Love it and leave it!
In its continuing coverage of the new U.S. tax law sponsored by Sen. Sam Brownback (R)-KA which takes a bigger bite out of more Americans living abroad, The International Herald Tribune on Sunday reported that "some international tax lawyers say they detect rising demand from citizens to renounce ties with United States [i.e. renounce their citizenship] -- the only developed country that taxes its citizens while they are overseas."
In the best journalistic tradition, it's a clever non-story posing as news. By that I mean the reporter, Dareen Carvajal, shills the hypothesis that growing numbers of American expatriates are turning in their passports over Congress's new tax law, while meantime Carvajal covers her bases with the facts, which dispute said hypothesis: the number of renunciations is actually "relatively low" or unchanged from previous years.
Basically, she offers all the reasons that renunciations ought to be up, but then admits that they're not. The hard data won't support it. Still, a quick read of this article would surely leave the reader with the desired impression, the very deceit hammered home by the story's outright lying title: "More Americans abroad giving up citizenship for lower taxes."
Pretty slick, huh?
The reason for this journalistic sleight-of-hand is pretty easy to explain, actually: A large portion of The IHT's readership is expatriate Americans making over $82,400 who are pissed off about their increased tax burden.
So, I'm not so bothered by it. I won't blame this honest deceit on the Lib'rul Media, but rather on the Corporate Media giving its paying readers what they want. Anyway, a careful reader would see right through the article's deceptive structure, and the hype, bluster and conjecture of its "expert" quotes.
But this story did get me to thinkin'.... When it comes to criticizing things like the Iraq War, keeping an arsenal of guns in one's home, or using taxpayers' money to promote Christianity, a certain brand of crass conservative, realizing he's dead center in the inert, dumbass majority, will retort "Love it or leave it!" Which basically signals the end of the discussion. (Everything that he loves is "American," and you're criticizing something he loves, ergo you hate America. Ergo, leave.)
But reading The IHT today I wondered: What could be more American than tax revolt?
After all, our country was formed as an afterthought by tax revolutionaries. Like most people, our Founding Fathers knew what they knew instinctively -- that taxes suck, especially when you're being taxed by an aloof government to fund an empire which you have no say over, and offers you dubious benefits in return. They only bothered to think up the highfalutin justification for their tax revolt later on, when it was already darn nigh official: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal..." blah, blah, blah.
The Declaration of Independence was baloney. It was brilliantly written PR, and a golden Englightenment treatise, but it was baloney. Because its stated purpose had little to do with the angry motivation which caused it to be written. Namely, that Declaration and the American Revolution were about taxes and expensive wars. And taxes paying for expensive wars. (Sound familiar?)
Which brings me back to the present. My initial reaction to the female ex-Marine quoted by The IHT who is living in Geneva and recently renounced her citizenship because of high taxes was, "Good riddance!" Love it or leave it! (Never mind that she left 16 years ago.) Alas, for her being an American was a mere miserly dollars & cents equation. For shame! Whither patriotism, hot dogs, Chevrolet, and Mom's applie pie?
But then I thought better, and realized that she couldn't be a truer "American" than by renouncing her citizenship. Indeed, she followed in the hallowed footsteps of our Founders: she threw off the yoke of tyranny when it weighed too heavily on her personal finances. So, "Good for her!" was my revised reaction.
Yes, good for her. If only more true Americans like her -- be they "ex-patriots" abroad or patriots residing in the Homeland -- would renounce their citizenship, America would be much better off.
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