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Rich and American? Australia Wants You
An anonymous reader writes: Following the success of a millionaire visa program to attract wealthy Chinese, Australia has launched an invite-only visa program that promises citizenship to rich American entrepreneurs. To meet the requirements of the Premium Investment Visa plan Americans must first invest around 15 million Australian dollars. Reuters reports: "Investment advisors who have been briefed on the plan by government officials expressed doubts about the wisdom of targeting Americans, with several telling Reuters the more obvious place to start was Australia's Asian neighbors. After all, why would a successful U.S. entrepreneur want to invest a large chunk of cash in Australia — a country very similar to the United States, just further away from everything — in exchange for a passport that carries few additional benefits to their own? 'The U.S. has some problems that Australia doesn't have. It's got a lot more racial crimes, it's got a lot more gun-related crimes, but I don't think that is going to drive a whole bunch of ultra-rich Americans out of their country,' said Bill Fuggle, a partner at law firm Baker & McKenzie who advises wealthy Chinese migrating to Australia."
Which is owned by an ex-Aussie, and is convinced that Obama's such a disaster that the rich are clamoring to leave.
And I won't be surprised if that gets them some takers. Particularly if the GOP can't get it together and start getting a consistent lead on Hillary.
There'll probably be a few more who do it because they want a rich democracy's passport,and don't like the fact the US taxes on global income (ie: if you make $1 Million in China and you;re Swedish you pay no Swedish taxes on it, just Chines; if you're American you pay both).
... Don't take it the wrong way... but I like the bill of rights. Put something in place that forbids the government from overstepping its bounds to any extent and Australia will be very interesting.
Short of that... you're an interesting vacation destination. A nice place to visit but I need something like the Bill of Rights to call a country home.
Too many people died to institute and then preserve that... and far more will die in futures to come.
Australia does things all the time that just casually violate what I consider to be sacred rights. They just ban things... for the children. I can't have that. The gun thing is also important. I'm not a gun nut... but I believe I have a right to be dangerous in my own country and in my home. Not for hunting... not even for self defense... to be DANGEROUS. I feel that is an important check on anyone that would try to intimidate the people. If they understand that the people can and will turn on them with an instant militia of millions. That forces the elites to be careful.
I know my views are incomprehensible to many. And that's fine. Its what I need to immigrate. Without that... I refuse. You're not offering me real citizenship in my opinion if you don't offer me a reasonable set of iron clad rights in the package.
I've decided to stop wasting my time responding to AC trolls/sockpuppets... so if you want a response from me... login.
Don't bother. We're full. We have a housing crisis and the cost of living in a major city is criminal.
I pay $450/wk rent for a two bedroom unit 40 mins from Sydney. Young people growing up here have no chance of owning a house because we have an influx of Asians who have moved over and bought all our property, paid for by their rich parents.
He's right. It's a trap!
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" a country very similar to the United States... The U.S. has some problems that Australia doesn't have. It's got a lot more racial crimes, it's got a lot more gun-related crimes"
Australia has twice the burglary rate and a higher rape rate. Australia has a ban happy nanny-state government. Australia has a lot of race crimes against Aborigines that just aren't reported in their pop media. Australia's cost of living is almost twice what it is in the U.S. Australia still has a fucking queen.
Australia is like the U.S. except with the fun and awesome parts removed, and instead replaced with the U.K.
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I tried applying for Australian citizenship once but they turned me down as I didn't have a criminal record.
I don't understand why guns always come up when non-Americans talk about America. I have lived here my entire 30 years, IN THE SOUTH, and have not seen a single gun in public except in the hands of a police officer. I own guns and most of my family do as well. But I've never seen them in public.
That's great! As soon as alllllll the richie richers leave, the entiiiiiire USA can be like Detroit! It's gonna be fucking awesome!!
Not a problem. The US and Eritrea are pretty much the only countries in the world that taxes non-resident citizens. Usually I would question any policy only followed by a single other country, but in this situation I can see why a country might like to have such a policy.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...
Giving up your US Citizenship might help your unborn children's tax situation, but might not help yours:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...
"U.S. citizens who renounce their citizenship are subject under certain circumstances to an expatriation tax, which is meant to extract from the expatriate taxes that would have been paid had they remained a citizen: all property of a covered expatriate is deemed sold for its fair market value on the day before the expatriation date, which usually results in a capital gain, which is taxable income."
Many areas of the country are like that. Running as anything but a Republican in many red states is just as laughable as running as anything but a Democrat in Chicago. That, of course, assumes that there's even enough distinction between the parties to claim that we have a two-party system with a straight face.
Seriously? C'mon, there aren't that many racial crimes in the US (I'm guessing a racial crime means white on black crime?).
We've just had a few cases that have been blown up by the 24/7 news media. It isn't like we're over here beating each other up when we see someone different walking across the street. Geez.
I'd dare say most people in the US couldn't give a fuck about what their fellow citizens are doing. Most of us are way too busy trying to support OUR own families and get ahead in life and enjoy life a bit.
Most of us here don't have the time to go out of our way to suppress or commit crimes against another race different than ourselves.
It isn't even on most of our citizens' daily life radar.
Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.........
You have to love the " even higher taxes " as if the USA were a high-tax regime already and Australia barely manages to top it. For the "Rich people" at issue, the USA has some of the lowest taxes anywhere. Jamaica has lower top-tier taxes than the USA does (or anybody): only 15%. Why not move there? English spoken, close to the USA, sunny beaches.
No, seriously, libertarian types: why not Jamaica? There is no "Galt's Gulch" in the real world (we're sorry) but you could move to Jamaica. I can't figure out why they don't.
It's not a problem with black. It's a problem with gangster society, which transcends race - Whites, Hispanics, Orientals, Blacks, you name it, all have been pulled in.
Racism is idiocy. Recognizing that a subculture is toxic is just common sense.
Most people are too busy trying to appear politically correct to make any sense at all when these issues come up. A good number of the rest are far too deeply mired in their own prejudices to understand what is actually wrong. Between the two, it becomes very difficult indeed to have any hope for remediation.
I've fallen off your lawn, and I can't get up.