About Those Trillions Being Held In Tax Havens Around The World...

Given that about half of all Americans are not paying taxes and are now receiving benefits from the Government, and with things even worse in other countries, politicians and the press are trying to place blame on the lack of an unlimited supply of money to pay for these social programs on rich people who are somehow hiding assets from taxation in tax havens around the world:

The Tax Justice Network, a campaign group, estimated last weekend that as much as $21 to $32 trillion of financial assets are sheltered in offshore tax havens, representing up to $280 billion in lost income tax. - CNBC

First, while it sounds like a very large number, it is very deceptive. That is because, while some of the money is illicit and the beneficial owners are hiding the money from taxation, much of this money is there legally and that the beneficial owners do not owe any additional tax on these funds. 

Worse, look at the study's own estimate of lost tax revenue: 'up to $280 billion in lost income tax'. While in itself a large amount, it is still a mere 1% of the total. At the very least this story is just more evidence that the real problem is excess spending and not enough taxation (other than the growing percentage of the population escaping taxation entirely, and that is not the rich who already pay and pay more...).

Even worse, the potential amount of last tax revenue, assuming the 'best case' scenario, is not even 1/4 of the US 2012 budget deficit of 1.2 Trillion dollars. So even if this lost income tax could be recovered AND IF the US got all of the proceeds, it would not even make a difference in stemming the US's march towards bankruptcy. Greece itself would need just about  the whole amount to help dig itself out of their current fiscal crisis.

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Video - 'Obama Isn't Working'

Here is a grassroots campaign video making the case against re-electing President Obama.

As found on Ace of Spades Blog.

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Illegal Kinder Eggs and Illegal Aliens Learning to Fly...

You know, one thing that keeps Americans faith in their legal system is the belief that everyone is treated fairly. That said, the Obama Administration has been busy picking favorites. Americans are being harassed more and more, while at the same time our supposed leaders have been turning a blind eye when it comes to the offenses committed by their supporters and other interest groups, especially illegal aliens. Take the following two stories: Americans threatened with huge fines for daring to import chocolate eggs, available most everywhere else.

Chris Sweeney and his husband were driving home to Seattle after a recent trip to Vancouver when they were stopped at the border for more than two hours and threatened with thousands of dollars in fines for dangerous contraband in the trunk of their car. Their suspicious cargo? Half a dozen Kinder Surprise chocolate eggs, each filled with a tiny plastic toy - a childhood favourite in Canada but an illegal choking hazard in the United States. "I thought (the American border guard) had done his search and hadn't found anything, and he was joking with us," Sweeney, 35, told The Canadian Press in an interview Wednesday. "He wasn't joking." The popular German chocolate eggs are not sold in the U.S. because they are considered a choking hazard. They are also banned because the treats are considered adulterated food by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Sweeney said a border guard told him and his husband that they could be fined $2,500 per egg, and then ordered them to head to the port of entry, where they waited for more than two hours. "We really didn't know what was going to happen," he said. "I didn't know if maybe this was some really important thing that I just wasn't aware of and they were going to actually give us the fine of $15,000." But once inside, Sweeney said border staff later brushed off the offence and merely told them never to bring the Kinder Surprise eggs across the border again. - Canada.com

Illegal aliens learning to fly commercial Airplanes. No, not the 9/11 hijackers. This is going on today!

A loophole in U.S. Transportation Security Administration (TSA) regulations allowed the agency to approve flight training for 25 illegal aliens at a Boston-area flight school owned by yet another illegal alien, according to the Government Accountability Office (GAO). Eight of the attendees had entered the United States illegally, while 17 had overstayed their visas, according to a GAO audit, CNSNews.com reports. Six of the illegals obtained pilot’s licenses. The discovery of the flight school issues began when local police — not federal authorities — stopped the school’s owner on a traffic violation and then were able to determine that he was an illegal alien, according to CNSNews. - Newsmax

Are you kidding me? Teaching and issuing pilot certificates to illegal aliens. I thought this lesson was learned after we taught the 9/11 hijackers how to fly. Clearly not. Because after all, heaven forbid we do anything like enforce US immigration law.Maybe the illegal aliens can bring some Kinder Eggs with them.

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Helsinki City Apartment Bathroom - Part II

A couple years ago I had a post 'Helsinki City Apartment Bathroom' noting how small the bathroom in my Helsinki rental apartment was. Well, that bathroom was roomy compared to the closet of a bathroom I have in my current apartment. One thing to keep in mind when looking at these photos - the bathroom is SMALLER than it looks in the photos. It is so small, you can't turn around in the bathroom.

Oddly enough, this is a very roomy apartment. We are in downtown. Have two bedrooms and a large shower room.

See here 'Helsinki City Rental Apartment - Photos' for photos of my downright favorite rental apartment. I'm not completely sure, but I think this might be the second best rental apartment. Anyway, if you ever plan on staying in Helsinki for a week or more, you should consider rental apartments as an alternative to a hotel, especially if you are traveling with children.

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$9 Billion in ‘Stimulus’ - 910 Jobs OR 9,000 Millionaires...

The latest stimulus news is out and it is yet one more confirmation on what a disaster the program is/was:

(CNSNews.com) – The Obama administration distributed $9 billion in economic “stimulus” funds to solar and wind projects in 2009-11 that created, as the end result, 910 “direct” jobs -- annual operation and maintenance positions -- meaning that it cost about $9.8 million to establish each of those long-term jobs. - CNS News

You know what else this money could have been used to do - It could have simply been given to 9,000 Americans in million dollar chunks, in effect creating 9,000 millionaires. 

Worse, the story notes that the $9 billion also created 4,600 indirect jobs, which when added to the direct number is still thousands less than if the Government simply gave the money away as part of a lottery. 

My 2009 post 'Better way to Spend $825 Billion in the Name of Stimulus' notes that instead of using the stimulus money for projects, that it just might be better to simply use it for a lottery where there were 800,000 first prizes of a million dollars each.Would this have been fair? I think it would have been more fair than giving huge amounts of money to politically connected companies like Solyndra who just turned around and burned the cash.

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'No Child Left Behind Stupidity' - English Proficiency

My oldest is finishing up her last day of First Grade this week. This is also the time that I am completing papers for my youngest to start kindergarten in the fall.

One form that we had to complete for each of them contained questions on whether they could speak a foreign language and whether there were any foreign language speakers in the house. The form noted that if you answered 'yes' to these questions that your child would automatically be labeled a non-native English speaker (or something similar to this. I forget the exact designation).

I was hesitant to mention any foreign language skill for my daughter, simply because she was also a fluent native English speaker. After all, she was born here and basically her entire foreign language proficiency was the result of my wife being an army of one in teaching our daughter her native language. I was afraid that she would end up in some special treatment intended for actual foreign language speakers with limited English proficiency. However, since we did not want to lie on the form, we told the truth.

So our daughter was tested in Kindergarten on a 1 to 6 scale in her English proficiency and received a score of 4. The test results came with a two page explanation of the results. However the explanation was totally useless in determining how our daughter did in the exam because nowhere in the paper did it explain that 4 was the highest score a Kindergarten student can receive because at that level they do not test reading comprehension. Leave it to the Government to design a test where a child can get the highest grade while leaving the parents completely confused as to how their child could do so poorly on the test.

Upon learning the news that our daughter is doing fine, I wanted to remove her from this program. Her teacher noted that there was no harm in her participation and she was losing no time from the classroom. My wife agreed and I relented. Eventually, the testing will remove a student based on the result. However, the letter from the school noting that my daughter is now proficient in English, also declares her as 'formerly limited English Proficient (FLEP)'

So there you have it. The Government had classified my child as LIMITED ENGLISH PROFICIENT solely based on our declaration that she had the ability to speak another language and was in a household where at least one parent also spoke a foreign language. There was no testing done to ever determine if there was any limitation to her English proficiency. She had spent two years in pre-school. Never was there any comment concerning any problems with her language skills. This is all due to idiotic Government Regulations. 

Worse, I have no doubt that my daughter is now a stat supporting how great the school is in successfully turning children with limited English proficiency into proficient students. A stat that will now reduce how badly the number that fail to achieve that goal. Don't get me wrong, our local elementary school is great. However, they did nothing to improve her proficiency in relation to other native English-speaking classmates as she was a native speaker to begin with.

Well, I have learned my lesson. During the completion of the enrollment forms for my son, I have included a letter refusing to permit my son's participation in this program. Apparently the form produced a bit of consternation at the school, but it also resulted in discovery of a form that excludes my son's participation in this program. While my daughter is all good with participating in any sort of project or test, My son is a little more stubborn and the last thing I need is for him to notice that he is being testing when others are not. Because he will not take their exam or create some problem where there is none. I do believe in testing, but I am against senseless testing. And this program is needlessly creating students in need that don't exist.

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FACTA Killed My Foreign Account

FATCA is a law in the US. The long name is 'Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act'. This law is causing havoc for Americans who either want or need bank and financial accounts in other countries. This is because FACTA requires foreign banks to tell the US Government information on any accounts that may be held by Americans.

The Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA), Subtitle A of Title V of the Hiring Incentives to Restore Employment Act (HIRE), enacts Chapter 4 of, and makes other modifications to, the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, the tax law of the United States. FATCA has a few main parts:

1. It requires foreign banks to find any American account holders and disclose their balances, receipts, and withdrawals to the US Internal Revenue Service (IRS), or be subject to a 30% withholding tax on income from US financial assets held by the banks.
2. Owners of these foreign-held assets must report them on a new Form 8938 along with US tax returns if they are worth more than US$50,000; a higher reporting threshold applies to overseas residents. Account holders would be subject to a 40% penalty on understatements of income in an undisclosed foreign financial asset.
3. It closes a tax loophole that investors had used to avoid paying any taxes on dividends by converting them into dividend equivalents.

The reporting requirements are in addition to reporting of foreign financial assets to the US Treasury Department, particularly the "Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts" (FBAR) for foreign financial accounts exceeding US$10,000 required under Bank Secrecy Act regulations issued by the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN). - Wikipedia

The stated goal of this law is to catch tax evaders. However, this law has turned thousands of law abiding Americans into victims. This is because many banks are deciding that it is better for their business to get rid of all their American customers, than it is to meet the requirements of this new law. This is an example of what Americans living in the US and abroad are receiving:

Notice of Termination – Custody Account / Account Agreement

Nordnet Bank AB Finnish Branch hereby terminates Your Custody Account / Account Agreement as of May 31, 2012 in accordance with the Nordnet Bank AB Finnish Branch’s general terms and conditions, paragraph G.12.

The termination is due to the changes in the American legislation, which means that U.S. residents or those liable to pay taxes in the U.S. will no longer have the option to remain customers at Nordnet. We regret the need to terminate Your account.

During the period of notice both parties must comply with the general terms and conditions.

The termination means that You need to transfer or sell Your securities at Nordnet and transfer Your cash balance from Nordnet to another service provider. Nordnet does not charge a fee from the transfer of securities or cash. Below You can find further information on how to proceed.

In case our information of Your U.S. residency or taxpayer status is incorrect, we kindly ask You to promptly contact us via asiakaspalvelu@nordnet.fi or by phone +358 20 198 5898. Our customer service is open on weekdays 9–18.30 (Finnish time).


Best regards,

Nordnet Bank AB Finnish Branch

This 'example' is a copy of the termination notice sent to me. I have a dilemma here as the account has barely any money in it and it will probably cost more money for me to close out the account than it is worth. Hell, the biggest asset this account probably has is the potential for me to file a discrimination suit in Finland as this firms action's appears to be based solely on my nationality. I do have other accounts, but combined, they do not add up to an amount requiring me to report these foreign assets to the IRS on my tax return. That said, my other accounts are very useful for me as my wife has relatives there and we spend a good deal of time in Finland each year and having a domestic bank account makes life much easier when paying bills and renting apartments. I am concerned that those banks will also attempt to close our accounts. No matter, I will get by with or without them. As for Nordnet Bank, no grudge against them. I do not need their services. I will use another company. I used to recommend them to my Finnish friends, but now will point them elsewhere. This will however just waste time during my next visit.

There are however many Americans living overseas who simply cannot manage without a local bank account. They are the primary victims here. The US Government should be ashamed of this kind of damage it is doing to law-abiding citizens. Oddly enough, this kind of stupidity is going to result in Americans putting money in bank accounts under the names of others, in effect creating the hidden money that this law was attempting to unearth!


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Obama's 'Gutsy Call' - Not Even At The Table

President Obama is once again using the killing of Osama Bin Laden as a prop in his reelection campaign. I have no problem with the President point to this as one of the accomplishments of his Presidency. After all, it is one of the few actual accomplishments that most Americans give him credit for. However, for some reason, the President's campaign staff are now suggesting that Presidential candidate Mitt Romney would not have given the go-ahead to kill Bin Laden, distorting a comment of his as their evidence. Mitt Romney's comment is so taken out of context as his actual statement is that killing any one terrorist is not not a strategy, but a starting point. Basically he is advocating a much stronger response than the assassination of one man. 

Lets not forget that the President's 'Gutsy Call'  was given only after sleeping on it, a full 16 hours after being asked. Now maybe Mitt Romney would have said no, but I seriously doubt he's take a nap first. (Mitt Romney in response to the Obama Campaign allegation notes that even Carter would have made the call to take out Osama.)

The Obama campaign's outright lying of the facts reminded me of the photo of President Obama in the Situation room observing the mission as it happened. For making such a 'Gutsy Call', the President does not even have a seat at the table. Why exactly is that? How many other White House photos have you seen where the President does not have a prominent place at the table? Any table? I am no fan of the President, but if I had him over for dinner, I'd give him the honor of my place at the table, if for no reason than one of respect.

Now take the following story that appeared on the internet shortly after this photo appeared that comments on the situation leading up to the photo, keeping in mind that there is nothing to back up the allegations made in the story:

I have been told by more than one source that Leon Panetta was directing the operation with both his own CIA operatives, as well as direct contacts with military – both entities were reporting to Panetta only at this point, and not the President of the United States. There was not going to be another delay as had happened 24 hour earlier. The operation was at this time effectively unknown to President Barack Obama or Valerie Jarrett and it remained that way until AFTER it had already been initiated. President Obama was literally pulled from a golf outing and escorted back to the White House to be informed of the mission. Upon his arrival there was a briefing held which included Bill Daley, John Brennan, and a high ranking member of the military. When Obama emerged from the briefing, he was described as looking “very confused and uncertain.” The president was then placed in the situation room where several of the players in this event had already been watching the operation unfold. Another interesting tidbit regarding this is that the Vice President was already “up to speed” on the operation. A source indicated they believe Hillary Clinton had personally made certain the Vice President was made aware of that day’s events before the president was. The now famous photo released shows the particulars of that of that room and its occupants. What that photo does not communicate directly is that the military personnel present in that room during the operation unfolding, deferred to either Hillary Clinton or Robert Gates. The president’s role was minimal, including their acknowledging of his presence in the room. - Socyberty (White House Insider: Obama Hesitated – Panetta Issued Order to Kill Osama Bin Laden)

Go read the entire article which notes how much of an obstacle Valerie Jarrett was on behalf of the President and how those interested in actually fighting a war on terrorism managed to work around the President. Providing that there is any truth to this story.

Interestingly enough, the recent Times article on the raid, provides a copy of the mission order Leon Panetta issued (At least his note of it). This part of the official story just happens to fit into the storyline above.

Given that the President's campaign is all interested in discussing the raid on Bin Laden, perhaps they would like to explain why the President is sitting in the corner during one of the most important meetings of his Presidency. Perhaps, this was to give him easy access for the door in case the raid did not end so well. I wonder, are there any photos of this meeting where the President is not seated in the room...

I suspect that we will be returning to this photo before November's Election.

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Banning Child Labor on Farms - To Benefit Illegal Aliens?

You have probably seen the news that the Obama Administration is planning to pass new rules that will effectively ban children from working on farms, even if they waork on their own family farm:

A proposal from the Obama administration to prevent children from doing farm chores has drawn plenty of criticism from rural-district members of Congress. But now it’s attracting barbs from farm kids themselves. The Department of Labor is poised to put the finishing touches on a rule that would apply child-labor laws to children working on family farms, prohibiting them from performing a list of jobs on their own families’ land. - Daily Caller

There seems to be no legitimate explanation for this change in the rules, especially given that this same proposed rule will stop the 4-H and FFA from conducting farm training, to be replaced with Government training.

Lets face it, the family farmers are not the biggest Obama voting block, so perhaps this is a little payback from what is a very vindictive Administration. But that does not help them win reelection for their boss in November. However, if the children cannot do as much on the farm, perhaps they think the farmers will have to hire outside workers and perhaps even illegal aliens farm hands.

I would not be surprised at all if this rule is some half-assed Government plan to increase farm-based employment. No matter the reason, this is just one more reason to vote against Obama on Election day.

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Anchor Country - Argentina

I have not written about anchor countries in a while, but Argentina's recent actions certainly win it a place in this category for some of the worst countries on earth. The actions I am talking about are the child's tantrum the country and its President are throwing because the UK won't hand over the Falkland Islands, simply because the Argentinians are demanding it.

Argentina’s industry minister called for British imports to be banned, in the latest attempt to compel Britain to negotiate over the sovereignty of the Falkland Islands as tension rises ahead of the 30th anniversary of the 1982 war. Britain responded by summoning Osvaldo Marsico, charge d’affaires at the Argentine embassy in London, to receive a formal protest at the Foreign Office. “We made clear that such actions against legitimate commercial activity were a matter of concern not just for the UK, but for the European Union as a whole, and that we expect the EU to lodge similar concerns with Argentine authorities,” said a Foreign Office spokesman. - The Telegraph

In addition to the calls to boycott UK goods, Argentina has recently refused entry to their ports to cruise ships that have called the Falklands as well as have refused entry for Falklands fishing vessels, a port ban that has spread to neighboring countries as well. All actions that will probably hurt the Argentine economy more than that of the Falklands. 

A couple of weeks ago there was a press storm over a Falkland Island paper labeling Argentina's President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner a bitch. But lets be realistic now. IT is Argentina that is creating this conflict by harassing the Falkland Islands again. Argentina lost a war about 30 years ago over the islands and is now upset that it appears that the UK will defend their possession of the islands again if pushed to do so. 'Bitch' might be a raw word to describe the President of Argentina, but more mainstream words are not much nicer, just more accurate. Such as troublemaker, bully and instigator. 

It is President Kirchner's actions that are threatening peace in stability in the region. Given Argentina's past history and current actions, it is prudent that the UK send reinforcements to the area. The big question is, will President Kirchner start another war over the Falkland Islands? A war her country is likely to lose and put her people and country through more hard times. Anyway, I'm not planning any trip to Argentina in the near future. However, if I were, I would seriously reconsider, as I would hate to be caught in a country, unable to leave and be a sitting duck in a country that decided to poke the UK a little too hard one time too many.

 The latest moves by Argentina's President Kirchner do nothing but confirm my thoughts that she is hell-bent on damaging Argentina. It is not enough that she is stilling up old friction with the UK over the Falklands, but now she is attacking an ally against English rule over the Falklands, Spain:

Facing intense criticism over the nationalization of its biggest oil firm, Argentina on Thursday ordered the seizure of YPF Gas, another group controlled by Spain's Repsol, a move expected to further inflame tensions. - Yahoo News

When a country starts taking over industry, you can bet that anyone who can more their money out of the country will be desperate to do so before the Government seizes their assets as well. Good luck in making this plan work. I just don't see a positive outcome for the country. It will just end badly for the population. And it is kind of hard to feel sorry for them given that they voted for this lunatic. Good luck anyway. At least I hope she is smart enough not to pick another fight with the UK.

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Dan Mitchell - 'The Tax System Explained in Beer'

Dan Mitchell shares in his recent post 'The Tax System Explained in Beer' a great example showing just how messed up our tax system is:

Suppose that every day, ten men go out for beer and the bill for all ten comes to $100.

If they paid their bill the way we pay our taxes, it would go something like this…

• The first four men (the poorest) would pay nothing
• The fifth would pay $1
• The sixth would pay $3
• The seventh would pay $7
• The eighth would pay $12
• The ninth would pay $18
• The tenth man (the richest) would pay $59

So, that’s what they decided to do.

The ten men drank in the bar every day and seemed quite happy with the arrangement, until one day, the owner threw them a curve ball.

“Since you are all such good customers,” he said, “I’m going to reduce the cost of your daily beer by $20″. Drinks for the ten men would now cost just $80.

The group still wanted to pay their bill the way we pay our taxes. So the first four men were unaffected. They would still drink for free. But what about the other six men ? How could they divide the $20 windfall so that everyone would get his fair share?

The bar owner suggested that it would be fair to reduce each man’s bill by a higher percentage the poorer he was, to follow the principle of the tax system they had been using, and he proceeded to work out the amounts he suggested that each should now pay.

• And so the fifth man, like the first four, now paid nothing (100% saving).
• The sixth now paid $2 instead of $3 (33% saving).
• The seventh now paid $5 instead of $7 (28% saving).
• The eighth now paid $9 instead of $12 (25% saving).
• The ninth now paid $14 instead of $18 (22% saving).
• The tenth now paid $49 instead of $59 (16% saving).

Each of the six was better off than before. And the first four continued to drink for free. But, once outside the bar, the men began to compare their savings.

“I only got a dollar out of the $20 saving,” declared the sixth man. He pointed to the tenth man,”but he got $10!”

“Yeah, that’s right,” exclaimed the fifth man. “I only saved a dollar too. It’s unfair that he got ten times more benefit than me!”

“That’s true!” shouted the seventh man. “Why should he get $10 back, when I got only $2? The wealthy get all the breaks!”

“Wait a minute,” yelled the first four men in unison, “we didn’t get anything at all. This new tax system exploits the poor!”

The nine men surrounded the tenth and beat him up.

The next night the tenth man didn’t show up for drinks so the nine sat down and had their beers without him. But when it came time to pay the bill, they discovered something important. They didn’t have enough money between all of them for even half of the bill!

And that, boys and girls, journalists and government ministers, is how our tax system works. The people who already pay the highest taxes will naturally get the most benefit from a tax reduction. Tax them too much, attack them for being wealthy, and they just may not show up anymore. In fact, they might start drinking overseas, where the atmosphere is somewhat friendlier. - International Liberty

There is a huge difference from the story and our tax status, as in the story, all the men voluntarily decided to share the bill and share it in a lopsided fashion. In the end, the richest man decided that the company was no longer worth the price and decided to no longer participate. This is not something that you can easily do with your tax bill. Instead the others, who all pay less, demand that those who earn more pay ever more to meet some mythical 'Fair Share'. You know what a fair share is? IT is where people simply pay their taxes and don't feel like they are being taken advantage of. And at that point, the desire, and incentive, to cheat on one's taxes (or simply avoid taxation) diminishes and disappears, no longer being seen as a worthwhile activity. 

Tax avoidance and tax evasion are present in our society simply because the scenario above is not fair. Not at all.

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ObamaCare - If a Corporation Did This, People Would Go To Jail

You sometime have to wonder just what would happen if our own politicians were forced to follow the standard and rules that officers of corporations need to follow. you know, the rules where they end up going to jail for breaking. Take this non-surprising news out today:

President Obama's national health care law will cost $1.76 trillion over a decade, according to a new projection released today by the Congressional Budget Office, rather than the $940 billion forecast when it was signed into law. Democrats employed many accounting tricks when they were pushing through the national health care legislation, the most egregious of which was to delay full implementation of the law until 2014, so it would appear cheaper under the CBO's standard ten-year budget window and, at least on paper, meet Obama's pledge that the legislation would cost "around $900 billion over 10 years." When the final CBO score came out before passage, critics noted that the true 10 year cost would be far higher than advertised once projections accounted for full implementation. - Washington Examiner

This is no surprise. The accounting tricks were put in by design as one of the main selling points of ObamaCare was that it was going to save money. This is a lie and it was a lie when it was told to the American people when they were trying to get the bill pass into law. 

Had a publicly traded corporation pull such financial shenanigans, the shareholders would be suing the officers and directors of the firm and the SEC and other parts of the Government would be digging through every corner of the corporation investigating the kinds of criminal charges they could bring against management and what kind of fines they could impose on the corporation. Take this recent example:

The government filed in federal court Monday a $25 billion settlement with the five largest mortgage lenders, putting an official stamp on the landmark agreement over alleged foreclosure abuses. The court papers offered few new details on the deal between the federal government, 49 states and Bank of America Corp., Wells Fargo & Co., JPMorgan Chase & Co., Citigroup Inc. and Ally Financial Inc. The deal was first announced last month. - Washington Post

This is what happens to banks for partly doing exactly what the Government wanted. It wasn't until the house of cards fell apart that they went looking for a fall guy. And what of the Government-sponsored entities who created the demand for crappy mortgages?:

The deal applies only to privately held mortgages and not to those owned by mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Banks own about half of all U.S. mortgages, or about 30 million loans; Fannie and Freddie own the other half. - Washington Post

You don't need to look far for other examples. Take the Department of Justice's arming of criminals through Fast and Furious. If Americans went and did this on their own, they would be thrown behind bars for the rest of their lives. So far the Government is protecting the Government 'servants' who were the masterminds of this criminal activity. Then take the issue of illegal aliens. As an employer, you're screwed if your caught with a company full of illegal aliens. And yet, those running the Government are doing everything possible to ensure that they are around to be able to look for jobs. 

This can't last. It won't. Just watch out when it all falls apart.As for the ObamaCare lie, people should be held accountable, starting with the President. The first step is voting him out come this fall.

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Made in America - CANADA - CHINA Oil Deal...

I wrote before, it was stupid for President Obama to reject the Canadian oil pipeline. Now comes news that the damage to the country as a result of the President's rejection of the Keystone XL oil pipeline very well might be permanent as Canada has found a willing buyer for their oil in China.

(Photo Found here)

BEIJING — The prospect of Canada entering free-trade talks with China is suddenly being discussed, as Chinese leaders indicated during Prime Minister Stephen Harper's visit that they are prepared to head down that path — even though Canadian officials aren't so sure this country is ready for the jump. The development came as China and Canada declared Thursday that bilateral relations have reached "a new level" following a series of multibillion-dollar trade and business agreements to ship additional Canadian petroleum, uranium and other products to the Asian superpower. - The Province

The Canadian oil was always coming out of the ground. Refusing to approve a pipeline to deliver this oil to US refineries is nothing other than ACTING AGAINST THE BEST INTERESTS OF THE UNITED STATES.

Previous:
Dear Liberals, YOU WANT THE KEYSTONE XL PIPELINE 

Keystone XL Pipeline - You Don't Get a Much Better Example of How Anti-Business (and Petty) This Administration is 

You're Not Going to Get Job Stimulus From Democrats - They Hate Your Job
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Dear Liberals, YOU WANT THE KEYSTONE XL PIPELINE

Let's try this again. I previously wrote about the pipeline in my post 'Keystone XL Pipeline - You Don't Get a Much Better Example of How Anti-Business (and Petty) This Administration is'. I noted:

There is one thing that really gets me about the battle over whether the Obama Administration will permit the building of a pipeline to carry oil from Canada to oil refineries in the United States. That is that this battle is going on at all. Really, at it's simplest level, the Keystone XL pipeline is a business project. A pipeline. - Link

Today, the President once again came out front and center and killed this business project. Surely, the non-union portion of his Liberal base is celebrating this victory. But be careful what you wish for, because killing this oil pipline is only going to force the Canadians to transport this oil in more environmentally risky ways.

This oil will be moved to market, and by removing the safest and cheapest transport method will merely result in this cargo traveling via other means to get to refineries. The main alternatives to moving liquids by pipeline are moving them by tanker truck, ships, barges and rail cars.

This oil will most likely be sent through existing pipelines to be exported from Canada by tanker. In which case others will benefit for America's stupidity. The Merchant Mariner in me is just fine with killing off any pipeline as pipelines 'steal' cargo from tankers. Mobil Oil used to have a number of gasoline tankers bringing gasoline from Texas to the Port of New York. A pipeline put at least five tankers and their crews out of work. So you can bet that the tanker companies are not complaining about today's decision.

Better yet, some of this Canadian oil may still end up at the same refineries that it was destined for via the pipeline. See the map below to get a reminder of how far oil from the Middle East travels to get to the US. Taking this oil from Canada is a no-brainer, even if it has to travel a more expensive, more dangerous route. Really, just how do they think we get oil pumped out of the ground in Alaska?

Liberals however like to pretend that this oil will somehow just remain in the ground if they put up enough roadblocks in the way of getting this oil to market. This of course will never happen

As a reminder, the dispute is about whether a pipeline will be built. And it's not like this is a new idea. As the map below illustrates, the United States is already covered by pipelines. Then there is the Trans-Alaska Pipeline, built in one of the world's most sensitive, and environmentally brutal climates. Nor would this be the first oil pipeline from Canada either. The only reason this pipeline is having problems is because this is the first time the US Government was being run by an Administration that is both anti-business, anti-jobs and anti-oil. The President was given the opportunity to kill a project that will bring energy into the US from a friendly neighbor.

Too bad we can't run our cars and heat our homes on hope.

(Map found here) 

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