Did Romney Just Break The Law By Using A Caymen Island Yacht For A Fundraiser?

[berni_mccoy]

ABC has an exclusive story on Romney who just held a fund raiser on a foreign-flagged yacht, "Cracker Bay", which flies the flag of the Cayman Islands.

According to U.S. Customs Law, a Foreign-Flagged Pleasure Boat may not be used for trade in the US.

Citing the law directly (this link downloads a word doc):

RESTRICTIONS ON FOREIGN-BUILT OR FOREIGN-FLAG VESSELS. Vessels that are foreign-built or of foreign registry may be used in the United States for pleasure purposes or in the foreign trade of the United States. However, federal law prohibits the use of such vessels in the coastwise trade - that is, the transport of passengers within the United States, including the carrying of chartered fishing parties. The documentation of foreign-built vessels is under the jurisdiction of the United States Coast Guard.

An explanation here: http://thetriton.com/column/2010/06/choosing-flag-about-more-taxes

1. Limited use and entry

Charters: There are substantial restrictions for a U.S. citizen/resident who may wish to charter his foreign-flagged yacht in the United States.

a) A foreign-flagged yacht cannot engage in “coastwise trade” (transporting either merchandise or passengers for hire). Such a yacht must be U.S.-built, U.S.-owned, U.S.-documented, and U.S.-crewed.

b) A foreign-flagged yacht is restricted to bareboat charters for pleasure use only. The carriage of passengers (or business guests) for hire is prohibited.

c) Yachts of 200 gross tons and above built in the United States that were ever sold foreign or registered under a foreign flag permanently lose their coastwise trading privilege.

Private use: All foreign vessels entering and operating in U.S. waters must clear customs. In order for the yacht to avoid taxes (use, sales, tonnage, and import) and formal entry and clearance requirements, it must possess a cruising license. This license, available only to a certain group of offshore registries, is valid for a maximum of one year. Renewal usually requires travel to a foreign country for at least 15 days. There are exceptions to this departure requirement, particularly for U.S.-built yachts and those with import duty paid.

Raising funds for a campaign seems to me to fall under the realm of business and therefore is a restricted use of a foreign flag pleasure boat.

On update: Note the article by ABC states that the Yacht is owned by a top donor, but still hosting a party to thank top donors sounds like the exchange for donation, and therefore technically a business transaction. In fact, just using it for a Campaign function should qualify it as a business use, and therefore a violation of the law.

[snappyturtle]

1. .........

[Coyotl]

12. Romney party yacht ‘Cracker Bay’ flies Cayman Islands flag in Tampa

Last edited Wed Aug 29, 2012, 05:20 PM - Edit history (2)

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2012/08/29/romney-party-yacht-cracker-bay-flies-cayman-islands-flag-in-tampa/

Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney’s campaign on Wednesday partied with wealthy donors on a 150-foot yacht that flies the flag of the Cayman Islands, according to an ABC News report.

Members of the Romney Victory Council, who have each raised more than $1 million for the candidate, mingled with Romney’s brother, Scott, and other relatives in Tampa aboard the luxury yacht “Cracker Bay.”

.......... billionaire energy industry executive Wilbur Ross told the network. “These are good supporters.”......

“I think it’s ironic they do this aboard a yacht that doesn’t even pay its taxes,” a woman who lives at the marina where Cracker Bay is moored .........



======================
http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2012/08/romney-donors-are-flying-their-wealth.html

................. The 1% had managed to get one of their own nominated to be the president and he's not really trying to hide it. Not that it was necessary. Most candidates would do their bidding. But in their current arrogant delusion, having power isn't enough. Neither is it enough for them to have all they need to gather more and more of the world's wealth for themselves. They want to be validated. .............

======================
http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/greed-and-debt-the-true-story-of-mitt-romney-and-bain-capital-20120829

............ By making debt the centerpiece of his campaign, Romney was making a calculated bluff of historic dimensions – placing a massive all-in bet on the rank incompetence of the American press corps. The result has been a brilliant comedy: A man makes a $250 million fortune loading up companies with debt and then extracting million-dollar fees from those same companies, in exchange for the generous service of telling them who needs to be fired in order to finance the debt payments he saddled them with in the first place. That same man then runs for president riding an image of children roasting on flames of debt, choosing as his running mate perhaps the only politician in America more pompous and self-righteous on the subject of the evils of borrowed money than the candidate himself. If Romney pulls off this whopper, you'll have to tip your hat to him: No one in history has ever successfully run for president riding this big of a lie. It's almost enough to make you think he really is qualified for the White House.

Read more: http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/greed-and-debt-the-true-story-of-mitt-romney-and-bain-capital-20120829#ixzz24yLf95zU
.............

[David Zephyr]

2. K&R.

Hope this gets more press.

[MADem]

3. CRACKER BAY?????? Yer shittin' me!!!!!!!

He's going for a certain segment of the white vote...but that's too much!

[berni_mccoy]

4. I know, right. I think that is just coincidence though

[Gidney N Cloyd]

17. So was "Monkey Business."

[MADem]

19. +1,000 nt

[uponit7771]

5. +1...same here, they want to lose or the voter suppression is nailed down for them!!

[KurtNYC]

16. no and there is a city on the Caymans called "Old Man Bay"

The name of the ship seems almost like bait. They can use any discussion of that name to eclipse the fund raising and claim we are all racists.

[11 Bravo]

6. Legal or not, it's just another example of how tone deaf, flat-out, motherfucking stupid ...

Mitt Romney really is!

[rocktivity]

7. The yacht isn't his

The floating party, hosted by a Florida developer on his yacht "Cracker Bay," was one of a dozen exclusive events meant to nurture those who have raised more than $1 million for Romney's bid.

I suppose you can host an event at a venue you don't actually own -- it depends on what the meaning of "his" is!


rocktivity

[berni_mccoy]

11. Thanks, I noted that in the update and corrected the language.

[Fumesucker]

8. Cracker, please..

Repeat after me..

IOKIYAR..

[Coyotl]

9. Oh Silly You Bernie, laws do not apply to Mitt Romney

Especially tax laws

[berni_mccoy]

18. I know, what am I thinking....

[AnotherMcIntosh]

10. Does it matter? If Holder won't even prosecute openly-admitted war criminals who approved of torture

why would anyone be concerned?

Apparently, "It's OK if you're a Republican."

Let's see some prosecutions and I'll gladly change my mind.

[malaise]

13. I hope so

[Angry Dragon]

14. The Coast Guard should confiscate it or sink it

fine the owner $100,000,000 and then sell it to reduce the debt

[Atman]

15. IOKIYAR

Sail Away.