The 'cowboy cocktail': How Wyoming became one of the world's top tax havens

[Nevilledog]

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Will Fitzgibbon
@WillFitzgibbon
I hope y'all are reading @ICIJorg and @washingtonpost's latest #pandorapapers investigation on the rise of Tax Haven Wyoming

Can we also talk abt @salwangeorges's amazing photos?

Including this person, at nighttime, resting on a motorbike. What a shot!

https://icij.org/investigations/pandora-papers/the-cowboy-cocktail-how-wyoming-became-one-of-the-worlds-top-tax-havens/…
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8:38 AM · Dec 24, 2021

https://www.icij.org/investigations/pandora-papers/the-cowboy-cocktail-how-wyoming-became-one-of-the-worlds-top-tax-havens/

JACKSON, WYOMING — The honky-tonk bar under neon lights on the town square serves Grand Teton Amber Ale and Yellowstone Lemonade. The Cowboy Coffee Co. offers bison chili and the Five & Dime General Store sells Stetson hats and souvenirs made from bullets.

In this tourist-friendly Western town, home to four celebrated arches fashioned from elk antlers, lawyers and estate planners draw customers with something far more exclusive.

It’s called the Cowboy Cocktail, and in recent years, the coveted financial arrangement has attracted a new set of outsiders to the least populated state in America.

The cocktail and variations of it — consisting of a Wyoming trust and layers of private companies with concealed ownership— allow the world’s wealthy to move and spend money in extraordinary secrecy, protected by some of the strongest privacy laws in the country and, in some cases, without even the cursory oversight performed by regulators in other states.

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[LakeVermilion]

1. This must piss South Dakota off!

South Dakota blatantly advertises itself as being business and tax friendly. Then only to have its western neighbor undercut its efforts.

Both states have little population, the cost of living is low and the poorest of the poor live on reservations, so they are the federal government's problem.

Yee Hah! (sarcasm)

[MyOwnPeace]

2. and both of those states.....

have the SAME number of votes in the Senate as states 10 times as large.....

[OldBaldy1701E]

3. There is another chamber, you know.

The House guarantees that all states are represented based on their population. The Senate guarantees that all states have an equal representation regardless of population. Are you complaining about the design of the Congress? And, how would you make sure both sides of this argument are represented? Is it your position that only majority populations should dictate how this country operates? You really think that Miami has any understanding of what living in a town of 1200 is like? Or, are you saying that the small town should not matter as they do not have the population to compete with Miami, and therefore should just shut up and get over it? You seem to be saying that this is how it should be. If you go solely with the House, then there is no equal representation. (I know that we as a nation tout equality all the time, even as reality shows that we do not really practice it, but that is another matter.) But, that is why the Senate is there. To give the states that would normally never be able to have their say in our governance due to being outnumbered the chance to be equal to the more populated states. This is all stuff we learned in elementary school, but it seems to me that some people are so fixated on the current Senate that they sound like they want to abolish the entire thing. Is that what you are indicating? Are we a nation of equality or a nation of mob rule?

(I highlighted some verbs because people tend to forget the difference between 'seeming' to be something and actually being that thing. I am not making accusations, I am asking for clarification.)

[MyOwnPeace]

4. "Are we a nation of equality or a nation of mob rule?"

I actually believe that there is no 'equality' when one man from any state, large or small, can stop a program that is exceedingly popular among a majority of Americans.
I actually believe that there is no 'equality' when a President is put in power because of an archaic system in which 'the mob' (aka: Electoral College) decides and not by popular vote.
I actually do NOT believe that your 'small town' should be able to stop a program that would benefit a large town just because they do not need the particular benefits of said program.
I actually believe that even in the Senate, where every state has equal power, no one person should be able to shut down critical votes, like say, ambassadors, all by himself.
I also actually believe that since each state has 'equal' representation in the Senate, a simple majority vote should determine whether a bill is passed or not.
Actually, I do not have a way to resolve the 'mess' - but there has to be some way better than what we have now. I actually believe that there are far greater minds out there that can and should be able to do something that would make this 'nation of equality' more equal and functional.
Thanks for allowing me to clear that up!


(I highlighted for clarity.)

[OldBaldy1701E]

8. Definitely.

We all need the chance to make sure we were understood. That is 'debate' as opposed to 'screaming match'. And, we need to have them, even as we try and move beyond all the crap from the last however-many-years. But, I am curious about a few things.
First one: I believe that as well.
Second one: Umm... the Electoral Collage is not 'the mob', just a concept that seemed like a good idea at the time. I'd say the mob is the popular vote. Which means if the right set of circumstances were to occur (again), we would get another one like that orange gibbon, with no way to counter it. Do you really trust the general public after 2016? I don't think I do. I am not defending the EC at all. But, there has to be some safety valve which can help the country avoid a 'popular despot' getting the office. Right now, that is the only one.
Third one: True, but do you really think that 'small towns' are always trying to ruin things for the 'big city'? That's an outdated position, in this modern, internet connected world, don't you think? I mean, I run into more people on horseback in the 'big city' than I do back home. (I know that has nothing to do with the discussion, but I am trying to say that our society is more integrated and less separate that one might know these day.) It is 'stereotyping' that is creating some of the problems in our society... mainly because we LOVE to do it of course. And, let's turn this around. Why should big cities always get their way when they deny something that might benefit that small town? It goes both ways.
Fourth one: One person is not shutting it all down by himself. One person is defying his party for... whatever reasons. There are 60 votes needed to pass legislation. That is not 'one' person.
Fifth one: I agree completely. Simple majority vote is what is needed for it all but again, do we really want to remove any means of shutting down a bad bill without making sure we have the means to keep the majority vote away from extremists?
Last one: Well I do, but they would entail the entire nation taking a long hard look at themselves in ways I know most of them do not want to do. So, as far as resolving the mess, I doubt it will happen. Until we stop blaming symptoms and start addressing causes, things are just going to limp along with the same classism and inequality. Unfortunately, no one person is going to ride in on a white stallion and miraculously fix what is going on in this country. This is not a Hollywood movie. (I know you know that, just sayin'.) It will require some real introspection. Will it happen?

It had better. And, soon.

[Chuuku Davis]

10. I agree with most of the above

But it is 51 people blocking the bill.

[LakeVermilion]

5. I would suggest a couple of changes:

1. South Dakota, North Dakota and Wyoming become one state: 2 senators 2,000,000 population, so 4 representatives. Call the new state: Dakota

2. Idaho and Montana become one state: 2 senators, 2,800,000 population, so 3 representatives. Call the new state: White Horse.

3. Utah and Nevada become one state: 2 senators population 6,300,000, 8 representatives. Call the new state: Wasatch (only because they shouldn't be call Great Basin.)

So there are 8 fewer senators in Congress, while the representatives are about the same.

[OldBaldy1701E]

6. So negate one chamber entirely. Got it.

BTW, did you guys get a lot of snow up there? Ours here in the Twin Cities is almost melted now. Wild.

[LakeVermilion]

7. Actually, I'm in Inver Grove Heights, but

we have a cottage on Lake Vermilion. As you can imagine, its our happy place!

As for negating one house of Congress, I beg to note that the founders had no idea what form the United States would take. Essentially, state borders are arbitrary, especially when rivers/lakes are not involved.

I suppose the Democrats were too late to recognize the advantage that the western states had in the Senate. Since Republicans had little to offer most urban Americans, they found "gold" in the sparsely populated states in western and mid America. They have managed to feed the resentment of rural America and use the Senate as their center of power. Its hard to see where the Republicans will ever have less than 50 votes in the Senate. (Georgia was a one off.)

My suggestion of consolidation would never happen, of course, but it does focus on the massive power controlled by "just a few" Americans.

[OldBaldy1701E]

9. Yeah... St. Anthony here...

My buddy has one there as well. Nice place. I love going there. (In July/August mind you. I am a southerner and it has to warm up some before I can play in that water! Of course, last year was interesting in that it was hot up there. And the lake! So low!)

Yes, I think they missed that as well. And, yes they are using the Senate as their dam. The cure is education. The problem is... well...



I wish I had the means to address this, but. And, this is not a 'rural' problem. I find that lunacy in the city. The thing about cities is that liberals can actually compete, numbers-wise, with the conservatives. It doesn't mean all small towns are horrible dens of rabid bigots...

Just most of them. Sigh.