Once upon a time in America – Protection of freedom from within
“Freedom and the dignity of the individual have been more available and more assured here than in any other land on earth. The price for this freedom at times has been high, but we have never been unwilling to pay that price. … I do not believe in a fate that will fall us no matter what we do. I do believe in a fate that will fall on us if we do nothing.”
Today in America – Freedom is under assault from within
U.S. Government admits to spying directly on “foreigners” using PRISM
Interestingly when the Obama spy scandal broke, the President was quick to point out that the U.S. government was only spying on “foreigners”. To be specific: the government through the PRISM program was monitoring the email, chats and photos of “foreigners” that was running through U.S. internet servers. (Note that to be monitored the data must run through U.S. servers. Approximately one week ago I explained why this is driving the growth of “offshore email and internet servers”. I also suggested that it won’t be long before the U.S. forces its citizens to disclose all “offshore email accounts” to the U.S. government – “FEARBar“. But I digress.)
U.S. Government now wants to force “foreign governments” to spy on “foreign citizens” – That’s the FATCA of the matter!
FATCA exists for one purpose. The purpose is for the U.S. to obtain information on bank accounts in other countries. That’s it. No other reason. But, FATCA operates to force “foreign governments” to spy for the U. S. on residents of their countries. Yes, it’s the return of the Stasi – U.S. style.
Hmm, FATCA IGA anyone?
At the same time the U.S. admits that it has been spying on residents of other countries (“foreigners”), it is now asking forcing them to spy on their residents and turn this data over to the IRS. I wonder if the “PRISM Chronicles” will have any effect on the FATCA IGA process.
On this question, listen to the following interview with anti-FATCA advocate and member of European Parliament Sophie in ‘t Veld. She echoes the comments of Canadian Civil Liberties Association Abby Deshman that the U.S. has an insatiable appetite for data. At a minimum the EU is angered by the NSA PRISM program.
And now on to Sophie …
What do you think? Will this slow the IGA process?
U.S. Persons Abroad - Members of a Unique Tax, Form and Penalty Club 
the FBAR form requires US citizens to spy upon their companies overseas and to report back to the IRS. Also, the form requires US citizens to spy upon their foreign spouses and report back to the IRS.
Don’t forget to remind your Canadian, European, and Euraisian governments of those facts.
All data will be stored indefinitely for preparation of the all out war upon your country.
Thanks for putting this so clearly. Good reminder of why U.S. citizens really should be banned from all other countries and I predict it will come to that.