Progressives Train Sights on Facebook, Construct Berlin Wall to Keep Most Successful In

The Progressive war on high-tech industry continues unabated. Once again the Democrats are telling high-tech billionaires that it's not enough for them to be the engine of growth that is driving the national economy. Instead, they need to pay more taxes!

Eduardo Saverin, one of the original investors in Facebook, is now worth billions. Saverin has decided that he wants to renounce his United States citizenship and move to Singapore. By doing so, he will avoid paying some US taxes, although his US tax bill will still mount into the hundreds of millions.

Now, most of us would think that if one individual had helped to create thousands of jobs and billions of dollars in wealth and had generated hundreds of millions of dollars in tax proceeds to the government, he would have made an adequate, "fair" contribution to society. But not the success-envying Democrats. Democratic Senators Chuck Schumer and Bill Casey have decided to introduce legislation, called the Ex-PATRIOT Act (“Expatriation Prevention by Abolishing Tax-Related Incentives for Offshore Tenancy” Act) to punish anyone who tries to do what Saverin is doing. According to a press release on Schumer's website:

The senators called Saverin’s move an outrage and described a plan to re-impose taxes on expatriates like Saverin even after they flee the United States and take up residence in a foreign country. Their plan would also bar individuals like Saverin from reentering the country so long as they continued to avoid paying their taxes in full. ... Under the proposal, any expatriate with either a net worth of $2 million or an average income tax liability of at least $148,000 over the last five years will be presumed to have renounced their citizenship for tax avoidance purposes. The individual will then have an opportunity to demonstrate otherwise to the IRS by meeting specific IRS requirements. If the individual has a legitimate reason for renouncing his or her citizenship, no penalties will apply. But if the IRS finds that an individual gave up their passport for substantial tax purposes, then it will prospectively impose a tax on the individual’s future investment gains, no matter where he or she resides. This would eliminate any tax benefit and financial incentive from renouncing one’s citizenship. The rate of this capital gains tax will be 30 percent, in keeping with the rate that is already applied on non-resident aliens for dividends and interest earnings.

Apparently, Schumer and Casey aren't acquainted with average net worths in Silicon Valley. Heck, just owning your house outright in many cases will get you half way to $2M. Throw in a few stock options from a successful venture or two and, well, suffice it to say that many residents of Silicon Valley would end up being subject to the provisions of Schumer and Casey's legislation.

So, what the Democrats are essentially saying is: if you try and fail in America, well, we don't give a fuck about you because you're not worth anything to us. But, if you risk everything and make it in America, we will hold you hostage. You will not be able to move to a more tax friendly country without paying confiscatory taxes for doing so. Just as the Federal government under Obamacare will tell you what health care treatments you are allowed to seek, so now they will be the sole arbiter of whether you have "a legitimate reason for renouncing your citizenship." After all, we are all in this together.

Do Messrs Schumer and Casey have any idea what effect such a hare-brained scheme would have on venture capital investing in the United States? In essence, Silicon Valley will be surrounded by a kind of tax-based Berlin Wall to lock people in. Before this happens, all the denizens of Sand Hill Road will simply up and move to Singapore, taking their money and the software jobs they would create in California with them.

Saverin has responded:

I am obligated to and will pay hundreds of millions of dollars in taxes to the United States government. I have paid and will continue to pay any taxes due on everything I earned while a U.S. citizen. ... In 2004, I invested my life’s savings into a start-up company that initially was run out of a college dorm room. Since then the company has expanded dramatically, has created thousands of jobs in the United States and elsewhere, and spawned countless new companies across the United States and other countries. I will continue to invest in U.S. businesses and start-ups, and believe and hope that those investments will create many new jobs in the U.S. and globally. I also hope that these investments will create opportunities for many other individuals to start companies and benefit society.

When are the high-tech voters of Silicon Valley going to wise up? The Democrats have declared war on us. If Schumer and Casey get their way, they will drive venture capital investing and the software jobs that remain in California from our shores.