Eugene Grygo, Chief Content Editor, FTF News
The U.S. race for president is becoming an odd mix of entertainment and a train wreck that you can’t stop watching. Yet, while everyone’s emotions are being run ragged, there are some issues related to securities operations that quickly got lost in the horrible hoopla.
The first securities Ops issue that I thought would be a prominent campaign controversy is the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA). Perhaps I’m too close to the subject but I thought FATCA would be red meat for the Republicans, given the contentious reach of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) overseas to collect tax revenues from every U.S. citizen abroad.
Even Democrats were beginning to become concerned about this issue. In this atmosphere of anti-globalization, I thought that this prelude to a global tax system would be red hot. Several key Republicans, including U.S. Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., (a former presidential candidate), have repeatedly tried to get litigation off the ground that would challenge the IRS, the Obama administration and the federal government’s right to have such long arms.
As of this writing, Paul and his supporters and the Democrats representing Americans overseas have failed to get major traction with the issue. Neither major candidate has even uttered a whisper about the matter.
On another front, the Republican chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, Texas Congressman Jeb Hensarling, unveiled a plan to repeal the Dodd-Frank Act. Dubbed the Financial CHOICE Act, it has the blessings of some major players, including Paul Ryan, the speaker of the House of Representatives.
But it has had the same fate as a lead balloon. It is being lost amid the accusations about hedge fund and other Wall Street-related donations, which is a sexier subject.
Granted, it took the GOP a long time to get their answer to Dodd-Frank off the ground but it still deserves a hearing in the court of public opinion. (It also appears that Ryan is trying to put forth GOP alternatives rather than just responding in the negative to the issues that are tormenting this country.) A real discussion may happen after the election (if it ever ends) but we may have a scorched Republican party by then.
Lastly, I am very surprised that Brexit flared up and then quickly disappeared as a campaign issue.
GOP nominee Donald Trump jumped on the “Leave” bandwagon as soon as it won in the U.K. but then never mentioned it again. The Democrats’ candidate for the White House Hillary Clinton issued a statement that said the U.S. must be on the lookout for Brexit-related economic uncertainty that might “hurt working families here in America.” Clinton emphasized “the need for calm, steady, experienced leadership in the White House to protect Americans’ pocketbooks and livelihoods” while the U.S. works it out with the U.K.
Neither candidate has explored the ramifications of Brexit upon the financial markets, treaties, trade agreements or overall foreign policy, particularly with Europe. I suppose it’s early days for the Brexit nightmare but I foresee lots of challenges ahead especially when Britain finally pulls the plug.
It’s a sad fact that raucous campaigns like the one we’re experiencing often focus on issues that are visceral but not very consequential. The latest insult, gaffe or outrageous statement dominates the short attention span of the U.S. electorate, leaving little or no time to focus on more important issues.
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