This is yet to be voted upon, but already it is being spun:
Defending the law, Treasury Department spokeswoman Erin Donar said in a statement: "FATCA continues to gain momentum and international support as we work with partners around the world to fight offshore tax evasion."
Republican Senator Rand Paul last year introduced legislation to repeal parts of FATCA, citing privacy concerns.
Daniel Mitchell, a senior fellow at the Cato Institute, a libertarian think tank, said: "It's hard to imagine an issue this obscure playing a visible role in elections ... It is making overseas Americans far more sympathetic to (Republicans) and could have an impact on fundraising."
Yet to me it seems like a big deal, or a potentially big deal. Republicans want to protect tax dodgers? Law breakers? Those who take money and hide it? Yes.
I'm not quite sure how much it will impact the donations made by Americans abroad. It is certainly true that some of the laws have been annoying to ex pats, making it difficult to do such things as pay the phone bill. They may be annoyed by the law - or more annoyed by those who hid money and who made the law necessary. There are the very rich ex pats who may lean Republican. Or they may be more blue, given the fact that they are surrounded by those who are more socialist in their outlook than most of the USA (given the fact that Europe is far more more socialist than the US).
However, it should impact everyone here. Americans should not be pleased that Rs want to cater to those hiding money - again.
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Tired of politics? Need to escape? Try one of my Greek-mythology based novels, either the story of Jocasta: The Mother-Wife of Oedipus or a trilogy about Niobe, or one of the first examples of civil disobedience, Antigone and Creon. Or, if you like mysteries and/or Jane Austen, treat yourself to The Highbury Murders: A Mystery Set in the Village of Jane Austen’s Emma very positively reviewed at the Daily Kos Monday Murder Mystery blog.
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