"This pisses me off" tweets Mark Cuban on Singapore's newest citizen and Facebook cofounder Eduardo Saverin's renouncing of his U.S. citizenship... Yep, he was born in Brazil, came to the U.S., became a citizen, went to Harvard, almost got totally screwed by Zuckerberg, and is dodging $600 million in taxes to take his profits in Singapore where there's no capital gains tax...
Mr. Cuban and God knows how many million Americans are mad as hell at youngMr. Saverin... How could he, after this country has been so good to him, turn his back on us, not pay his fair share, yada, yada, yada????
Hmm... Hmm... (this is me thinking how to best say what I'm thinking).... Hmm... Okay: $600 million not going to the U.S. Government... Hmm... Saverin moving to Singapore, #2 on the Economic Freedom Index (I'm predicting that, now that Hong Kong has a minimum wage and some new regs, a #1 rank is in Singapore's future)... $600 million not going to the U.S. Government, who sits at #10 (I think) on the E.F. Index... The U.S. Government; who's burning a $trillion+ (budget deficit), third year running... The U.S. Government, who's lost $billions on crony green energy investments... The U.S. Government, who vows to, in our President's own words, "spread the wealth"... The U.S. Government who, in 3 years, has added $5 trillion to its debt burden...
Let's say you're a parent, a very bright, talented parent who just sold a business for $you-pick-the-number... Insert your kids name in the "U.S. Government" spots above (change the numbers to make it more real for you)... Would you? Would you hand your boy Sam, who blows money like a drunken U.S. politician, 15% of your huge gain? Would you? Seriously? Think about it; who's going to do the most good with all that money, you (the one who earned it), or your profligate boy Sam? Wouldn't it be a good lesson for Sam to see what he would've gained, had he a brain?
Read my praises of Singapore here...
Your Comments
ReplyDeleteI feel both sorrow and shame for Mr. Saverin. He lives in a world ruled by money, possibly assisted by the needs of his sycophants, toadys, booklickers, brown-noses, dogsbodys, agents, kowtows, fawns, grovelers, and courtiers. Does he have a real life? He has so much money even he, of presumably superior intellect and knowledge, cannot imagine how to spend or pass on his fortune. Your characterization of our government as less able to use this money wisely is wildly hyperbolic, in spite of the relentless efforts of moneyed interests, chiefly our current right-wing oligarchy but also diverse special interests, to undermine our increasingly fragile democracy.
"our government as less able to use this money wisely is wildly hyperbolic"??? Really?? Was I exagerating the deficit, the debt, the green energy (moneyed interests) debacles? Would it be hyperbolic of me to suggest that the ever-increasing size of our government (of the past 11 years in particular) might be what's undermining our fragile democracy - and creating ever-more opportunity for moneyed interests... Shouldn't we be thankful he did his thing in the U.S. (to the benefit of the tax-paying private sector) before emigrating to Singapore? And, less obviously perhaps, that there's $600 million more in the world's private sector to be used, yes, more wisely than our government would?
ReplyDeleteSeriously, what do you see when you peak around the curtain? A world ruled by the politician, assisted by the needs of his ..........................................? I'd say not entirely... but too much so...
We do share the same concern when it comes to "moneyed interests"... But again, that's always the result of too much, never too little, government...
Singapore is the United States' 13th largest trading partner. I'd rather his money be invested in Singapore where it is more likely to be used as investment capital in companies that will buy U.S. exports.
ReplyDelete"[S]orrow and shame," Richard? I am rather proud of the young man. I trust the private sector in Singapore to use the money more wisely than I trust the U.S. government with taxing and wasting it.