S. Census data going back to 1990. It will also be the first year in more than 60 that America has been a net exporter of these fuels.

Just how big of a shift is this? A decade ago, fuel wasn't even among the top 25 exports. And for the last five years, America's top export was aircraft.

The trend is significant because for decades the U.S. has relied on huge imports of fuel from Europe in order to meet demand. It only reinforced the image of America as an energy hog. And up until a few years ago, whenever gasoline prices climbed, there were complaints in Congress that U.S. refiners were not growing quickly enough to satisfy domestic demand; that controversy would appear to be over.

Still, the U.S. is nowhere close to energy independence. America is still the world's largest importer of crude oil. From January to October, the country imported 2.7 billion barrels of oil worth roughly $280 billion.

Fuel exports, worth an estimated $88 billion in 2011, have surged for two reasons:

— Crude oil, the raw material from which gasoline and other refined products are made, is a lot more expensive. Oil prices averaged $95 a barrel in 2011, while gasoline averaged $3.52 a gallon — a record. A decade ago oil averaged $26 a barrel, while gasoline averaged $1.44 a gallon.

— The volume of fuel exports is rising. The U.S. is using less fuel because of a weak economy and more efficient cars and trucks. That allows refiners to sell more fuel to rapidly growing economies in Latin America, for example. In 2011, U.S. refiners exported 117 million gallons per day of gasoline, diesel, jet fuel and other petroleum products, up from 40 million gallons per day a decade earlier.

There's at least one domestic downside to America's growing role as a fuel exporter. Experts say the trend helps explain why U.S. motorists are paying more for gasoline. The more fuel that's sent overseas, the less of a supply cushion there is at home.

Gasoline supplies are being exported to the highest bidder, says Tom Kloza, chief oil analyst at Oil Price Information Service. "It's a world market," he says.

Refining companies won't say how much they make by selling fuel overseas. But analysts say those sales are likely generating higher profits per gallon than they would have generated in the U.S. Otherwise, they wouldn't occur.

The value of U.S. fuel exports has grown steadily over the past decade, coinciding with rising oil prices and increased demand around the globe.

Developing countries in Latin America and Asia have been burning more gasoline and diesel as their people buy more cars and build more roads and factories. Europe also has been buying more U.S. fuel to make up for its lack of refineries.

And there's a simple reason why America's refiners have been eager to export to these markets: gasoline demand in the U.S. has been falling every year since 2007. It dropped by another 2.5 percent in 2011. With the economy struggling, motorists cut back. Also, cars and trucks have become more fuel-efficient and the government mandates the use of more corn-based ethanol fuel.

The last time the U.S. was a net exporter of fuels was 1949, when Harry Truman was president. That year, the U.S. exported 86 million barrels and imported 82 million barrels. In the first ten months of 2011, the nation exported 848 million barrels (worth $73.4 billion) and imported 750 million barrels.

Nero in the White House

In case you think I am a racist, I thought I would re-post this very well done Blog from  Mychal Massie who couldn't have put my thoughts on paper any clearer! 

Nero in the White House
By: Mychal Massie

Three significant historical events have been eclipsed by Obama: 1) Jimmy Carter will no longer be looked upon as the worst president in American history; 2) Richard Nixon and Bill Clinton will no longer be recognized as the greatest liars in presidential history; 3) Clinton's stain on Monica's dress, and what that did to White House in general and the office of the president specifically, will forever pale in comparison to the stain and stench of Obama.

I need not spend much time on the failure of Obama as president. His tenure has been a failure on every measurable level. So much so, in fact, that some of the staunchest, most respected liberal Democrats and Democratic supporters have not only openly criticized him – some even more harshly than this essayist – but they have called for him to step down.

Richard Nixon's words "I am not a crook," punctuated with his involvement in Watergate, and Bill Clinton's finger-wagging as he told one of the most pathetic lies in presidential history, in the aftermath of Obama, will be viewed as mere prevarications.

Mr. Nixon and Clinton lied to save their backsides. Although, I would argue there are no plausible explanations for doing what they did, I could entertain arguments pursuant to understanding their rationales for lying. But in the case of Obama, he lies because he is a liar. He doesn't only lie to cover his misdeeds – he lies to get his way. He lies to belittle others and to make himself look presentable at their expense. He lies about his faith, his associations, his mother, his father and his wife. He lies and bullies to keep his background secret. His lying is congenital and compounded by socio-psychological factors of his life.

Never in my life, inside or outside of politics, have I witnessed such dishonesty in a political leader. He is the most mendacious political figure I have ever witnessed. Even by the low standards of his presidential predecessors, his narcissistic, contumacious arrogance is unequalled. Using Obama as the bar, Nero would have to be elevated to sainthood. 

As the stock markets were crashing, taking with them the remaining life saving of untold tens of thousands, Obama was hosting his own birthday celebration, which was an event of Epicurean splendidness. The shamelessness of the event was that it was not a state dinner to welcome foreign dignitaries, nor was it to honor an American accomplishment – it was to honor the Pharaoh, Barack Hussein Obama. The event's sole purpose was for the Pharaoh to have his loyal subjects swill wine, indulge in gluttony and behavior unfit to take place on the property of taxpayers, as they suffer. It was of a magnitude comparable to that of Tyco CEO Dennis Kozlowski's $2 million birthday extravaganza for its pure lack of respect for the people.

Permit me to digress momentarily. The U.S. Capitol and the White House were built with the intent of bringing awe and respect to America and her people. They were also built with the intent of being the greatest of equalizers. I can tell you, having personally been to both, there is a moment of awe and humility associated with being in the presence of the history of those buildings. They are to be honored and inscribed into our national psyche, not treated as a Saturday night house party at Chicago's Cabrini-Green.

The people of America own that home Obama and his wife continue to debase with their pan-ghetto behavior. It is clear that Obama and family view themselves as royalty, but they're not. They are employees of "we the people," who are suffering because of his failed policies. What message does this behavior send to those who today are suffering as never before?

What message does it send to all Americans who are struggling? Has anyone stopped to think what the stock market downturn forebodes for those 80 million baby boomers who will be retiring in the next period of years? Is there a snowball's chance in the Sahara that every news program on the air would applaud this behavior if it were George W. Bush? To that point, do you remember the media thrashing Bush took for having a barbecue at the White House? 

Like Nero – who was only slightly less debaucherous than Caligula – with wine on his lips Obama treated "we the people" the way Caligula treated those over whom he lorded.

Many in America wanted to be proud when the first person of color was elected president, but instead, they have been witness to a congenital liar, a woman who has been ashamed of America her entire life, failed policies, intimidation and a commonality hitherto not witnessed in political leaders. He and his wife view their life at our expense as an entitlement – while America's people go homeless, hungry and unemployed.

IRS-Obama Idiocy Harms Innocent Americans

IRS-Obama Idiocy Harms Innocent Americans

George Washington, the first president of the United States, is said to have exclaimed: “Government is not reason; it is not eloquent; it is force. Like fire, it is a dangerous servant and a fearful master.”

No better example of unreasonable use of official government force exists today than the policies of the Internal Revenue Service, aided and abetted by President Obama and the Democrat controlled Congress that enacted the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA).

Amy Feldman, a columnist for Reuters, exposed on December 8 a current example of this unreasonable force.

She wrote: “The Internal Revenue Service's crackdown on overseas tax cheats is having an unintended consequence on American expats... [forcing] them to pay penalties for failure to file paperwork that may be drastically out of proportion to the actual amount of taxes owed.”

Intended Consequences?

It might be some small comfort if these were stupid, unthinking IRS-Obama policies. But in my opinion, these are policies calculated to keep Americans investors - along with their cash and assets - at home, where they can be controlled (and their assets confiscated) at will by government.

That threat includes the possible confiscation of private pension and retirement plans.

These policies have imposed unjust penalties on thousands of innocent American expatriates suddenly caught in a new jungle of paperwork they had no idea existed. That’s one consequence.

I wrote about another consequence a few days ago when I noted that: “Growing numbers of Americans living abroad are renouncing their U.S. citizenship because of the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) - not to mention the ever more burdensome and complex IRS reporting obligations that now come with the treat of financial and even criminal penalties.”

Our friend and associate Richard W. Rahn writes in the Washington Postthat FATCA has already sent foreign capital fleeing.

He claims that the people running Washington are "mental midgets" unaware of how their policies impact on the economy.

He estimates that FATCA will cause the departure of an estimated $14 trillion of private foreign investment, destroying as many as 10 million American jobs.

Yet another consequence, equally serious, is the decision of untold numbers of foreign banks and investors to avoid doing business with Americans because of the trouble of compliance with FATCA.

This also has made it difficult, if not impossible, for U.S. citizens living abroad to maintain existing bank accounts or open new accounts both in U.S. and in their countries of residence. This impedes American companies and their employees in badly needed foreign business and trade.

The Americans who are being subjected to this unjust IRS-Obama persecution are real people like you and me - U.S. citizens married to foreigners who left the U.S. decades ago, retirees whose lives spanned multiple countries, dual-taxpayers trying to do their U.S. taxes themselves in foreign places, where accountants that know U.S. tax laws are few.

• Marvin Van Horn, a 62-year-old U.S. citizen and permanent resident of New Zealand, semi-retired, bought a home there with his Australian wife a decade ago. When he learned about the new IRS reporting rules, he followed them and paid a small tax he owed but the penalty for failing to file the foreign bank account reporting form (FBAR) was $90,000. 

• When the IRS agent learned he had rented his house and not reported that income the penalty spiraled to $172,000. After negotiations with IRS's Taxpayer Advocate Service, the result was a single "non-willful" failure to file FBAR penalty of $5,000 per year, or $25,000 total.

There are an estimated five to six million Americans living offshore and another 39 million immigrants in the U.S. who face similar IRS issues with overseas disclosure if they have foreign bank accounts back home.

Yet in 2009 there were only 534,043 FBARs filed, according to a report by the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration.

Indeed, many Americans abroad inherited foreign assets from foreign-born parents and relatives or they have simply lived abroad for years ignorant of FBAR requirements.

All of this IRS-Obama induced tyranny involves mainly U.S. citizens, but the new rules have ensnared thousands of Canadians, many of whom were not only ignorant of IRS rules, but of the fact that they were U.S. dual citizens.

One 54-year-old Canadian, who was born in Canada and has only worked in Canada, recently discovered that she’s a dual citizen for tax purposes because her mother, then a U.S. citizen, registered her with the U.S. embassy at birth. She faces a $75,000 penalty.

Jack Townsend, a Houston tax attorney, who writes on these issues in his Federal Tax Crimes blog, said: “The people who made out well are the real crooks who have been doing this for years, while the people who don't have that culpability are getting hammered because of the one-size-fits-all rule.”

I have no sympathy for Americans who cheat on their taxes. Illegal tax evaders should be caught and penalized. But stupid, harmful rules should be repealed immediately to take into account innocent mistakes.

Honest, taxpaying Americans and others who desire real financial privacy, true asset protection and expert investment advice should continue to employ offshore banks, investment advisers, insurance and annuity specialists - and not be scared away by the IRS from the very real benefits offered by the world's leading offshore financial centers with which the Sovereign Society works.

We will help you go offshore with full legality and tax compliance - the IRS be damned.

By Bob Bauman JD, Chairman, Freedom Alliance

American Exodus as Freedom Dies

If you think obama and his cronies aren't chasing millionaires offshore, think again! Not are they going offshore, they are giving up their citizenship in droves to avoid US draconian tax laws implemented by your beloved democrats! Their motto is lets spend $80 BILLION over 10 years to bring in $8 BILLION! Is this how you want your tax dollars spent?

American Exodus as
Freedom Dies

Growing numbers of Americans living abroad are renouncing their U.S. citizenship because of the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) - not to mention the ever more burdensome and complex IRS reporting obligations that now come with the treat of financial and even criminal penalties.

The United States is one the few major nations that requires their citizens living abroad to pay income taxes. The only way to end that U.S. tax obligation is to terminate U.S. citizenship.

The latest statistics reveal that more than 1,500 Americans living offshore did just that. According to the Federal Register, that’s up from 743 people in 2009 and 235 in 2008.

Jackie Bugnion, director of American Citizens Abroad, a Geneva, Switzerland-based group, says the exodus is a backlash on the part of U.S. expatriates and the offshore financial sector to the radical IRS claim that its jurisdiction extends to every bank and financial institution in the entire world.

That extraordinary IRS claim is embodied in FATCA, and was adopted in 2010 by the then Democrat-dominated Congress as part of the Hiring Incentives to Restore Employment Act and signed with approval by President Obama.

This law threatens foreign financial banks and financial institutions of all kinds with a 30% withholding tax if they fail to comply with an onerous reporting regime on their U.S. clients.

Dangerous to the U.S. Economy

No hearings were held on this radical proposal and few knew it was even contained within the pending bill - just as its sponsors wanted it.

This summer, American Citizens Abroad launched an international campaign to repeal FATCA, which they describe as “misconceived” and “dangerous for the U.S. economy.”

This complements a U.S. drive to repeal FATCA led by the Coalition for Tax Competition, of which The Sovereign Society is a member.

While the reaction of an increasing number of Americans has been to acquire a second passport and dual citizenship as a prelude to ending their U.S. status, numerous foreign banks have reacted by dumping existing American clients and refusing new ones.

As if the threat of FACTA were not enough, the IRS has an active prejudice against U.S. persons with offshore bank accounts and business interests, automatically assuming any American who dares to engage in offshore financial activity is probably a tax evader or worse.

Add to that prejudice the arbitrary application of a complex U.S. tax code, plus the attitude that the taxpayer is always guilty until they can prove otherwise.

Preposterous Claims

The IRS makes the preposterous claim that enforcement of FACTA possibly can produce additional tax revenues of US$8 billion over 10 years. At the same time, estimates of the cost of implementing FACTA run into hundreds of billions of dollars, plus at least $10 billion per year for filing requirements.

Nonetheless, in a rare instance of official sanity in July, the IRS announced that the original January 1, 2013 effective date for FATCA had been dropped.

Under the new IRS schedule, offshore private banks, which face the most onerous IRS requirements under FATCA, will not have to provide details on U.S. clients with accounts with more than $50,000 until 2014. Lower value accounts at private banks do not need to be reported until the end of 2014. Certain other accounts do not have to be reported until 2015.

No doubt what brought about this delay was the firestorm of anti-FATCA American public opinion and a chorus of protests, not only from the international financial and banking industry but also from foreign governments.

Canadian treasury officials have attacked FATCA calling it unworkable, far too costly and an unprecedented U.S. intrusion on their national sovereignty.

Typical of these foreign complaints was a prediction that if FATCA were imposed on The Bahamas that offshore financial center would drop most of its American clients.

Delay is not the answer to this colossal FACTA mess. Complete repeal is.

Much hinges on the outcome of the 2012 U.S. elections, not least of which is the freedom of Americans to do business where they choose.

When America gets tough, the tough look offshore

I have been telling my left wingnuts this for a long time, "What are you going to do when all the business' and wealthy leave"? They are now leaving at a rate of 54 people a MINUTE, taking their jobs and money with them! You people can't see the tree's for the forest of what is coming down the pipeline! The Sovereign Offshore Newsletter has been telling folks exactly how to go about this LEGALLY! Here is their latest edition and you had better take note:

When America gets tough,
the tough look offshore

America has become a country of deep philosophical chasms, and there now emerges the very real possibility the turmoil will tear the nation asunder.

Over the next 12 months, as America enters presidential-election season, the fight that is coming will determine whether the country swings decidedly right or left, because the winner will rightly claim a mandate to either continue on the current path into the dark night of socialist thinking ... or reintroduce morning in America.

The divisions in this country have already been brought into stark relief. For instance, 54% of Americans believe in a right to bear arms; 46% don’t.

48% believe marijuana should be legalized; 52% don’t.

45% of Americans support ObamaCare; 45% don’t.

No one can deny that during the past decade, America has changed for the worse...

We’re Living in Orwell’s Dystopia

It is just over 10 years since that unforgettable day in September 2001, when two planes slammed into the World Trade Center in apocalyptic fashion and changed America forever.

In spite of what our politicians tell us, America did not recover from that hammer blow. Today, we are worse off - not because of the terror, but because sycophantic politicians wrapping themselves fraudulently in patriotism, and the Americans who pardon their antics, allowed Osama bin Laden’s act to undermine our freedoms, liberties and ideals.

Electronic strip-searches at the airport...

IRS reporting rules that require merchants to disclose transactions of $10,000 or more or which require you to report foreign financial accounts...

Warrantless electronic surveillance of U.S. citizens...

Secret searches and electronic eavesdropping on Americans by the National Security Agency (with the President’s blessing)...

It’s all an eerie manifestation of Orwell’s dystopian 1984.

But The Tragedy Doesn’t Stop There...

America ended 2000 with a budget surplus of $236 billion, yet today she’s technically bankrupt, addled by annual deficits exceeding $1 trillion and with no honest options for repair - and, worse, a political process that is broken, dysfunctional and self-serving.

We’ve depleted our national treasure on wars of personal revenge and vendetta, spending more than $1.2 trillion - and counting - on conflicts inAfghanistan and Iraq that have accomplished little of national significance. Our accumulated debts now exceed $14 trillion, nearly 100% of GDP.

At The Sovereign Society, we know exactly how we would solve the debt crisis - but it would have nothing to do with Fed chairman Ben Bernanke’s redux of Operation Twist, which aims to stimulate the economy by pushing medium and long-term interest rates lower.
Our solution is simple - though it is one the Keynesian-minded, wealth-destroying automatons in Washington refuse to consider.

Firstly, kill ObamaCare.

It’s unconstitutional - no government should force its citizens to buy any product under threat of financial penalty. Business executives are so uncertain about the financial impact ObamaCare will impose they have no desire to hire new workers. The added costs only serve to make American businesses less competitive in the global marketplace.

Second, throw away the entire 71,600-page U.S. tax code and start from scratch.

Ensure that everyone pays a little something for the right to live in the freest nation on Earth. There is no reason 51% of American taxpayers effectively pay no income tax - and even less reason why 30% of taxpayers made money off the tax system through credits.

Reduce corporate income taxes while you’re at it.

Kill the various exemptions that individual industries have lobbied for.
And incentivize companies to repatriate the hundreds of billions of dollars sitting in corporate bank accounts overseas.

Unfortunately, none of those suggestions are likely to happen.

Instead, we have increased inefficient regulation at every turn. Obamacare will doubtless make matters even worse and will continue to work to dampen the animal spirit of American capitalism.

The outcome of the forthcoming election will have long-term ramifications for America.

There is Only One Thing Left To Do

We urge you to think about your financial parachute. Now is the time to have money in banks and brokerage firms overseas ... and in gold and land. You might even consider the possibility of a second passport or residency in another country. Because if fundamental changes in our political priorities and monetary policies don’t happen soon, America is going to become a very tough place to call home for anyone who has even a modicum of wealth.

A possible escape hatch is Asia, where growth is springing forth. Just look at the exploding economies in places like Phnom Penh, Singapore,Bangkok, Hong Kong.

Putting idle cash into EverBank’s Asian Currency Portfolio, for example, means you will inoculate yourself against the never-ending debasement of the U.S. dollar (a trend that has been ongoing for generations) by investing in currencies such as the Singapore dollar, Australian dollar, Indian rupee, Chinese yuan and Japanese yen - all of which consistently outperform the ailing greenback as Asia’s rising middle class fuels the growth of emerging-market economies.

There are a number of other countries that offer offshore banking, citizenship and tax haven opportunities.

Parts of South America - Uruguay in particular - can offer a nice golden parachute and soft landing. As Erika Nolan, Publisher of The Sovereign Individual, pointed out on earlier in the week, not only does Uruguay welcome the right people -- and clearly they are coming in steady numbers - it offers a delightful lifestyle and a myriad of real estate and land investment opportunities. At the same time, establishing Uruguayan citizenship is far from onerous.

In the event that life in the U.S. goes pear-shaped, we urge you to protect your future and the assets you have worked hard to accumulate for yourself and your family by going offshore.

Stay Sovereign my friends,

Herman Cains 9-9-9-The Facts

Well folks, all I hear about Herman Cains 9-9-9 plan, is how to dismantle and defeat it. I have the breakdown on how it will affect YOU! I hear the left say it will hurt the poor! Maybe not. However, it is the lazy welfare class and the Usurper in Chief that keeps screaming "EVERYONE has to pay their FAIR share"! Well this does just that. I think that welfare checks SHOULD be taxed! Social Security checks are and its on money that the recipients HAVE ALREADY PAID TAX ON! 

So it's fine and dandy to cry out and DEMAND that we spread the wealth, but how are you on lets spread the DEBT? Until you see that side of the equation, you have NO RIGHT to anything, so shut up! Now Mr. Cain has a plan, something the democrats couldn't come up with for THREE YEARS, its called a BUDGET! Ignoring their Constitutional oaths and Law, all they do is slam ANYONE that comes up with ANY plan by refusing to even READ it [sound familiar] in the Senate or my Veto by our Loser in Chief! 

Here is a great plan that affects ALL of us in a win-win situation. Here are the Pro's and Con's:

In 1980, facing a terrible economy, Ronald Reagan called for a new tax program: 10-10-10. Based on the Kemp-Roth bill, he called for 10 percent cuts in income taxes for three years. He got it, and it kindled 20 years of prosperity.

Now, Herman Cain understands that we need fundamental reform to get our economy moving. He calls for replacing the current system with just three levies of 9 percent each on personal income, corporate income and consumption. There would be no capital gains tax, inheritance tax, Social Security tax or Medicare tax. Just 9-9-9.

His proposal is breathtaking. Currently, the lowest top tax rate is Poland's 18 percent. And Poland is the only European nation that had no recession. If Cain passes 9-9-9, we will thrive and become the destination of choice for every business and businessman. Look at what Reagan's tax cuts achieved, and at the best-performing state economies, where there is no income tax.

The proposal, naturally, attracts critics and skeptics.

Some worry that it will add to the deficit. But that's not likely.

· Americans now earn $12.5 trillion of personal income. Tax it at 9 percent with no deductions and you generate about $1.125 billion. 

· We spend $10.3 trillion. A 9 percent tax would yield about $927 billion. 

· Net corporate income (after dividends) is $1.1 trillion. A 9 percent levy would generate $100 billion.

· That comes to $2.152 billion, about the same as our actual revenues of $2.162 billion for fiscal 2010.  

And then, when you factor in the economic growth this plan will engender, the scenario becomes even better.

Liberals worry that the tax would shift the burden from the rich to the middle class. No, sir. Americans making $50,000 to $60,000 a year now pay an average of 6 percent of their income in income taxes. But they also pay 6.5 percent in FICA levies and 2.9 percent in Medicare payroll taxes (a total of 15.4 percent). The Cain proposal would replace these with a flat 9 percent, saving them 6.4 percent. 

Of course, the middle class would also have to pay a 9 percent sales tax, but it would be largely offset by the savings in their payroll taxes. 

Cain says that competitive pressures would hold down prices and force businesses to eat much of the 9 percent sales tax. Employers would not have to pay their 6.5 percent share of payroll in Social Security taxes, and their corporate taxes would be cut. For commodities with high price elasticity -- like cars -- competition will hold down prices. But for inelastic purchases -- like food and drugs -- some of the tax would probably be passed on. For the middle class? It's a wash.

More compelling is the possible impact on the poor. A family making $20,000 to $30,000 a year pays only 3 percent of its income in taxes (much of it more than offset by tax credits). But it still pays 6.5 percent in FICA and 2.9 percent in Medicare taxes. So the requirement that such a family pay 9 percent in personal income taxes would probably be fully offset by the cut in payroll taxes. But the poor might face higher prices. Cain plans to spell out how he can mitigate the impact on the poor through special empowerment zones. We need to see the details. Certainly, the poor would benefit from the increased employment, wages and growth the Cain tax cuts would generate.

Conservatives worry that 9-9-9 will open the door to a European Value-Added Tax that starts at 9 percent but goes up each year. Cain proposes that a two-thirds vote be required to raise rates. But a simple act of Congress could change that. 

The real answer is political. If the Republican Party surges back to power in 2012, captures the Senate, keeps the House and takes the presidency, it can make sure the rates don't go up. Republicans usually can count on 40 votes in the Senate; we just have to use them.
 

The 9-9-9 is a good, good plan that can save our economy. 

Playing the China Blame Game

If you think that blaming China for our dismally failed political policies here will make our jobless rate decline, you have another think coming! Over regulation, high taxes and a socialist agenda is what is killing us. We tried this approach many years ago and we know how that worked out. 

If you think prices are high now, a trade war with China will triple the cost of many goods in a very short time frame!

While the entire world is focused on the debt crisis in Europe, there’s another crisis quietly erupting here in the U.S. that could be just as dangerous.

It has the potential to tip the whole global economy back into recession.We’ve seen it happen before, about 80 years ago…

After unemployment soared to 9% back in 1930, politicians were under a lot of pressure to create jobs. So the U.S. government implemented the Tariff act of 1930. This new act raised tariffs on imported goods to protect Americans’ jobs from foreign competitors.

The result? Seventeen countries responded with their own tariff plans. Suddenly, we had a trade war on our hands.

This trade war caused a collapse in global trade, and ended up deepening the global depression and increasing unemployment.

Now the U.S. Senate could make the same mistake their predecessors made during the Great Depression.

While this would be disastrous to the global economy, it would also provide some of the best currency trades in emerging market currencies next year. It all depends on what Congress does next…

The Bill that Would Guarantee a
Global Recession

This past Monday, the U.S. Senate voted to open debate on a bill that would impose tariffs on imports from countries with undervalued currencies, such as China.

In response, the Chinese government quickly warned this would lead to a trading war. As the Chinese Foreign Ministry said, this bill “will severely upset China-U.S. economic and trade relations.”

In other words, China is telling us that if we approve the bill, it will retaliate with protectionist measures.

This is a fight where everyone loses.

The European debt crisis is getting out of control, and the U.S. is heading into another recession. A trading war between the world’s two largest economies is the last thing the global economy needs right now.

But I wouldn’t be surprised if politicians approve the bill. After all, you can always count on them to do the wrong thing.

It’s all China’s Fault

The tensions between China and the U.S. can easily escalate in the months ahead, especially if the global economy continues to slow down.

With the U.S. struggling to grow, there’s increasing pressure for politicians here to “do something.”

Instead of implementing the right policies here at home to promote job creation, Washington prefers to blame China for our problems. It’s easier to say China is stealing “American jobs” by keeping its exports cheap.

Even Bernanke is now attacking China. This week, our Fed chief told Congress: “The Chinese currency policy is blocking what might be a more normal recovery process in the global economy. It is to some extent hurting the recovery.”

After failing to help the U.S. economy with its monetary policies, the Fed is now also blaming China for our problems. Typical.

Why Slow Growth Will Intensify this Conflict

Slow global growth will also give China a reason to put a break on the recent pace of yuan appreciation.

As you can see in the chart below, China has been letting the yuan strengthen against the dollar. It has risen more than 7% against the dollar since June of 2010.

Dollar Has Been Slowly Falling Against the Chinese Yuan

Click here to view larger image

But during the 2008 crisis, China stopped that process by pegging the yuan to the dollar. China did this to promote growth through cheaper exports.

If demand for Chinese exports decreases because of a global slowdown, China will most likely moderate (or even stop) the pace of their currency appreciation, just like they did in 2009. That would give U.S. politicians another reason to go ahead with the bill.

Trading War Would Be Bad for Economy,but Great for Traders

It’s too early to tell if politicians will be dumb enough to implement that bill, and ignite a trading war with China. But this event is definitely worth monitoring.

If the U.S. starts to impose tariffs on Chinese imported goods, China will retaliate. Things will escalate into a trading war, hurting the global economy, much like what happened in 1930.

Why your Power Bills will go up forever!

When it only costs 25 cents per Megawatt with clean burning coal and Natural Gas, it costs $2.50 per Megawatt for wind and solar. Seeing the obama gov. and the un-elected out of control EPA are running roughshot over the utility companies, your Bills will be going up continuously for the foreseeable future. Read this from the Willis Report...she is 1 of my favourites!

Remember the promise of green energy? We'd use the power of Mother Nature herself to fuel our homes and our vehicles. Wind turbines, solar panels and electric cars would transform our lives -- and lighten our bills when it came to paying for energy. Kumbayah!

How I wish that was true! Here's the reality: At least 16 utilities - which cover more than 6 million customers - are trying to raise consumer rates by at least 5%. Almost half of them want increases of 10% or more - that's according to the Daily Beast.

American Electric Power serves millions of customers in eleven states - including Virginia, Kentucky, Ohio and West Virginia. Those customers are getting walloped - over the last few years rates have skyrocketed by nearly 88% and will rise another 35% by 2014!

In Wyoming, thousands of customers of Rocky Mountain Power will see their bills go up not once, but twice this year! This spring they went up 2% - and last month customers saw an 8% rate hike. Heading south, a 17% increase is in the works for Duke Energy customers. And Gulf Power in Florida is working on forcing a 10% increase on its customers. Alaska isn't exempt either - those residents are seeing a 24% hike! Again - these are just a few examples!

Those numbers are mind-boggling. Especially since in the ‘90s and early 2000s - electric bills only rose about a percent! So why the big hikes now?

The review sites two big reasons. For one - the power grid simply can't keep up with modern demand as more people use more stuff - appliances, computers, gadgets. American Electric Power predicts rolling brownouts as demand is expected to grow by 44% over the next few decades. But the biggest reason is what I mentioned at the beginning of this blogpost - more government regulations!

The environmental protection agency - the bane of existence for utility companies - is forcing these businesses to shut their coal plants and invest millions and millions of dollars into removing toxins from the air. Even states are getting in on the regulation party.

More than half of them are imposing new clean-energy standards requiring utilities to feed in renewable sources. Now to be sure - I'm not advocating for pollution. I like to breathe clean air as much as the next person. But what has me fired up are these unintended consequences of government regulation. They may be unintended - but not unknown!

First, the government wanted to regulate the health care industry - and we're getting higher costs, and fewer options when it comes to seeing the doctor or going to the hospital. Then they went after the banks... and we got increased fees. Now they're telling power companies how to do business - and we're getting higher bills.

Government is costing us - personally and as a nation. It's time we unwound this regulatory morass that is strangling business and stealing our future. You don't have to look far to see that government isn't the solution - right now it's the problem.