Denise Rich, close pal of Bill and Hillary Clinton, has relinquished her United States passport in order to save tens of millions in taxes.
The songwriter, born Denise Eisenberg, is also the ex-wife of a billionaire fugitive who was pardoned by President Clinton during his last days in office.
Why haven't Sens. Chuck Schumer and Bob Casey criticised her for "turning her back on America"? When Facebook founder Eduardo Saverin ditched the U.S., in favor of the tax haven, Singapore, they couldn't wait to trash him.
"Eduardo Saverin wants to de-friend the United States of America just to avoid paying taxes," Schumer said at the time. "We aren't going to let him get away with it. This is a great American success story gone horribly wrong."
It shouldn't matter to anyone where Rich or Saverin choose to reside. It's their business. But, if Saverin was wrong for leaving, the same logic should hold true for Rich.
She is obviously a brilliant businesswoman, and is doing she believes is best for her family. But, it's going to be hilarious watching the Democrats try to spin this story.
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Comments: 11
Contrary to what many believe, not all Dems/Liberals think there's anything wrong with this. I still think the very wealthy should be taxed at a fair rate, but Rich had dual citizenship. Not all wealthy Americans do. And in any event, the U.S. tax code needs to be rewritten badly. We're the only nation in developed world that taxes citizens' income when they're living on foreign soil. Ridiculous.
She is, just like Eduardo, a horrible person who enjoyed the success and lifestyle that only America could give them and then want to leave without paying the bill.
Could Rich have been as successful in Australia? Of course not. Could Saverin have been anywhere near as wildly successful in his native Brazil or new home of Singapore? Absolutely not.
Face it, it is the support structure in place that allows them to be successful. Don't believe it? Move to Somalia and "make it on your own" I guarantee there will be no government interfering.
Did you know that the wealthiest person in the world isn't American? It's a Mexican? So much for the argument that "only America" could give them what they needed to become wealthy.
There are also billionaires in the UK, Switzerland, Canada ... So much for needing low taxes to become wealthy. Rich could not have become a wealthy songwriter in Austria.
You can become insanely wealthy in other countries, but you have to admit, and the data shows, it's much easier in the US. No matter how much they whine and bitch about it, the government helps more than it hinders in most, but not all, cases.
If you grow rich living in a country you have benefitted from thousands of things that society provided to you, many of which are paid for by taxation, including: police protection (which predominantly benefits the wealthy); paved roads and transportation system; energy generation and distribution which always carries government subsidies at various points along the way; an educated workforce who mostly are graduates of a public school system; a market of consumers with wealth enough to buy your products or pay for your services; and many, many more.
All the "self-made" millionaires and billionaires out there are ignoring the role all of these things played in their success. Those who avoid taxes are skipping out on the bill.
The original article says she gave up her citizenship in America to be closer to her family -- who live abroad.
It doesn't make one iota of sense to say that she's leaving to escape a tax bill when the rich are still getting tax breaks. Unless this woman is somehow also a predictor of the future -- I didn't read anything that said she KNEW Obama was going to win and raise taxes on the wealthy.
The original article also states she had Austrian citizenship through her father...so did she have dual citizenship while living here? It's not unusual for someone with dual citizenship to ultimately chose one or the other.
The Facebook creator left the country specifically to avoid paying taxes.
This post should be on the Fox News site.
Avoiding paying taxes is skipping out on the bill. It is the societal equivalent of a dine and dash. If this is what she did then she's as guilty as whoever else has done it, regardless of political affiliation.
The Democratic Party is, like the Republican Party, a corporatist entity. They may not be as extreme as the Republicans, but they still play the tune they're paid to play, and both parties receive the majority of their money from the same sources, corporate ones.