Iceland PM resigns over Panama Papers

[ChairmanAgnostic]

Source: Financial Times



In a day of high drama in Reykjavik, Sigmundur David Gunnlaugsson first tried to hang on to his office by seeking the dissolution of parliament.

But after Iceland’s president refused to grant the request, Mr Gunnlaugsson decided to step down as prime minister but carry on as the head of his Progressive party. Sigurdur Ingi Johansson, the current minister of fisheries and agriculture, will become prime minister.
But it remained unclear how other political parties in Iceland would react and early elections could still be called.


Read more: http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/60d88fa0-fb27-11e5-b3f6-11d5706b613b.html#axzz44y9XVb53

[ChairmanAgnostic]

1. when the Clinton Foundation is exposed,

or at least some of its biggest donors are connected to Panama, anyone want to bet how quickly Hillary will do the right thing and quit the race?

At least he shows some honor and responsiblity.

I guess the real issue is who will be tied closer to this scandal, Hillary as SecState or Hillary as part owner of the Clinton Foundation?

On edit, anyone recall what hillary said about Panama Free Trade?

Following congressional approval of the U.S.-Korea, U.S.-Colombia, and U.S.-Panama trade agreements, Secretary Clinton released a statement:
"The Free Trade Agreements passed by Congress tonight will make it easier for American companies to sell their products to South Korea, Colombia and Panama, which will create jobs here at home. The Obama Administration is constantly working to deepen our economic engagement throughout the world and these agreements are an example of that commitment.
"The stakes are not just economic. South Korea, Colombia and Panama are three important partners in strategically vital regions. With the passage of these agreements, America has delivered for our friends and allies. I want to thank Presidents Lee, Santos and Martinelli for their patience and willingness to partner with the Obama Administration as these agreements moved through Congress.
"But our work is not yet done. We will not be content until these agreements are fully implemented so that American exporters can reap the benefits as soon as possible."

[tabasco]

2. Do you have any evidence of the claims you are making?

[jhart3333]

24. Google it.

I just picked one at random and came up with this:

https://blogs.state.gov/stories/2011/10/13/passage-colombia-panama-and-south-korea-trade-agreements

[tabasco]

34. I ain't googling shit.

The OP claimed that Clinton Foundation donors will be implicated in the Panama Papers scandal. If anybody needs to google, it's him, to provide any proof of that claim.

[earthside]

5. 'The Mystery Of Hillary's Missing Millions'

http://www.forbes.com/sites/danalexander/2015/09/29/the-mystery-of-hillarys-missing-millions/#16b82a355505

Would anyone be surprised if the Clinton's off-shored some of their millions?
What would Henry Kissinger do? Birds of a feather ... you know.

[SunSeeker]

15. It's Bernie who has been hiding assets, not Hillary.

Bernie either put everything in his wife's name or didn't list it at all. http://www.politico.com/story/2015/07/bernie-sanders-wife-accounts-for-reported-assets-120261

And where are Bernie "4 Pinocchios" Sanders' full tax returns?
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/fact-checker/wp/2016/04/05/bernie-sanderss-false-claim-that-he-has-released-his-full-federal-tax-returns/
http://www.democraticunderground.com/12511651383

[LanternWaste]

21. Ironically, I'm certain you place much confidence in your faith-based prophecies.

Ironically, I'm certain you place much confidence in your faith-based prophecies.

[ChairmanAgnostic]

23. I admit, I do prey for her to quit the race. It would be best

not just for her, but for the country.

[SammyWinstonJack]

29. DEFINITELY what's best for the country AND the rest of the World.

[JustAnotherGen]

3. Isn't Iceland known for jailing their bankers

And rejecting austerity post 2008?


Interesting - that someone in leadership is in the shoes of the banker.

[Kelvin Mace]

8. Yes, an effort led by this PM

It appears that what he did was legal, just not very smart. Supposedly he did correct disclosure docs before this blew up (at least he claims he did). Some of this is going to be as crooked as it seems, but difficult to prove, given the players and the money involved. A lot of it is quite legal, just not very ethical or moral.

[JustAnotherGen]

9. See that's what I thought

None of it is illegal. I saw a thread trending in latest that spouted 'should we arrest/jail' these people?


I'm like - What law did they break?

Shouldn't there be a law before we go around arresting people?

[Kelvin Mace]

11. Well, there are laws and we should see evidence that a law was, in fact, broken

But too many people know a crook when they see one and don't understand that morality and the law are two different contexts.

[unblock]

22. it's probably not illegal in and of itself, but it is something that could easily be part of a crime

there are many reasons to want to hide money. the one they talk about most is to avoid them or their family becoming a kidnapping target. that's clearly legitimate and obviously gets the most sympathetic response.

but it could also be used to dodge disclosure requirements or taxes. likely criminal. or more obviously criminal, hiding bribe money or gains from other illicit activity.

or it could be used to hide assets from a spouse during divorce proceedings. perhaps not a crime against the state but a civil wrong that a court could judge against.

or it could be completely legit. maybe he just wanted to portrary himself as a man of the people and felt he needed to hide his wealth to do that. he could even be the victim, legally speaking, for example trying to conceal the *paying* of blackmail. of course, it would be politically embarrassing for the subject of said blackmail to come to light....


that said, if he felt the need to resign as pm, that takes some of the more legitimate explanations off the table....

[passiveporcupine]

27. I'm curious why it's called "tax evasion"

And still considered legal. Maybe someone can explain that to me.

If (I'm not suggesting they are) the Clintons were hiding millions in a tax evasion scheme, My concern, would be that the leader of a country like the US, knows there are so many poor people/children, knows the economy is great for the 1% but not so great for the middle and lower classes, knows wages are dropping for the middle class and ninimum wage is stagnant and higher education is leaving students in debt for their lives. Oh hell, they know it all, just not up close and personal, so why would they not only live in splendor, and make millions from wall street speeches, but still want to put away more millions in a tax evasion scheme. I mean taxes are what our country runs on and they know it better than anyone, yet if they feel they can evade them legally, that is morally OK?

No, it's not.

So how do the Clinton's live? They got a personal co-signer* to pay for their NY home, valued at 1.7 million, so they could live in NY when they left the white house and Hillary could run for senate. They claimed they were 5 million in debt at the time for legal fees for all the investigations against them. And I'm sure they were, but they had friends in high places, and they did not need to buy an almost 2 million dollar home right away...but they did. And then they bought a second home in DC. It was valued at 2.85 million and they said they struggled to pay mortgages on those two homes after leaving the whitehouse.

So if they didn't have the money to pay the mortgages, why did they invest in two such expensive and elaborate homes?

They knew they'd be making tons of money soon. They knew they'd be able to handle it. They immediately started fund raisers for her senate seat. If they were that desperate, maybe they could have gotten jobs? Oh yeah, the senate pays pretty well too.

They also lived in government mansions for 20 years and didn't have to pay a mortgage, and got paid 200K plus 50K for expenses while in the white house. I don't know how much the governor gig paid. Probably not that much.

Again, I'm not saying that hiding money offshore to avoid taxes is what they are doing. I'm just trying to point out how immoral it would be to lead a country where people are struggling so much, while they are living so well, and then hide millions for tax evasion.

It is immoral and it should be illegal.

*
http://www.nytimes.com/1999/09/03/nyregion/with-some-help-clintons-purchase-a-white-house.html?pagewanted=all

Here is their NY home:


and here is their DC home:

Mr. McAuliffe has amassed a personal fortune through his investments in a home-building firm, a title insurance firm and a mortgage servicing firm. Last night, he was at the Clintons' side again as they raised money in Syracuse, where, as it turns out, Mr. McAuliffe grew up.

Mr, McAuliffe is the one who put up the money for their NY home. Isn't it nice to have such good friends in high places?

I am hoping that they are not evading taxes this way, and the papers will not reveal anything about them. I don't like thinking the former President of my country would do that.

But the Icelander's probably felt the same way about their PM.

You never know what rich people will do. Something about all that money just clouds their morals.

[unblock]

32. "if (and i'm not suggesting they are)"... of course you're suggesting they are!

that is the entire point of your post, so smear a political opponent of your favorite candidate.

you and everyone else know full well that tax evasion is illegal. what's not illegal is having secret bank accounts, having offshore bank account, etc. what's illegal is failing to report and pay income taxes on any income earned from such money.

there's so much interesting about these disclosures, so much that's actual fact, so much that has such impact on our understanding of global power and wealth, and you have to come along and treat it like just more speculative fodder for the circular firing squad.

sigh....

[passiveporcupine]

33. You are wrong, but I would expect that

I don't know what is illegal about it. I see people here saying it's not illegal and I don't know what is or isn't illegal. Now you are saying it is illegal.

Whom do I believe?

How can it be legal to have hidden accounts, if it's illegal to not reveal earnings from those accounts? That does not even make sense to me.

And no, I was not implying that the Clintons are hiding offshore money (I sincerely hope they are not), but someone said it wasn't illegal, so I'm trying to show why I think it should be, especially for someone who was a leader of our country, and has way more money than they need already.

But go on with your accusations. I don't play games like that.

I wouldn't worry about it, unless you think they may show up in the Panama papers? I'm certainly not worried that Bernie's name will show up, as some here have attempted to say.

[LittleGirl]

12. Yes "Where to Invade Next"

covers it in more detail. Iceland is the last segment of the movie. It's amazing.

[Renew Deal]

4. This guy went from hanging on, to new elections, to gone in like 24 hours

[mainer]

6. This is how it SHOULD be. Shame should be enough.

Not going to happen in too many other countries.

[MowCowWhoHow III]

7. Next election -> Pirate Party wins

[Bernardo de La Paz]

10. How much has Trump hidden offshore?

[sofa king]

13. I wondered about that, too.

Americans have little need for creating shell companies in the British Virgin Islands. They can do it in Delaware, disclose even less information, and be better protected.

http://fusion.net/story/287671/americans-panama-papers-trove/

Another thing that occurs to me is that as a narcissist whose self esteem requires constant care and feeding, hidden money is of minimal value to Donald Trump. It's his schwanze, and how is anyone going to know how big it is if he hides it in his pants?

On the other hand, he's a criminal straight to the bone, so that part of him might hide vast resources purely out of habit.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

14. He claims net worth double Forbes estimate. Perhaps half is hidden

... or perhaps TheRump is only an egotistical blowhard.

[ChairmanAgnostic]

17. very good question.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

16. Remember, only 329 K people Iceland.

If it were a US city, it would be 58th in population, between Santa Ana CA and Corpus Christi TX.

[ChairmanAgnostic]

18. with thousands protesting?

That's akin to the entire population of Chicago standing up and demanding change.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

19. Yes, about 10,000. But fact remains

It is just easier to organize 10 thousand people than 10 million.

[Nye Bevan]

20. Is this the "we jailed the crooked banksters" guy?

Talk about irony!

[Angel Martin]

28. up there with foe of violent video games

and gun control award winner Leland Yee.

[Jack Rabbit]

25. Is Iceland the mouse that roared?

The little country really knows how.

[malthaussen]

26. Plink goes the first domino.

This story has potential!



-- Mal

[BeanMusical]

31. I beat you with my Fats Domino Blueberry Hill!

[BeanMusical]

30. Go Iceland!

[LunaSea]

35. Uprising in Reykjavík

Interesting post at Reddit with more links describing the scene there.

http://imgur.com/gallery/EBPan

[Odin2005]

36. I've read that 7% of Iceland's population was protesting in Reykjavik!