Everyone Is Freaking Out About the Panama Papers—But the Biggest Fallout Is Yet to Come

[Bread and Circus]

http://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2016/04/panama-papers-offshore-tax-havens-are-getting-their-day-spotlight

Everyone Is Freaking Out About the Panama Papers—But the Biggest Fallout Is Yet to Come

—By Kevin Drum

Mon Apr. 4, 2016 12:25 PM EDT

This is from a memo by one of the partners of Mossack Fonseca, a Panama-based outfit that specializes in setting up offshore accounts and shell corporations:

Ninety-five per cent of our work coincidentally consists in selling vehicles to avoid taxes.

I suppose that's not much of a shocker, is it? Still, it's nice to hear it from the horse's mouth, along with all the usual defensive whinging about how it's not inherently illegal to set up offshore accounts and many people have totally legitimate reasons for doing so.

Maybe Mossack Fonseca just isn't the favored servicer of American corporations and zillionaires. But surely they have some American customers? Yes indeed:

Editor of Süddeutsche Zeitung responded to the lack of U.S. individuals in the documents, saying "Just wait for what is coming next"
— Mathew Ingram (@mathewi) April 3, 2016

[Bjornsdotter]

1. Interesting

....and I hope that more than a few of our politician are worried.

[Bread and Circus]

2. Me too... I have to pay 25% of all my income to the gov't, a good portion of which goes to wars...

...that I despise.

And then all these rich assholes skate away.

[rurallib]

3. And generally they are the ones who benefit from the wars

No taxes + having your country fight a war to benefit you with tax money and warriors supplied by the middle class and poor.
I mean, can life get any better?

for the humor impaired

[Bread and Circus]

4. Funny how that works...eh?

[rurallib]

7. Buying politicians is one great investment

[bjo59]

19. Who all has the leaked information?

I'm really hoping that if it's only in the possession of mainstream news corporations they don't decide just to release info on people from countries on the US "enemy list."

[Ghost Dog]

24. Well... "public interest for your country..." ?

http://www.wired.com/2016/04/reporters-pulled-off-panama-papers-biggest-leak-whistleblower-history/

... Neither the ICIJ nor any of the reporters it’s worked with have made the leaked data public...

... Ryle says that the media organizations have no plans to release the full dataset, WikiLeaks-style, which he argues would expose the sensitive information of innocent private individuals along with the public figures on which the group’s reporting has focused. “We’re not WikiLeaks. We’re trying to show that journalism can be done responsibly,” Ryle says. He says he advised the reporters from all the participating media outlets to “go crazy, but tell us what’s in the public interest for your country.”...

[LiberalFighter]

71. If "innocent private individuals" use this firm are they likely innocent individuals?

[merrifield]

59. The BBC

As I understand it, the BBC has control of what is leaked. And I think you're right about enemies of the West being exposed (along with a few sacrificial lambs ie, Iceland) I'd be very surprised if anyone of consequence from the West shows up on the list.

[mwooldri]

61. Not the Beeb.

Süddeutsche Zeitung received the leak first, they handed it over to the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists. This organization consists of many media organizations worldwide... the BBC through its Panorama program is a member, as is the Guardian newspaper in the UK. These two organizations have been working the UK angle.

Some of the member organizations of the ICIJ are found here: https://www.icij.org/about ... the notable US members are the Washington Post and the Huffington Post. No CNN, NBC, ABC, Fox, CBS, etc.

[villager]

76. And of course, *burying* them, when they get out of line

As we saw in the 60's.

[creatives4innovation]

51. Sad state of affairs

As Major General Smedley Butler said, "war is a racket".

[karynnj]

26. I hope it is NOT ours, but "theirs.

[warrprayer]

5. this could get interesting

unless rhe right people get paid off first

[Bread and Circus]

6. I know.

[AtheistCrusader]

8. Some people are going to end up *missing* over this.

[warrprayer]

10. that is a real possibility

can't have people talking, now can we?

[AtheistCrusader]

14. Nobody seems to appreciate all the hard work that it is, looking under the covers for where the

money went.

[Duval]

13. Yep! nt

[glinda]

9. So the Justice Department gets to "review" the info first. Wonder how that

will work. I am afraid that we will not see the information unless it is cherry picked.

[MustBeTheBooz]

31. Some/most of it will fall under "national security", I'm sure. n/t

[jwirr]

33. Definitely. National Security you know.

[certainot]

39. with the data in various places, if a name is omitted there

might be corrections

[Downwinder]

11. the Guardian said Mossack Fonseca are number four in size.

Who are numbers one two and three?

[stevenleser]

67. Probably other law firms in Panama. Panama's corporate secrecy laws are the key.

Panama's banking industry has essentially agreed to be transparent. That's why you see banks outside of Panama connected to these offshore corporations. Mostly banks in places like Switzerland, Liechtenstein and various Caribbean islands.

[IDemo]

12. Any way that O'Reilly, Scarborough, et all can dilute the importance of this..

I'm sure they will, unless a significant Democrat or two can be profiled without harming the reputations of all the other players.

[Ferd Berfel]

18. LEt's see if any of them are involved

Jackie Chan is already on the list

[Elmer S. E. Dump]

15. How can we use this agInst Hillary? I'm drawing a blank

[Bread and Circus]

16. I don't think this has anything to do with her as far as I know. I think it's just important.

[Elmer S. E. Dump]

17. I know. That's why I'm havin a hard time

[Bread and Circus]

35. Well, I was wrong. It turns out Clinton was very involved in pushing through the US Panama TA

...which further aided and abetted what has come to light.

So... yeah.... I guess there's that.

[aggiesal]

55. Apparently there are 4 names on the list ...

that are either tied or donated to the Clinton Foundation.

I'll have to look for the link.

Here is the link I saw:
https://www.reddit.com/r/PanamaPapers/comments/4d9abp/are_any_of_the_names_in_the_panama_papers_linked/

Doesn't appear to be any news source, more like a blog.

I'd like to know if any of this has been confirmed.

[Uponthegears]

27. well, there is

this:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/12511645512

[Elmer S. E. Dump]

29. Well, bust my britches!

[certainot]

40. i'm sure she met someone who knows someone

maybe vince foster is on the list
or someone on the list donated money or owned a company that donated to her or maybe that company had business with a lesbian named BENGHAZI!!

i'm sure there's a connection

[creatives4innovation]

52. Every scandal seems to have a Clinton angle to it

Though I think you and I would disagree on why that is.

[Paladin]

58. That sure as hell seems to be the case around DU this primary season. (nt)

[LeFleur1]

63. Absolutely Sickening

You people (Bernie supporters) are real good at throwing dirt, not so good at looking into your candidate's past. Maybe the country would be better off if you'd spend a little time doing that. You and the media that has him on air CONSTANTLY saying the same thing over and over and over and over. They just want a fight, a game, something they can pump up so SOMEONE will watch them. Bernie supporters excuse? Just plain mean, I'd guess.

[certainot]

68. hey, i was making fun of the idiot hillary haters

most of that crap started in think tanks and was crapped out of a few hundred radio blowhards and ended up on dinner tables all over the country

[mwooldri]

62. Nothing directly involving Hillary.

It might dig up some dirt on some foreign rich bastard who influences some organization that has funneled some money to a SuperPAC that supports Hillary. Or some other politician.

[rhett o rick]

69. You can't be serious. Wait and see. nm

[joeybee12]

20. I don't care so much about the people as I do the corporations

Moving jobs and avoiding taxes.

[Autumn Colors]

22. Oh yeah

This is high on my list, too.

[lapfog_1]

21. In addition to the PIGS scandal

Portugal, Iceland, Greece, Spain.

And Putin's $2B panama piggy bank ( and the very suspicious death of a Putin associate in Washington D.C. a few weeks ago ).

We are going to see more stories like [link:http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/05/business/media/thomas-staggs-walt-disney-company.html|

Could Mr. Staggs be involved in bribes paid to Chinese officials for Shanghai Disney? I'm guessing it's possible.

[cindyperry]

23. So how was the information obtained released

Sorry I missed that part

[Ghost Dog]

25. See #24

http://www.wired.com/2016/04/reporters-pulled-off-panama-papers-biggest-leak-whistleblower-history/

[cindyperry]

32. Thanks

[Curtis]

28. Sadly

I am now expecting a major terrorist attack or major warfare to break out to distract from this. Mark my words.

[southerncrone]

37. Would certainly follow suit.

[shadowmayor]

30. Mittens

Waiting for that fine American Mittens with his Bain Capital plunder to make the list. We know he parked big bucks in other Caribbean accounts already. Knowing that some real rich assholes are sweating heavy right now gives me a glimmer of hope!

[stevenleser]

66. If he didnt use that particular law firm to set it up he probably wont be exposed.

We'll see.

[scottie55]

34. Bernie, This Is A Hanging Curve Right Down The Middle

Choose which fence to knock it over please.

We all know this is/has been going on.

Nice to see why we have to pay so much in taxes so these assholes pay so little.

[Bread and Circus]

36. He already beat you to it (see link inside)

http://www.sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/senate-speech-by-sen-bernie-sanders-on-unfettered-free-trade

[southerncrone]

38. Always has his finger on the pulse!

[Euphoria]

43. Wow! Bernie's the best. nt

[disillusioned73]

46. Nice..

[klook]

49. These ruinous outsourcing incentives are at the core

of the corruption and new feudalism that is grinding non-1% Americans into the dirt. The resulting fear and desperation makes it easier to keep us at each others' throats, so that life remains sweet for the champagne & caviar set.

But hey, that's just Single-Issue Sanders ranting again, isn't it? Pay no attention to the angry old guy waving his arms around over there... he is SO tone deaf!

[Joe Chi Minh]

42. They have stated that most of the information will not be made public.

According to VT, it is being targeted primarily at certain individuals on the world stage.

[Fritz Walter]

44. I'm willing to bet on whose names will be prominently featured

Drumpf
Koch Brothers
Sheldon Adelson

I would add the name of Pharma Bro, but
a. I'm not going to waste time looking up his name (I might find his smug face in the search);
b. I don't think he's that clever.

[Hotler]

45. I think the real reason that no one from the U.S. was not mentioned.....

was to give them time to mount a defense. I think there could some very real fallout for the 1% and the politicians here. One can hope.

[Bob_Roony]

47. Note that

not much is being said about the gulf potentates whose names are all over the Panama papers. Yet, Putin is the target of the press and media while his name is not even there.!!!!

A new definition of hypocrisy.

[allan01]

48. i am sure that with this one firm,, this is the tip of the iceberg.

i am sure there a dozens more like this firm

[The Wizard]

50. When discussing campaign finances

always bring up off shore money laundries. Make them deny it and get the conversation started. An operative I know gets very defensive when the topic is broached.

[Javaman]

53. I'll be very impressed if we hear about the Americans involved...

I will chalk this one up to also waiting on the abu garib photos, chaney's energy commission and the mission 28 pages from the 9/11 report.

we will never ever know.

the wealthy in this country control the flow of information.

[creatives4innovation]

54. Here's a link to Mathew Ingram's tweet

Twitter link: Editor of Süddeutsche Zeitung responded to the lack of U.S. individuals in the documents, saying "Just wait for what is coming next"

[dembotoz]

56. just finished al gores book The Future....this ties in with the concept of Earth Inc.

the dots are out there we just need to connect them

[Bernardo de La Paz]

57. How much has Trump hidden?

[MrMickeysMom]

60. That explains why I wasn't able to get the link to load when this news first broke...

The link was specific as to WHOM the bell tolls, eh?

[staggerleem]

64. Gotta love the Gall.

"Ninety-five per cent of our work coincidentally consists in selling vehicles to avoid taxes."

Oops - that really WASN'T our intention when we opened a law office in Panama to deal pretty much exclusively with clients located elsewhere.

[greiner3]

65. Hillary hillary

She can do it. Cause her uber rich friends can. Also expect Trump's name

[yurbud]

70. taking the power of secrecy away from the very wealthy is part of the revolution

[Blue_Tires]

72. What's a bigger "fallout" than Putin laundering $2 billion?

People keep forgetting this is just one shady law firm in one country -- There are bound to be others...

[Gabi Hayes]

73. David Cay Johnston has been on top of this for decades. Read this and get even more pissed:

from a five year old interview with Harry Shearer

David, anything more we need to know about this, this offshoring, that I haven’t been smart enough to ask you about, in terms of how it works or whom it benefits and whom it hurts?

DAVID CAY JOHNSTON: Well, here’s the other thing I think people should think about, about offshoring. The techniques that are used by wealthy Americans and large corporations offshore are the very same techniques that not nice people who want to blow people up and kill people and undertake revolutions, and people who are in the drug business, as with the incredible explosion, epidemic of murder and violence we’re seeing right across the border in Mexico – they use the same techniques.

So we should be thinking about international flows of money in terms not just of tax and tax avoidance and tax evasion, but in terms of stability, in terms of avoiding war and death and conflict, and having a regulatory regime that serves the interests of stability, democracy, and the liberties of the people.

- See more at: http://harryshearer.com/mauris-ut-est-sit/#sthash.albzXsnR.dpuf

I heard him on the radio today, expanding upon the above comment to include how one can include tracking terrorist money, as well (ISIS, etal), and mentioning how Bush 43 knocked out a 12 million dollar appropriation to the IRS which would have allowed them to track al Qaeda/Osama/Hezbollah finances back in 04. sound familiar?

[Gabi Hayes]

74. more:

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2016/04/05/panama-papers-tip-of-the-iceberg-as-congress-aids-tax-cheats-terrorists.html

[IDemo]

75. Only one way to deal with the loss of all that tax revenue

Slash Social Security, of course.....

[The Second Stone]

77. I think the IRS should have a hacker division that is set up to

simply steal the off-shore unreported assets of American citizens. The citizen gets notified and then can go to Court to bear the burden of proof that they declared and then get it back. This hacker squad would be gov't employees, they could only go after overseas assets of American citizens and they would get a very small commission as a bonus.

[Rex]

78. Pigs at the trough for decades, so did they really get caught with their pants down?

Well then that will be TWO slaps on the wrist! Go to bed right now, no dinner for you!