I've posted a couple blogs about FATCA this week and have received the wrath of Ryan.
He's confirmed that, I think I'm an expert at Financial Services, that I'm a bad manager, that my desire is to obstruct him, and I shouldn't listen to the people that The Nassau Institute brings in to speak and more.
All of this high brow debate is from the Minister for Financial Services no less. The person that holds the burden of proof about FATCA and why The Bahamas should sign on should be a little less flippant I would think?
In 2000 The Nassau Institute took the position that the OECD Blacklisting, that was objected to by Mr. Pinder's party as an attack on our sovereignty agreed to FATCA that, according to professionals that study this, "extends the power of the IRS into the domestic affairs of other nations."
But instead of presenting a legitimate reason for signing on, he chooses a war of words. Now I would be happy to engage him in a war of words, but we can do that over lunch.
Any way, I thought our readers might enjoy reading our Twitter "conversation" below.
To argue with fools is only foolish as nothing constructive is ever accomplished.. History will be the ultimate judge of what the Christie Administration has willfully done and which will devastate our struggling economy..
Rick:
Never argue with a fool because they are better at it than you and will ultimately beat you at it.
He is definitely no fool.
He now has chauffeur driven syndrome or maybe it’s elected official forgetfulness?
I think he was still in living in the US in 2000 when his party fought the FNM on the blacklisting as giving up sovereignty.
They were right then, but they are in the seat of power now so it’s okay for the PLP to do what the FNM did.
My suggestion was to get those American’s giving up their US citizenship and leaving with their assets and ingenuity to come here.
Nothing more, nothing less.
Some FNM officials argued quite the same way when they held positions of political power.
Many of us seek a better Bahamas, not political power and once elected, people like Ryan do not understand that motivation.
Here’s my letter to the editor that apparently upset him:
FATCA’s unintended consequences
Mr. Ryan Pinder (PLP), Minister of Financial Services was in the press talking up the US Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) and basically informing the country that our financial services industry has to give in a little further and allow “the IRS into the domestic affairs of” this nation.
As Dr. Daniel J. Mitchell recently pointed out:
“Representatives from dozens of nations have bitterly complained about an awful piece of legislation, called the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA), that was enacted back in 2010.
“They despise this unjust law because it extends the power of the IRS into the domestic affairs of other nations. That’s an understandable source of conflict, which should be easy to understand. Wouldn’t all of us get upset, after all, if the French government or Russian government wanted to impose their laws on things that take place within our borders?”
One wonders why we keep riding the horse that will eventually destroy one of our prime industries? A sector of our economy that exists because of countries like the US that tax their citizens beyond their willingness to pay.
A better strategy for Mr. Pinder and the Government might be to see how they can attract some of the Americans that are “going Galt” (renouncing their the US in protest of high taxes and FATCA) to take out Bahamian citizenship and bring their wealth and entrepreneurial skills here?
However, that might not work either. Considering The Bahamas tax regime is getting worse all the time, Bahamians might start to “go Galt” as well.
NB The term “going Galt” is an expression used when citizens leave a state or country and renounce their citizenship in protest of unfair taxation or other government over reach. It’s taken from a character in Ayn Rand’s novel “Atlas Shrugged”. The main character John Galt leads a movement where the wealthiest individuals leave their jobs and businesses in protest of Government action. (Reference from Wikipedia but edited)
In my opinion it shows how shallow Ryan really is.He seems to think he is the greatest of all time, I wonder where he got that from?……..He needs to shut up & listen to the people that are paying his salary .
He is the greatest of all time.
The greatest what blowhard ?
He may be the greatest or he might be the greatest blowhard indeed, but all that is beside the point of the post.
Ryan should be putting forward the merits and demerits of his agreements with the US and other nations for our consideration if he truly represents The Bahamas.
This might interest you folks: FATCA: The Erosion of the Financial Services and Service Providers in The Bahamas http://www.nassauinstitute.org/articles/article1168.php
So true Rick.It bothers me that the PM would “Worry” about the Cuba problem & not about what the VAT will do to our country? Is Ryan not worried about the effects of the VAT? We our overtaxed now & more taxes are going to cause a huge problem. Where is the common sense,come on man. What will the government do when people get laid off just so business can pay their taxes,what then Ryan Pinder? For heavens sake don’t grow your business because its only more for the government to “Steal” from you. This is not right & they bloody well know it. They are not prepared to cut back one little bit but want want everyone else to. Its like the government is just completely out of control & there is a never ending supply of money just for them.
Agreed Overtaxed.
The point that keeps coming to my mind is Governments borrow and spend – even in the good times they run deficits and borrow rather than pay the debt down and save – yet they think they have the right to simply take your income/profits.
And to top it off most of the citizenry (private and business) remains silent, thereby giving consent.
Well its time for them all to wake up & start making some noise & I pray its not to late.This country is about to go under & then it will be far to late to raise hell.
Even the majority of people in the US don’t want the IRS especially in light of all of their recent scandals, yet Ryan Pinder wants them to be able to Interfere with our business!!! Are you kidding me? What world is he living in? I think he has lost his mind. What is going on here? Why does the US want to control our business? I think they control enough as it is in our country. What the hell is going on, has everybody lost it or what? Ryan if you want the IRS so bad then please move back to the US so they can tax you to death but we do not want them here we have enough taxes now.
What is this the United States of the Bahamas? I believe the government has a plan for Income tax & we do not know about it Rick.That could be what Ryan is trying to hide. I do know I am highly suspicious of what he is doing because they are so tight lipped about the whole thing.