Comments on: Are the Feds Backing Off UBS?

By: tim

tim — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 13:11:02 +0000

to Kelly: when you are in a country and break their law you can be punished. Should you punish the country that the perpitrader came from?
UBS should pay a hefty fine. it is not a criminal offence. they didn’t kill, rape, or take someones freedom away. When Companies break the law, they get fined and executives are fired.
When Dupont( US chemical company) was negligent and a chemical spill killed hundreds of people in India, the company paid a hefty fine, executives were fired and cleanup ensued. The Indian government didn’t attempt to interfere with the US chemical safety laws.
Obama will not be remembered for collecting a few million dollars from US tax payers with Swiss accounts. He will be remembered for not standing up to Iran, when they needed a western voice. (the signs from the crowds were in English) and letting North Korea push us around.
After all, a tax hungry U.S. administration that will double-cross a faithful ally such as the Swiss; the same administration that shamelessly perpetrates a global smear campaign and threatens unprecedented economic sanctions – all to force a change in Swiss privacy laws and get more taxes…such an administration simply cannot be trusted.

By: Philip Miles

Philip Miles — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 12:29:10 +0000

At first, this recommendation may seem completely off-topic but I swear it’s on point: Read “Who Controls the Internet: Illusions of a Borderless World” by Goldsmith and Wu. It has nothing to do with tax law but everything to do with countries enforcing their laws internationally.

One of the most common themes in the book is control over physical resources (as Kelly points out, UBS has “an active presence in the US”). It details efforts by countries all over the world to make the Internet play by their own rules.

By: Kelly

Kelly — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 11:49:53 +0000

It’s a slippery slope, is it not?
If you take taxes out of the equation and look at it on its face, we have a company with an active presence in the US, soliciting US clients to break US law. And they admitted that they did it. When does it become ok?

By: Switzerland: Anything But Neutral…. Russ Baker: UBS or Just Plain…. | Total Info

Wed, 24 Jun 2009 07:51:17 +0000

[...] The Justice Department says no and has issued a statement saying that they will move ahead with asking the court to enforce the summons next week. The bank, meanwhile, has already agreed to pay hundreds of millRead more at http://www.taxgirl.com/are-the-feds-backing-off-ubs/ [...]

By: tim

tim — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 04:13:45 +0000

How about forcing other countries to comply with our constiutional rights of free press, speech, assembly and civil rights. Isn’t that more important than forcing other countries to comply with our tax laws? Do we have the right to demand that other countries comply with our laws? That is insane!
We shouldn’t meddle in another country’s business. We do it because we can. we can bully the Swiss. Can we bully Iran for more important things than money. How about North Korea. Let’s bully them into submission.
We can’t. that’s why we don’t.
Pres. Reagan stood up to the Russians.
Pres. Obama stood up to the Swiss.