agree with you as always seaside and thanks. We don't want to open a can of worms on this and give the Hollywood trades a reason to tackle our plea and help the other side even more.
Here is what I am working on and won't pull the trigger until we have more clarity and discussion. Plus I will get it all edited first too.
http://www.aim.org/aim-column/the-secret-plan-to-pass-a-global-tax/
Accuracy in Media. The Secret Plan to Pass a Global Tax. The global tax is being called âthe Robin Hood tax,â in order to convince people that it is somehow designed to take money away from rich people in order to help the poor.
I know this was posted by others before on this thread. I feel this threat is heightened now if in fact celebrity endorsers for FTT will start showing up on movie reels and other promos too all over the media. We can't wait for weeks afterwards; we need to reply ahead of the onslaught. Not that it will be much good anyway.
Our reply: Please use this where needed over the next month.
Title: Can Madonna be cast as Robin Hood?
Hollywood and other celebrities in entertainment and sports should help restore Main Street and global aide, by no longer evading taxes, and moving to tax havens like Monte Carlo. The list of celebrity tax cheats is growing, as you can easily see by searching the Internet.
"Public transport is rubbish - says Madonna, the chauffeur-driven pop diva" at
http://www.dail*****.co.uk/tvshowbi...-says-Madonna-chauffeur-driven-pop-diva.html. "I would make it so that aspiring musicians wouldn't have to pay the congestion charge, or pay taxes" she (Madonna) told Q magazine.
Why are celebrities like Madonna now calling on middle-class investors and retirement accounts to pay higher taxes (financial-transaction taxes), when these celebrities ask not to pay higher taxes themselves, and they can certainly afford doing so?
Several celebrities are pushing a new âRobin Hood Taxâ on investors, deflecting the taxman once again to the little guy from their palaces in Monte Carlo. Whatâs Madonnaâs global tax structure living large in London as an American citizen abroad? Non-domiciled residents in the UK could shield offshore investments for decades.
Itâs great that celebrities perform for free on live-aide concerts helping to raise money where needed, as in Haiti recently. But, canât they do much more? Some celebrities benefit from the incredible-free promotions on live aide telecasts reaching hundreds of millions of new customers. Shouldnât these celebrities also donate the profits on all sales of their products for a reasonable period of time after their live aide appearances?
Successful celebrities are âfat catsâ â to use President Obamaâs phrase - just like super bankers. But like most struggling entertainers, most middle-class investors are struggling with decimated investments in their retirement plans and a financial-transaction tax will really hurt their retirement and means to pay their families bills during this recession. If anything, only the true fat cat entertainers and bankers should pay more, not the little guy.
President Obama has suggested a bank fee and new regulations on bankers to have Wall Street help Main Street. The President has also contributed hundreds of millions of dollars to Haiti and other global aide from all American taxpayers. President Obama and his team discredit the idea of a financial-transaction tax because it would hurt the middle-class investor and retirement plan. Letâs listen to our President and Congress and not take tax advice from Madonna and celebrities, known more for tax evasion than tax contributions.
UK Prime Minister Brown has also taken tax-action against bankers with a new UK one-off 50 percent tax on bankersâ bonuses. France said it will follow the UK lead here too. UK, US, IMF and G-20 officials are working on this problem further with a new insurance-type levy on banks too.
The financial-transaction tax is viewed as a shotgun-approach which mostly falls on middle-class investors, and banks deflect that approach. Look at UKâs stamp duty tax, most banks are exempt. Why punish the little guy â with a financial-transaction tax - when you can target bankers more directly? Please leave this important action to our government officials who are experts on taxation. Celebrities are not tax experts!
Oxfam
http://www.oxfam.org/ is conducting a secret campaign to push a financial-transaction tax and they have recruited celebrities to sell it to the public. Learn more at
http://www.aim.org/aim-column/the-secret-plan-to-pass-a-global-tax/. Oxfam was the producer of the recent Haiti Live Aide Telecast. We applaud Oxfam and other international aide organizations for raising money for these needed causes, and we contribute to them as much as possible too. But, itâs very dangerous to allow foreign aide companies to set tax policies overriding Presidents, which can have tremendous unintended consequences. These organizations are desperate for money during this recession and we canât allow them to tax industries and our middle-class into worse shape. Celebrity pitchmen usually demand millions and they are getting paid here too with free promotion and more. Itâs wise to take celebrity pitches with a grain of salt.