What does it mean to "propose legislation" ? Levin, Coleman and Obama Take On Offshore Tax Havens:

[cyberpj]

Is it a bill or isn't it?

Senators Set Sights On Overseas Tax Havens
By Mark Drajem and Ryan J. Donmoyer
Bloomberg News
Sunday, February 18, 2007

Three senators proposed legislation that would target what they say is $100 billion a year in tax revenue lost each year because of overseas tax havens, in part by forcing hedge funds to track their foreign investors.

The measure would impose tougher requirements on U.S. taxpayers using offshore secrecy jurisdictions, give the U.S. Treasury the authority to take action against foreign jurisdictions that impede tax enforcement, stiffen penalties against abusers and close offshore trust loopholes, according to a summary of the bill released by Michigan Democrat Carl M. Levin.

snip...
"We cannot tolerate tax cheats offloading their unpaid taxes onto the backs of honest taxpayers," Levin said in a joint statement with co-sponsors Norm Coleman (R-Minn.) and Barack Obama (D-Ill.). "Offshore tax havens have declared economic war on honest taxpayers by helping tax cheats hide income and assets that should be taxed in the same way as other Americans."

snip...
The legislation is a "strengthened" version of a measure introduced in 2005 by the senators, Levin said, and is the product of a four-year probe by the Senate permanent subcommittee on investigations.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/02/17/AR2007021701324.html

[zbdent]

1. Watch the Republicrites whine about this

when it would be far more likely to catch terrorists than checking out Granny ZBDent's checking account ... remember how the Republicrites were talking about how "the liberal media" was exposing one of the "secret weapons" of the war on terra? Checking the banking records? How secret was that?

Oh, I MIGHT be affected ... if I hit the MegaMillions tonight ...

[denverbill]

2. I hope this gets a floor vote at minimum.

I'd love to see Republicans filibuster it, or Bush veto it. And I'd love to see McCain and the other Congressional Republican candidates defend their votes on this issue on the campaign trail.

[Double T]

3. It will be interesting to see what the rethuglic criminal enablers do........

with this wall street hot potato. I can almost hear the footsteps of the lobbyists running up K Street to the Capitol with their briefcases filled with additional campaign contributions for their corrupt supporters.

[Solo_in_MD]

4. Unfortunately this looks to be just pre election pandering

The article indicates a desire to go after tax avoidance as well as tax evasion. The former is legal, the later is not. For those who whine about loopholes should consider that most of them are due to the law of unintended consequences, and we would not have them if we would stop using tax law as an insturment of social policy.

[cyberpj]

5. But...Is it a bill or isn't it? Is that what they mean by "Propose Legislation" ?

And I hope solo-in-MD is wrong and it's not just pandering.

It's way past time to close those loopholes and and thanks to Bush's Debt, what better time to try to push it through?