French PM Blasts "Flight of "Greedy" Rich

[AuH20]

The socialists will never openly confront the everpresent issue of human nature blasting their diabolical plans to bits. But don't worry, with the grand plan for global goverment there will be no place to run.


http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/france/9738178/Frances-Jean-Marc-Ayrault-slams-flight-of-the-greedy-rich.html

[CaptUSA]

Does anyone else find it terribly ironic that the ones who call people "greedy" and "selfish" are the ones who want things from them?

I don't think I've ever called someone greedy for wanting to keep his own stuff. "Greedy" is wanting someone else's stuff that you didn't earn.

[Victor Grey]

http://images.sodahead.com/polls/001540497/2948956505_social_justice_crying_kid_poster_answer _2_xlarge.jpeg

[nobody's_hero]

Oh I know what they should do.

They should build a giant wall to keep rich people inside. I read a story about a country that did that in the 20th century. . . . —oh wait.

[nobody's_hero]

What sucks is that the rich people moved to Belgium, which is where the E.U. headquarters is located. 'You can run but you can't hide'. EU Sees U.

[Lucille]

The French should read more Bastiat and less Marx.


While Mr Ayrault opted not to mention Mr Depardieu yesterday, the Gallic star drew fierce criticism from Left-wing politicians and commentators.

Socialist MP Yann Galut called for the actor to be "stripped of his nationality" if he failed to pay his dues in his mother country, saying the law should be changed to enable such a punishment.

Benoît Hamon, the consumption minister, said the move amounted to giving France "the finger" and was "anti-patriotic".

In a stinging editorial, Libération, the left-leaning daily, called him a "drunken, obese petit-bourgeois reactionary". Le Monde mockingly exclaimed: "Bravo l'artiste!", pointing out he had chosen to make his move "on the eve of a national conference on poverty".

From national treasure to national trash in the blink of an eye.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rDJXPiyvQfg


Does anyone else find it terribly ironic that the ones who call people "greedy" and "selfish" are the ones who want things from them?

I don't think I've ever called someone greedy for wanting to keep his own stuff. "Greedy" is wanting someone else's stuff that you didn't earn.

"[K]ings and nobles always speak of money with high disdain, always want it none the less. Kings take no cognizance of irony."
--Isabel Paterson (The Singing Season)

[pochy1776]

France: good food, 35 hour work week, great culture.
Everyone smokes, country is very broke, really generous but soon to die entitlement system.
Country bent on making everyone equal not knowing that they are about to die.

[pochy1776]

Belgium had no government for some time. Everyone was happy.

[GunnyFreedom]

Does anyone else find it terribly ironic that the ones who call people "greedy" and "selfish" are the ones who want things from them?

I don't think I've ever called someone greedy for wanting to keep his own stuff. "Greedy" is wanting someone else's stuff that you didn't earn.

The irony is straight from Atlas Shrugged. I would go so far as to call it derivative if I thought the irony were intentional.

[Acala]

I think this is hilarious!!!!!!

[seraphson]

I'd hope to never experience the frustration of being slapped by a 200+ year old invisible hand.

[Keith and stuff]

Belgium had no government for some time. Everyone was happy.

It still had a government. There were still laws and enforcers. It's just that the parliament wasn't in session, increasing taxes and regulations.

Anyway, the worst part of the article is how even the so-called far right politicians calls out the people running, instead of the horrible person getting the terrible tax increases passed.


But Far-Right National Front leader Marine Le Pen said tax exiles like Mr Depardieu wanted to "have their cake and eat it", adding: "All these people general come running back when they have a health problem."

[mello]

It may be a good idea to compile a new thread with stories about wealthy people that move to places because of excessive taxation. Here's another story about the British singer James Blunt moving to Switzerland:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-429570/James-Blunt-plans-to-Switzerland-tax-exile.html

[pochy1776]

It still had a government. There were still laws and enforcers. It's just that the parliament wasn't in session, increasing taxes and regulations.



Anyway, the worst part of the article is how even the so-called far right politicians calls out the people running, instead of the horrible person getting the terrible tax increases passed.

i wish congress will not be in session for at least a year. See how that goes. It would probably be te most prosperous time in recent american history
In France, everybody lives a pretty good life, even in the ghettos of St Dennis.

[aGameOfThrones]

France's Socialist President Francois Hollande, who famously once declared "I don't like the rich", has pledged to tax annual income of more than one million euros per year at 75 percent.

Socialist MP Yann Galut called for the actor to be "stripped of his nationality" if he failed to pay his dues in his mother country, saying the law should be changed to enable such a punishment.

Benoît Hamon, the consumption minister, said the move amounted to giving France "the finger" and was "anti-patriotic".

..

[Matt Collins]

I met quite a few very wealthy individuals over the last year and a half. Almost all of them were talking about expatriating. Professional political fundraisers have mentioned the same type of trend in their observation. That scares the hell out of me.

[Lucille]

I met quite a few very wealthy individuals over the last year and a half. Almost all of them were talking about expatriating. Professional political fundraisers have mentioned the same type of trend in their observation. That scares the hell out of me.

Capital flight. How unexpected. /

"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it."
--George Santayana

[Lucille]

France Threatens To Kick Belgium Out Of The Socialist Club
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2012-12-14/france-threatens-kick-belgium-out-socialist-club


As more and more wealthy French bourgeousie flee (first Arnault, now Depardieu) the nation of their birth to the smaller and better-beer-making nation of Belgium, it seems that socialist president Hollande is not amused. His cunning plan to tax the crepe out of the uber-wealthy has back-fired - quelle surprise - and in the most passive aggressive statement in a while, Agence France-Presse notess that Hollande 'patriotically' demands "there's no other way" than to revise fiscal agreements with countries (cough Belgium cough) offering advantageous tax rates. AFP goes on to note his additional rantings, "We're reconciling our budget policies, we must reconcile our tax policies," Hollande said at a press conference in Brussels as France is "forced to renegotiate the tax convention to deal with those who have moved to some Belgian village." Shame really.


December 14 (AFP) - President François Hollande has Appeal in Brussels on Friday, a "ethical behavior" of each, and has called for a renegotiation of tax treaties with Belgium, about exile tax actor Gerard Depardieu.

"Everyone must be ethical, regardless the business that, "said the head of the French state, interviewed during a press conference after the summit Europe.

He felt that there was "no other way to do" that "review (the) tax treaties" with countries offer tax advantages. France would thus he said, "have to renegotiate the tax treaty (with Belgium) to treat the case of those who settled in a Belgian village. "

"They are suspicious, it's a socialist mayor," he quipped Mr. Holland, in an allusion to the village where Néchin Gérard Depardieu acquired a property, as before him other wealthy French.

"We align our fiscal policy, we harmonize our tax policies, "he said.

Castigating the "dumpings tax" charged by some European countries with respect to companies or individuals, it warned that it was "not in favor of procedures amnesty "tax.

The departure of Gérard Depardieu for Belgium is "quite pathetic, "said Wednesday the Prime Minister, Jean-Marc Ayrault.

Néchin village, distant only a mile the French border and the town of Roubaix (Nord), in 27% of French residents, often very wealthy, including members Mulliez family, which controls the distribution group Auchan.

Belgium offers special conditions advantageous for large fortunes French: there is not tax on capital, or capital gains tax and inheritance are cheaper than in France.

[Lucille]

Gerard Depardieu Slams French Government Over High Taxes
http://reason.com/24-7/2012/12/16/gerard-depardieu-slams-french-government


French star Gerard Depardieu has upped the ante in his tax battle with the government of French President Francois Hollande, threatening to hand back his French passport in protest.

In an open letter to President Hollande and French Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault published Sunday in Le Journal du Dimanche, the Oscar-nominated actor said he was "insulted" by government attacks on his decision to move to a town in Belgium just across the French border in an apparent attempt to avoid paying higher French taxes.

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/gerard-depardieu-lashes-at-french-403072


Prime Minister Ayrault called his decision to move "shabby," "pathetic" and unpatriotic at a time of austerity programs.

"Pathetic, you say? Pathetic!" Depardieu's letter to Ayrault begins, before the actor claims he has paid "$190 million (€145 million)" to the French state in taxes over the past 45 years and that he employs 85 people. "I do not mean to complain or brag but I refuse to be called 'pathetic,'" Depardieu writes. The actor, who is known for his conservative political views, goes on to say he and France's current Socialist government "no longer have the same country."

[S.Shorland]

Maybe Mr Depardieu could introduce Libertarianism to a French audience?Perhaps Ron could make contact somehow for a chat.

[Lucille]

Maybe Mr Depardieu could introduce Libertarianism to a French audience? Perhaps Ron could make contact somehow for a chat.

That the French don't even know who Bastiat is, is pretty tragic:

http://img143.imageshack.us/img143/4471/lmd05012011page03.jpg

http://www.ronpaulforums.com/showthread.php?274721-Great-article-on-Ron-and-Rand-Paul-in-best-known-French-newspaper-quot-Le-Monde-quot

[idiom]

Lets fix the debt by exiling the rich!

[Lucille]

Depardieu 'Shrugged'
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2012-12-16/depardieu-shrugged


Depardieu begins by saying that what is pathetic is to call his behavior pathetic. Although he does not want to justify the many reasons of his choice, he makes it clear that he leaves after paying 85% of taxes on his income this year and € 145 million through his entire life; He leaves because the French PM thinks that “success, creation and talent, in fact difference, must be punished”. He then reminds Jean-Marc Ayrault that he set up companies that employ 80 people. Depardieu says he is ready to give up his French passport and his “Social Security” (the French public health care system, which he claims he never used).

This letter is important.

First because thanks to a top actor, the categories of incentives and unintended (though highly expectable) consequences will probably enter the “consciousness area” of a statist French political class (right and left alike). Imposing a 75% income tax above €1 million does have consequences on the incentives of the rich and creative people. Mr Hollande and his team might call it “just” because, as the French President once famously said, he doesn’t “like the rich”, the fact is that one does not promote economic progress by hitting the creative and successful minds. Those are obsolete collectivist policies based on envy and scapegoating: they are only effective at creating division and killing the goose with the golden egg, that is, generate more poverty. Not exactly “just” in the end.

Second because Depardieu stresses the fact that he is a European, a “citizen of the World”, and remains a “free man”. He is effectively saying that thanks to globalization we are free to escape a government’s crushing fist. Institutional competition, and especially tax competition is an essential feature of our liberty: it is crucial that people can “vote with their feet”. Of course European politicians, French ones especially, are too eager to suppress this liberty – again in the name of justice, harmonization, equality, solidarity and what have you. What that story also tells us is that should Europe become a “giant France”, it would be doomed. Unfortunately, recent efforts in the direction of more EU centralization do not carry optimism.

Now, to be completely fair on that “Depardieu shrugging”, the tiny issue is that state subsidies to the film industry in France probably indirectly helped the man to become famous and rich, even if overall he probably paid a lot more that he received, and in the end owed much to his personal talent. Not a pure John Galt then. But a good start.

The letter is at the link.

[Lucille]

http://armstrongeconomics.com/2012/12/18/france-looks-worse-than-greece/


The French actor Gerard Depardieu has left France and was publicly ridiculed for not wanting to turn over 75% of his wealth. Gerard has fired back and is clearly pissed-off how he was treated in France and sent an open letter to the Prime Minister. He writes that he paid EUR 145 million taxes in 45 years and Belgium neither has wealth tax nor the crazy 75% rich tax above EUR 1 million income. France is the one that has gone after gold dealers and prohibits them from buying or selling gold without a record and only by check – no cash. The actions of France are so socialistic/communistic that it is beyond reason how a country can simply ignore everything and expect to somehow even have a future.

I did not know that! They'll know exactly where to go when they decide to seize teh shiny.

[Lucille]

It's the governments that are greedy.

http://www.zerohedge.com/contributed/2012-12-23/%E2%80%9Ctrench-warfare%E2%80%9D-and-%E2%80%9Ccivil-war%E2%80%9D-over-%E2%80%9Cconfiscatory-taxes%E2%80%9D-france
It’s getting hot: “unprecedented waves” of people are bailing out — not just the super-wealthy


The clamor had started in September when it leaked out that Bernard Arnault, richest man in France and CEO of luxury-goods empires LVMH and Groupe Arnault, was applying for Belgian citizenship. In response, Economy Minister Pierre Moscovici threatened to renegotiate the tax treaties with Belgium, Luxembourg, and Switzerland. A few days ago, reports surfaced in the Belgian media that mailbox companies—a dozen at the Brussels apartment of a Groupe Arnault director alone—have allowed Arnault’s empire to escape several hundred million euros in taxes.

Belgium got cold feet. On Saturday before Christmas when nothing was supposed to happen, Anti-Fraud Secretary of State John Crombez requested that Finance Minister Steven Vanackere transfer Arnault’s tax file to the tax authorities in France, an idea the minister did not immediately reject.

Now Arnault got cold feet. LVMH and Groupe Arnault defended themselves the best they could, claiming that these mailbox companies had “economically perfectly real activities in Belgium where some of them have been implanted for decades.” Indeed, they were “surprised” by the allegations.

But no one stirred up the heat in France like iconic actor Gérard Depardieu who, turns out, set up his domicile in Néchin, a village just across the border in Belgium—as the mayor confirmed, “to escape French taxation.”

Final straw for President Hollande. Now he too threatened to renegotiate the tax treaty “to deal with cases of those who settle in some Belgian village.” He lashed out against the “fiscal dumping” that some countries in the EU were practicing. Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault chimed in; Depardieu’s exile was “pretty pathetic.”

Depardieu was not amused. In an open letter, he renounced his French citizenship, broadsided the Prime Minister and the President, and shocked the nation: all taxes combined ate up 85% of his income.

Not true, explained eyewear mega-retailer Alain Afflelou during the interview. “Those who are in the 75% income-tax bracket may go well beyond 90% taxation.” He listed layers of additional taxes, small percentages here and there that added up. “We therefore have in France a confiscatory taxation that can deprive us of all of our income from work.”

Then he uttered “trench warfare” to describe the battle between the two sides. “We have to stop saying that CEOs are thieves, thugs, and dishonest people. We need people who work, who make a living, who create jobs.”

He was echoing Laurence Parisot, President of the MEDEF, France’s largest employer union. “Doubt is taking over the life force of the country,” she complained; Hollande in his confrontation with Depardieu was doing “the opposite of what he promised,” namely to pacify the country and reduce antagonism. “We are in the process of creating a climate of civil war, similar to 1789,” she said.

Hollande jumped on the airwaves and tried to impose some sort of armistice. The 75% tax bracket would be temporary, he said. And concerning Depardieu: “No citizen must be stigmatized by the President.” But by using that word, he stigmatized him—and all the others who’re trying to escape.

There are a lot of them. Le Figaro cited tax lawyers who spoke of “unprecedented waves” of fiscal exiles who were leaving France, some of them in the middle of the school year, which “had never happened before.” Moving companies confirmed it. Outflows “remain two to three times higher than normal,” said the boss of one of them. “Our trucks leave constantly in direction of Switzerland, Belgium, and Great Britain.”

And the profile of the fiscal exiles has changed. They’re no longer rich heirs or fifty-year-olds who’d sold their companies, but “young childless entrepreneurs” who wanted “to settle in another country to start up their companies,” according to one of the tax lawyers. And top executives between 40 and 55 were moving with their kids to Brussels or London “to escape” the new taxes.

Entire skill sets were leaving. International companies were “progressively relocating part of their teams abroad,” said le Figaro’s source within the MEDEF. Among them more and more secondary functions, such as human resources or finance—”much less visible and symbolic than relocating headquarters.”

With heavy consequences for the economy. When talent, entrepreneurial energy, capital, and profits leave the country all at the same time, it’s hard to imagine how economic growth and job creation could miraculously reappear.

Also on Friday before Christmas when nobody was supposed to pay attention, the European Commission issued a mind-boggling report on bank bailouts in the EU: Member States had committed over $2 trillion at the expense of current and future taxpayers to bail out stockholders, bondholders, and speculators. Read.... The EU Bailout Oligarchy Issues A Report About Itself.

[Lucille]

French Constitutional Court Strikes Down 75% Millionaire Tax, Finds It "Unfair"
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2012-12-29/french-constitutional-court-strikes-down-75-millionaire-tax-finds-it-unfair


n a crushing blow to socialism, wealth redistribution and purveyors of the "fairness doctrine" (as defined here first) everywhere, the French Constitutional Council ruled on Saturday that Hollande's brilliant idea to tax millionaires at a 75% tax rate - a move which has since seen numerous millionaires leave France and move to Belgium - is unconstitutional. Per Reuters, the Council ruled that the planned 75 percent tax on annual income above 1 million euros ($1.32 million) - a flagship measure of Hollande's election campaign - was unfair in the way it would be applied to different households. Which is ironic because just like in the US, so in France, the selective wealth redistribution campaign waged by the government against the "rich" (which have yet to be properly defined: those making over $250K? Over $400K? Over €1MM?) was based on the premise that it is only "fair" that the rich contribute more. Turns out fairness in the eye of the government beholder, was unfair. But the move begs the question: would the court have struck down the law had it been a merely 50% tax hike? And if the income cut off was, say, €500,000? The far bigger question is, and has been in this year of encroaching socialism, just what is the definition of "rich", what is the definition of "fair redistribution", and where do the two coincide. Finally, how soon until the US Supreme Court weighs in as well on any final Fiscal Cliff tax hike proposal which, like in France, will see the "rich" pay an abnormal share, and will that too be ruled unconstitutional?

[acptulsa]

The pot must call the kettle black, do it first, and do it loudly. It is the nature of things.

Can't have people stopping to wonder if a capitalist who can keep his capital might use it to build a factory and fill it with well-paid workers.

[Confederate]

Anyway, the worst part of the article is how even the so-called far right politicians calls out the people running, instead of the horrible person getting the terrible tax increases passed.

Le Pen is right though. All these people do is move their primary residence to Belgium on paper, while continuing to live in France and mooching off the middle class who are the ones who really shoulder the tax burden.

I'm 100% in favor of the rich moving to low-tax places, but I'm against the hypocrisy in that you "move" to a low-tax country yet continue to live in the high-tax place and use public services there without paying. That's what Le Pen was saying.