The Tax Noose Tightens

The political left in America remains obsessed with its grandiose visions of social engineering, increased government control of economic activity, and redistributive “justice.” For them, the state can never have too much power. Incurable spendaholicsand, in President Obama’s case, actively pursuing a Marxist economic platform, they never have enough money to spend; hence, they are constantly plotting and striving to confiscate ever-more of the wealth produced in the private sector. With their ravenous and insatiable appetite for more revenues, they behave like a pack of tax predators.

Even as Obama’s approval rating continues to sink, thereby jeopardizing Democratic control of the Senate after next Tuesday’s election, Team Obama has continued to tighten the tax noose around the necks of American citizens and businesses.

First, the pursuit of citizens: On Oct. 26, Bloomberg reported, “The number of Americans renouncing U.S. citizenship increased 39 percent in the three months through September” from the year-earlier period, seemingly due to the intrusive asset-disclosure rules that took effect July 1 under the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA). Obama still hasn’t achieved his ultimate tax fantasy—a UN-imposed and –administered global tax—but FATCA significantly ramped up the administration’s ability to monitor and pursue Americans’ wealth wherever in the world it may be.

More