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Eric Schmidt has applied to become a citizen of Cyprus

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Re: Eric Schmidt has applied to become a citizen of Cyprus

#181

Post by chrismeller »

vntok wrote: post #143
chrismeller wrote: post #136

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’m sorry, but this is missing the point. You’re forbidden from traveling FROM a country on whatever list (some are outright lists, some are based on the infection rate, etc.). Traveling FROM the US is the problem, regardless of where your passport is from. Getting a passport (or even a residence card) from an EU country would only allow you to get back to THAT country, it doesn’t just suddenly open up the world to y…

The Schengen Area ( /ˈʃɛŋən/) is an area comprising 26 European countries that have officially abolished all passport and all other types of border control at their mutual borders. The area mostly functions as a single jurisdiction for international travel purposes, with a common visa policy. The area is named after the 1985 Schengen Agreement signed in Schengen, Luxembourg. Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sche…

I’m sorry, have you lived in Europe recently? Paid any attention to the news this year? Every country in that agreement reserves the right to restrict travel in times of emergency. Pandemics apply. For instance:

Estonia forbids travel from any country with an infection rate higher than x/100k (x keeps changing...)

During the first pandemic lockdown the Baltics were open at first, then Finland shut their borders, then they all shut their borders.

Poland agreed to let people traverse the country... then decided not to. Estonia had to send a ship to rescue citizens from the Polish border.

For a while a few months ago you couldn’t come to Estonia from the UK, but if you flew into Helsinki and then flew to Estonia it was fine.

Know your facts.

Re: Eric Schmidt has applied to become a citizen of Cyprus

#182

Post by roughly »

klaudius wrote: post #120
roughly wrote: post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Mariana Mazzucato's book "The Entrepreneurial State" is a good read on the matter of public funding for innovation: https://www.indiebound.org/book/9781610396134

This is very misleading. US government heavily taxes people and organizations and spends on certain projects. But if people had more resources left to themselves, they could spend some of it on the same projects US gov spends it on. On top of that, US gov has all kinds of laws and regulations that make it difficult to do certain valuable things. For example, if companies in the same industry come together to do somet…

That is indeed the libertarian argument against public spending on research and innovation. The book I linked to provides a compelling counterargument to it. I suggest you read it, if you're interested in this sort of thing, as it's a good read on the matter of public funding for innovation.

Re: Eric Schmidt has applied to become a citizen of Cyprus

#183

Post by jfk13 »

eatmyshorts wrote: post #39
Barrin92 wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Buying one. Citizenship is something that ought to be earned and given to people who show that they want to live in and contribute to a country. People like Schmidt purchase themselves a tax excemption or freedom of movement in a world where ordinary people right now lose their jobs and are locked into their country.

American citizens living and working abroad still must pay taxes to the US Government. As far as I am aware, the US is the only country in the world with this requirement. There is a reason the FBAR requirement is often called the "fubar" requirement.

> As far as I am aware, the US is the only country in the world with this requirement.

Not quite: I believe Myanmar (and perhaps Eritrea) have similar requirements.

I'm sure Americans feel right at home in that company....

Re: Eric Schmidt has applied to become a citizen of Cyprus

#184

Post by addicted »

wukerplank wrote: post #138
pembrook wrote: post #113

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is not a tax dodge. There is no way to dodge taxes as a US citizen by moving abroad, the US is the only country in the world with a real global taxation system. EDIT further information I posted below: The US has the unique position of being able to actually enforce this due to the fact the USD is the reserve currency of the world and every country needs to stay on the good side of the US Treasury to transact in…

So, what is this? His passion for the Mediterranian? Reconnecting with his ancestor's roots? BTW: All tax systems are draconian, at least to the middle class. Not to people who can afford creative lawyers.

If you compare countries by how well they collect taxes, I am pretty sure it will completely correlate with how well their middle classes are doing.

So it’s really hard to see how taxes are draconian for the middle classes. Or draconian at all.

Re: Eric Schmidt has applied to become a citizen of Cyprus

#185

Post by chrismeller »

ciceryadam wrote: post #178
chrismeller wrote: post #136

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’m sorry, but this is missing the point. You’re forbidden from traveling FROM a country on whatever list (some are outright lists, some are based on the infection rate, etc.). Traveling FROM the US is the problem, regardless of where your passport is from. Getting a passport (or even a residence card) from an EU country would only allow you to get back to THAT country, it doesn’t just suddenly open up the world to y…

Well, yes, but if you are traveling to a country where you have a citizenship, it's considered repatriation, so travel rules do not apply (but you usually have different set of rules to abide). And a completely different set of rules also applies for international truck drivers, another for cross-country commuters, etc.

With a dozen or so asterisks, you are correct. Poland stopped all traffic at its border during the last lockdown, for instance.

Re: Eric Schmidt has applied to become a citizen of Cyprus

#187

Post by Rebelgecko »

aaronbrethorst wrote: post #97
slg wrote: post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

He is up for the head of a taskforce and not a cabinet position. That means this is neither a particularly powerful position or one that will require any congressional or other approval. I doubt there is any real political motivation to leak this info. If this was leaked nefariously, my money would be on the motivation being personal.

If this was leaked nefariously, my money would be on the motivation being personal. Yep, me too. If there is any truth to some of the gossip out there about his personal life, that would explain both the source and motivation for blowing this up for him.

What was the source? An ex?

Re: Eric Schmidt has applied to become a citizen of Cyprus

#189

Post by samatman »

raspberry_pi wrote: post #123
colejohnson66 wrote: post #111

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Isn’t the US government not allowed to own any IP? I’m pretty sure the Constitution says so. That’s why JPL is a thing; so NASA can pay JPL to do research (giving JPL, a company, the IP).

Seems like straight up theft to me. Why is that not owned by the public?

It is partially owned by the public. All labor is partially owned by the public.

Private IP makes corporations and people a lot of money.

That money is taxed. That's how the government gets its share.

The public-private partnership allows for researchers to claim most of the value of their labor, while the government can encourage areas of research which are in the national interest through grant funding.

How much tax money do you think has derived from the early research on integrated circuits? A lot, right?

Proposing that the government can simply confiscate intellectual property if they fund it, would just result in a world where government funding is unattractive. This would give more power to corporations and billionaires to direct the course of research into their own private interests.

That doesn't strike me as a win.

Re: Eric Schmidt has applied to become a citizen of Cyprus

#190

Post by addicted »

chmod600 wrote: post #104
esarbe wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Huh, why not? If not for people taking advantage of "the system", "the system" would not exist. I mean; here we have a guy that has taken all the advantage of all the benefits a developed industrial country has to offer and then in turn does everything in his power to give back as little as possible. Hell yeah I'm going to blame him. It's not moral behavior. I don't care whether it is legal or not, he's behaving like…

He should be forced to abide by the laws while he lives or does business here. But if he wants to live in a new place by a new set of laws in the future, I'm not sure what's wrong with that. It seems more like you regret the laws in the US during the decades he was here, and you are hoping future changes in the law will retroactively address your concerns. But I see no moral basis for that stance. If we want to chang…

The problem is benefiting from the advantages a system gives you, and then using those same benefits to deny others who are seeking those same advantages.

Like Paul Ryan who basically made it where he did thanks to US social services but did everything he could while in power to decimate those very services he himself relied upon now that he no longer needed them.

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