Category Archives: Politics

Getting a new passport to avoid taxes (and other reasons)

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The Financial Times reports an increased number of Americans are looking to turn in their American passports at the UK embassy. The waiting list is growing apparently because Americans are looking to avoid paying taxes on worldwide income and capital gains. As the article notes, the main disadvantage is that a person may not be able to reverse their choice.

It would be interesting to know how many people do this each year. Switching allegiances from one particular country to another seems like a weighty decision.

Saving the auto industry in Detroit?

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President Obama spoke in Detroit on Friday and The Atlantic examines four viewpoints about whether recent policies helped save the auto industry. Opinions are mixed.

The two more negative opinions are from Detroit journalists.

Add ‘The Pond’ to the list of US intelligence agencies

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According to the AP, papers have recently been released that tell about another American intelligence agency that operated in the 1940s and 1950s:

Created during World War II as a purely U.S. operation free of the perceived taint of European allies, the Pond existed for 13 years and was shrouded in secrecy for more than 50 years. It used sources that ranged from Nazi officials to Stalinists and, at one point, a French serial killer.

It operated under the cover of multinational corporations, including American Express, Chase National Bank and Philips, the Dutch-based electronic giant. One of its top agents was a female American journalist.

The rest of the article contains information on some of the exploits of the organization, how it was founded, and how it ended.

While leaked emails about Journolist or leaked documents through WikiLeaks may be interesting, the information contained in the archives of the United States government and all its agencies would be fascinating.

Asking politicians the important questions

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According to Entertainment Weekly, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie was asked about all the important issues over the weekend:

ABC’s Jake Tapper asked Christie on The Week yesterday whether Situation, Snooki, and the gang are “positive for New Jersey or negative.” Christie answered “negative” without batting an eyelash.

The story also has a YouTube link where you can see the question about Jersey Shore follows inquiries about more typical political topics.

On the other hand, perhaps many Americans learn important facts about reality shows?

Assessing the government response to 9/11

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The Washington Post has unveiled a two-year investigation into what the US government has built and developed since September 11, 2001 to counter terrorism and other threats. The overall theme of the investigation (stated here by a retired Army Lt. General): “The result, he added, is that it’s impossible to tell whether the country is safer because of all this spending and all these activities.”

So it appears there is a lot of work being done by lots of people – and the payoff of all of this is unknown.

This is a great issue for someone to solve: how to bring together all kinds of related information (brought in by many people) and make it interpretable and useful.

More contracted municipal work

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The Wall Street Journal reports on more municipalities contracting out city services.

Cities say they have little choice. Municipalities across the U.S. will face a projected shortfall of $56 to $86 billion between 2010 and 2012, according to a report from the National League of Cities.

The primary focus of the story is California communities.

For many of the services mentioned in the article, such as tree-trimming, residents likely won’t notice much difference.

Defining the Washington elite

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Politico is reporting today on an online poll where they compare opinions of the “Washington elite” vs. other Americans. The main news seems to be the divergent opinions between the two groups but the means of measurement is intriguing as well. To qualify as a Washington elite:

[R]espondents must live within the D.C. metro area, earn more than $75,000 per year, have at least a college degree and be involved in the political process or work on key political issues or policy decisions.

Another point of interest: only 227 Washington elite are in the poll. This is a fairly small group for a typical poll to use for analysis. The margin of error for the Washington elites is 6.53%.

Find the story and full polling results here.

A battle over replacing a bridge

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The Ambassador Bridge linking Detroit and Windsor, Ontario has drawn attention as public officials discuss building a new bridge instead of undertaking costly repairs. The twist: the existing bridge is privately owned. Both the private owner and public officials are discussing where they might build a new bridge – the private owner wanting one under his control, the public officials wanting one under their control.

Another proposal for Internet sales taxes

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Many American consumers can purchase goods online without paying a state sales tax. That may change in the future. While this article specifically references a proposed bill from a Massachusetts House member, it has some interesting background on the legal issues behind gathering state sales taxes from Internet purchases.