String them up:

US steps up pressure on UBS in bank secrets case. It's not enough that the filthy rich got even richer over the last 8 years as the rest of us suffered with stagnant wages or job layoffs. No, they had to hide money in a Swiss bank (and others) to avoid paying tax on income to the tune of billions in tax (see below). And it wasn't one or two filthy rich bastards--the government wants information on at least 52,000 Americans. Said John DiCicco, the acting assistant attorney general,"[a]t a time when millions of Americans are losing their jobs, their homes, and their health care, it is appalling that more than 50,000 of the wealthiest among us have actively sought to evade their civil and legal duty to pay taxes."

Those names had better be released for the public to see. When the scandal involving at least 1,000 Americans hiding money through Liechtenstein banks broke, the Italian newspapers published the names of Italians who tried to evade tax, but here? Nothing. We need to know who these people are so that we can stay on top of this story. More importantly, we need to get assurance that the filthy greedy assholes who did this pay their back tax, interest and punishing penalties, because if the Senate subcommittee on investigations is right, the tab is about $100 billion in lost tax revenue per year.

The hammer has to fall swiftly on these bastards so that it will scare future generations of parasites to toe the line. Or they can try to weasel their way out of this and then be surprised when the guillotines are rolled into their town squares.

Comments

[Spartacus]

I wonder how many of these poor rich folk were Madoff victims or one of CEOs bitching about bonuses after taking TARP money. Yeah. I'm with you here GMB.

[gmb]

Spartacus: The truly rich spread it around. I want to see the names. According to what I have read, some are "bold face" names, those who made their fortunes and those who inherited them. I'm hoping some CEOs, bankers and that pig Rush Limbaugh are on the list. Because this is tax fraud, and that is a crime. The penalties, by the way, could be crushing. Hope to hell they are. GMB

[Tengrain]

Mmmmmmmm, well marbled meat.

I'm learning how to make salumi.

Regards,

Tengrain

[JDM]

Ur gonna piss off Michele Bachman with this attytood. That will make John Boner's face all sad and droopy.

[JDM]

That's a lotta fucking people. Bet we each know some. Love to see the names.

[gmb]

Tengrain: You do know that for some tribes that occasionally indulged in eating humans, that they referred to humans as "long pig." Salumi indeed.
JDM: Re: Bachmann and Boner: And? I want to see the names too. We will recognize at least a few. Many more than a few, I'm guessing. GMB

[Lisa]

And I have commenters who would note that this is exactly the reason why we shouldn't tax the rich in the first place - they'll just evade anyway.

Shall we apply that logic to a whole host of other things? That would be good for a laugh.........

[gmb]

Lisa: What they don't realize is that the IRS was kneecapped by the republicans since Clinton was in office so that the very rich were not getting the scrutiny they deserved. Now they are going to get some attention. And since they thought they could do whatever the fuck they wanted, they probably didn't bury the bodies well enough. The back tax will be big, the interest not so much (rates are low, after all), but the penalties could easily double or triple--or more--the amount owed. We have to be vigilant to ensure that the penalties are applied. That's why I want the names. I'll have to check, but I believe that government agencies can't have secret settlements. That is, we should be able to figure out whether these assholes pay up. And if we are talking $100 billion a year lost, well do the math. Say 8 years x $100 billion + interest + punishing penalties = well over $1 trillion...maybe $2 or $3 trillion? There's your stimulus funding. GMB