Apparently it's not enough for some people that the highest levels of our federal law enforcement is already helping criminals get guns; So now some Senators want to encourage foreign investors to make cash puchases of expensive homes in exchange for a US visa. A new immigration bill is being proposed and one facet seeks to entice foreign buyers to make cash purchases of residential real estate of at least $500,000 by giving them a visa for doing so.
This abortion of logic is a bipartisan travesty between Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Utah Republican Mike Lee. What could possibly be more enticing to criminals than large cash purchases in exchange for preferential treatment under visa and citizenship laws? And how would these cash transactions be assessed to prevent laundered money or profits from criminal enterprise from being used for the purchases? A government that can't secure our borders is hardly competent to police such transactions.
The impetus for this provision appears to be the fact that foreign real estate investments helped prevent the housing crisis from being even worse. But since the main goal of the US government is now to punish those with assets and tax them into the poorhouse, investing in our nation is hardly a tantalizing prospect for foreign investors who are free to invest in nations with more reasonable goals and tax structures. A sensible way to entice foreign investors would be tax breaks, including protection from future tax increases over the immediate future, say, 5 years. But as usual, Washington strives to hammer home the point that there's no room for sensible decisions in government.
This abortion of logic is a bipartisan travesty between Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Utah Republican Mike Lee. What could possibly be more enticing to criminals than large cash purchases in exchange for preferential treatment under visa and citizenship laws? And how would these cash transactions be assessed to prevent laundered money or profits from criminal enterprise from being used for the purchases? A government that can't secure our borders is hardly competent to police such transactions.
The impetus for this provision appears to be the fact that foreign real estate investments helped prevent the housing crisis from being even worse. But since the main goal of the US government is now to punish those with assets and tax them into the poorhouse, investing in our nation is hardly a tantalizing prospect for foreign investors who are free to invest in nations with more reasonable goals and tax structures. A sensible way to entice foreign investors would be tax breaks, including protection from future tax increases over the immediate future, say, 5 years. But as usual, Washington strives to hammer home the point that there's no room for sensible decisions in government.