Reid: Paying Taxes is Voluntary

I thought this video was comedy at first because they weren't showing the interviewer and Harry Reid together. It had to be a spoof it was so ridiculous.

Harry Reid, Senate Majority Leader, asserts that we have a voluntary tax system because we can claim exemptions.

Um, last time I checked, if we don't pay, we go to jail. We have no say over what is done with our taxes (aside from trying to elect the right people... I won't tell you what I think of that one in this post :-).

Our system is better than the European system, per Reid, because there the employer takes out all the taxes and here we get to fill out tons of forms, pay tax accountants, hassle with the IRS, get fined if we don't report correctly or we're late... OK, yes, I admit, I embellished his comments on that last bit... take me to jail, fine me... oh, wait, I was confused, that's what happens when you have tax problems in our voluntary system, not what happens when you exaggerate what a politician said... at the moment. Given what's going on in Washington, that could change at any minute.




Hat tip to Bruce P. Majors on Facebook for bringing this video to may attention.

Interesting blog on economy, where the world is heading...

Logistics Monster, one of my fellow Read My Lipstick Network member blogs, is doing a series on 'America's Economic Collapse'. I'll have to admit I haven't read them all - yet. The one on Swiss Bank Closing Offshore American Accounts (below) caught my attention in the four-part series (thus far). Interesting points and rather scary, too.

Per the article Logistics cites, UBS is closing offshore accounts under pressure from the IRS. In broad, general terms: The Swiss have always had strict privacy rules that allowed the world's wealth to earn interest outside the bounds of their own country without taxation.

Now it seems the U.S. government has pierced the veil.

While many will be clapping their hands because those greedy capitalists now have to pay taxes on their money, there's more to the issue than just one Swiss bank handing its' customers over to be potentially prosecuted.

What's the next step? Where are we headed in this world? What's going to happen when all the money made by our home-grown businesses and individuals is pulled back into this country? Will businesses start to move to other countries? Is there a mad scramble going on right now to find other ways to shelter money? Is this the first domino or is UBS different because they've been setting up shop here in the U.S.?

This little story may end up being the beginning of a huge shift in our world!

Swiss Bank Closing Offshore American Accounts
Posted on January 9, 2009
According to Reuters, (and this post is being updated), UBS, a Swiss wealth manager, is closing U.S. clients’ offshore accounts because of pressure from the United States Government, and the IRS is benefiting.
http://logisticsmonster.com/2009/01/09/swiss-bank-closing-offshore-american-accounts/